Greetings church!
In the book of Colossians, Paul writes about Jesus and the new beginning that we have. The apostle comments that the new person lives with humility, patience, peace, and love. As always, it seems my question is “How do I get there from here?” In Colossians 3:15, Paul tells us to let the peace of Christ rule our hearts. Really, peace in my heart, in this divided United States?
In Colossians 3:16, Paul writes, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Described here are two of the guideposts into a deeper intimacy with Jesus.
How do I let the word of God (which is about Jesus Christ) dwell within me? The Navigators have a discipleship tool called the Word Hand. It tells us to hear (Romans 10:17), to read, (Revelation 1:3), to study (Acts 17:11), to memorize (Psalm 119:9,11) and to meditate (Psalm 1:2,3). Meditating on the bible verses that are brought up on each of the other 4 functions is a part of the process for having the word of Christ dwell in us richly. This is how scripture takes root and begins residence within us, and how it can shape our perspective, and give us knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.
With that wisdom, we can teach and admonish (which is a form of encouragement) one another. As we have learned before, the one another phrases are reflexive pronouns. This is a fancy way of saying that as the left hand washes the right hand, the right hand is washing the left hand. Using wisdom, as I teach, I am taught. Using wisdom, as I encourage, I am encouraged.
One of the ways to do that is shown in our verse; namely, community worship. Paul mentions three types of singing (psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs), The worship singing they had back in the first century was not the heightened production value ear-pleasing music we enjoy today. Regardless of what worship music you may particularly enjoy today, it is all better than what was sung 2200 years ago!
Paul highlights the purpose of worship music. It is sung to God. The music being sung and performed by the musicians on stage is not just for our benefit, to incline our hearts toward God. It is done for the pleasure of God. Does God take pleasure when even Larry sings? Yes. My parents put up with so much in my family as all five of us kids were learning to play different musical instruments at one time or another. Maybe God is a better parent than He is a professional music critic. We sing and play in worship for the pleasure of God.
This passage shows the connection of the Word and Worship. Worship without the Word can go off the rails into songs sung emptily, devoid of eternal significance. The Word without Worship leads to teaching head-knowledge without heart-knowledge.
As we sing, let us sing with a thankful heart to God!