Colossians 3:1-4
“Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”
I’ve read and heard these verses many times, but today as I read them, the plural condition of “minds” leapt off the page…… this is a directive to the community of faith, the Body of Christ, not to an individual. One person alone does not express the mind of Christ….. it is expressed in the gathering of believers….. “where 2 or 3 gather TOGETHER IN MY NAME, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20
I have experienced this so many times in prayer with Bill, with a friend, in a band meeting, in the counseling room with one or more discipleship students in life recovery…..
In the presence of people coming to agreement in prayer, becoming aware of new insights, new solutions, new words of comfort arising from beyond the experience, knowledge, and wisdom of the separate human parties present, Christ is known. This is how Christ desires to work….. as an active participant with 2 or 3 others who are seeking God’s will and guidance.
There have been words and insights that have come to me at times when I was alone in study, prayer, or contemplation. It’s not that unusual. One thing I had learned, however, was that personal revelations without confirmation in God’s Word and preferably within trusted confidential fellowship, as well, are not to be naively trusted and acted on. There are other sources besides God that plant thoughts. Each must be taken captive and put to the test to discern truth.
One such word came to me after Bill’s death as I sought out safe places to share some of the deep thoughts and experiences in my new solitary life. The Word was this: “It wasn’t supposed to be this way.”
What wasn’t supposed to be this way? My life as a widow? My husband’s death? My new sense of aloneness in life? My longing for the lost spiritual and emotional intimacy Bill and I had grown into? This didn’t make sense. God knew all of what would and did transpire in my life. Why would He now tell me “It wasn’t supposed to be this way?”
Then today as I pondered what and how to share about some deep spiritual thoughts at an upcoming event where I am to speak, suddenly this Colossians scripture, emphasizing the plural “minds” fell in my hand, followed immediately by Matthew’s report of Jesus’ assurance of His presence among us in gathered, supportive community.
Suddenly, the Lord’s words made sense, “It wasn’t supposed to be this way.” God does not call us to live isolated, hermited away, silent monastic existences, hidden in the depths of a solitary heart or mind. God communes and abides with us in Three Persons…. God seeks fellowship with His Creation in 2s and 3s or larger groups as we gather with the goal of mutual vulnerability and mutual accountability to test the truth of the words we hear ….. in relationships defined by “a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24.
Ideally, it would exist with one’s spouse in marriage. It certainly can exist with a close godly friend. But I am learning that such a Friend, closer than a brother (or sister), can join any interaction between 2 or 3 individuals, even strangers, who gather together seeking common ground and wisdom in the Lord’s name, desiring His mind and heart on a matter at hand. It has freed me to take risks and step out to take a hand, ask a question, say a prayer, offer a Word when I might otherwise have kept quiet. If it lands in the vicinity of a similarly open and vulnerable heart, then Christ may well enter the conversation and make Himself known in it.
It seems strange now that I would not recognize God’s word of caution, “It wasn’t supposed to be this way” spoken to my heart and mind in a solitary moment, which has become more and more the norm of my life. Getting deep into solitary contemplation without testing it in the Word and in community can leave one vulnerable to confusion at best and deception at worst.