Walk in Wisdom Toward Outsiders
Is your church characterized by love for the lost? Would someone say, “That’s a church that loves the gospel and they love the people who need the gospel”? If it is, we can praise God for that, and continue to head in that direction. But if it’s not something true about your church, then some serious change is required.
The Scripture teach Christ’s body to be outward looking. Yes, we take care of one another, but we also have a heart for the world. We want to see people saved through Christ. There are numerous passages teaching this, but I’d just like to focus in what follows on Col. 4:5, “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.”
Outsiders
Paul writes here about acting a certain way “toward outsiders.” Let’s first be clear about who these “outsiders” are and what their problem is. This is referring to those outside the church, outside of the Christian faith. It’s referring to non-Christians. When Paul writes “outsiders,” he’s thinking of the lost in need of the good news of Jesus Christ.
We need to remember always that even though an unbeliever might be a nice person, maybe even nicer than some Christians you know, that niceness doesn’t mean anything if they don’t have Jesus Christ as their Saviour. If someone is an “outsider,” they’re on their way to hell, no matter how nice they are. At the end, when you stand before the Judge, he’s not going to judge you based on how nice a person you were. The reality is that even the nicest people are sinners and sin affects everything they say and do. Moreover, even the smallest sin is an attack on the infinite glory and majesty of God. This is why every single sinner needs Jesus Christ as a Saviour and without him there is zero hope of a favourable judgment. As Heb. 10:31 says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” We have to be clear on that biblical reality, because it drives home the urgency of our calling. Our calling is urgent because God’s wrath against sin is real. Our calling is urgent because hell for unrepentant sinners is real.
So there are these outsiders surrounding the Colossian Christians. They surround us too. What’s our calling? Verse 5 says, “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders…” The word “walk” here is used in the sense of how you conduct your life in general. So, verse 5 is about our overall behaviour as we live among outsiders.
The important qualifier for this behaviour is that it be “in wisdom.” Other translations have something like “walk wisely” or “act wisely.” The idea is that our conduct has to be wise. Of course, that brings us to the question of what that means exactly. It’s important to remember how Paul has mentioned wisdom several times in Colossians before this. For example, in 1:9, Paul’s prayer was that the Colossians would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in spiritual wisdom. In 1:28, Paul said he proclaims Christ, “warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom.” And in 2:3, he wrote that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Christ. Wisdom can’t be separated from Christ and the revelation of Christ’s wisdom is going to be found in Scripture. Wisdom is taking what you’ve learned from God and putting it into action in your life. It’s about living in union with Christ, who is the wisdom of God in the flesh.
So what does it mean concretely to “walk in wisdom toward outsiders”? Well, if all the treasures of wisdom are in Christ, we should look to him for the answer to that. We should search the Scriptures to see how our Saviour walked toward outsiders. If it’s him with whom we’re living in union, then we should examine his walk and aim for his wisdom, pray for his wisdom. Let me outline three ways in which Jesus walked in wisdom toward outsiders.
Compassion
In the gospels, there’s one word that often leaps out when we read about our Saviour and how he conducted himself amongst unbelievers. That word is “compassion.” He had a heart for the lost. In Proverbs, mercy and compassion are essential elements of wisdom. Our Saviour displayed that in his earthly life. He had compassion on large groups of people, like the crowds who needed food – he said in Mark 8:2, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.” He then fed them with the seven loaves. But he also had compassion on individuals. In Luke 7, he went to Nain and encountered a grieving mother. Luke 7:13,”And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her…” Then he raised her son from the dead. Jesus had a heart of compassion and still does. It’s part of his wisdom, and it’s to be part of the wisdom of those who are united to him as they walk towards outsiders. Since we’re united to this compassionate Saviour, we too should have hearts that break for the lost. Pray that the Spirit who lives in Christ and in us would make us more compassionate people.
Patience
Our Saviour was also patient. Patience is also part and parcel of biblical wisdom. In Eccl. 7, wisdom and folly are contrasted with one another. Eccl. 7:8-9 says, “the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.” Patience is wise. Losing it at people isn’t. Do you want to find a good illustration or two of wise patience? Look at your Saviour in John 3 as he speaks with Nicodemus. He patiently teaches this Pharisees. Look at your Saviour in John 4 as he speaks with the Samaritan woman at the well. He engages her too in a patient and loving way. Our Lord Jesus was a model of wise patience as he walked amongst outsiders. He did that as part of our redemption, perfectly obeying God’s law in our place. But he also did that for our sanctification, to show us how we’re to live. We’re to live in union with him, walking wisely toward outsiders by being patient with them, recognizing that it’s often going to take time for them to understand the gospel. We may have to repeat ourselves, say the same thing three different ways. Pray that the Spirit who lives in Christ and in us would give us this gift of patience with outsiders.
Discernment
The third part of Christ’s wisdom we’ll look at is his discernment. An important part of biblical wisdom is learning to discern what type of person you’re dealing with. The book of Proverbs has much to say about fools. Proverbs tells us that the wise learn to discern fools and how to deal with them. For example, Prov. 1:7 says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Fools don’t listen, they just argue. In Prov. 9, we learn how interacting with fools is a waste of time. All you end up with is abuse and scoffing. The wise learn to discern who they’re dealing with. We see that vividly illustrated with our Saviour. He knew how to discern fools. He knew when there were outsiders standing in front of him who were there just to argue. Christ dealt with antagonistic and proud religious leaders much differently than he did people who were lost on account of their ignorance. He showed how wisdom means discerning when you’re wasting your time with someone. The truth is that there are unbelievers who are lost and who’ll like to argue with you about spiritual things, but simply because they enjoy arguing. Or they just want to see a Christian look like an idiot in front of others. Don’t waste your time when it’s becoming apparent someone is a fool. Here too, we need to pray for help from the Spirit. Ask God to give you this wise discernment of our Saviour.
God works through full-time missionaries to grow his church, but he often also works through ordinary believers. He works through Christians who walk in wisdom toward outsiders. It’s always been that way. We do what God has called us to do – love the lost and reach out to them with our hope. Then we leave the results with God. As we do that, God will be glorified, whatever the outcome may be.
