Admonishment or Correction?

This morning I felt led to reflect on Colossians 3, which is really a wonderful chapter talking about our duality, our life here  and our life hidden in Christ.  One could spend the rest of their life trying to fully comprehend the first few verses of this chapter.  However, my mind was drawn to a verse later in the chapter, here are the surrounding verses - Colossians 3:12-17 NIV:

[12] "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. [13] Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. [14] And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

[15] "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. [16] Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. [17] And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

Specifically, I am reflecting on verse 16, and my first question was what Greek word was translated admonish?  When I read that word it always seems corrective and not necessarily in a welcome way. The actual Greek word used is  nouthetéō  and this note is from Strong's Concordance and Word Helps.  "("admonish through instruction") especially appeals to the mind, supplying doctrinal and spiritual substance (content). This "exerts positive pressure" on someone's logic (reasoning), i.e. urging them to choose (turn to) God's best.  [This root (nouthe-) does not strictly mean "chastise," though this can be involved – i.e. with needed admonishing, correcting, exhortation, etc.] "  The Greek word actually is a composite word from 3563 /noús, "mind" and 5087 /títhēmi, "to place"  In other words to bring a mind to a place (through reasoning).

I think this is helpful, in a pastoral sense.  Sometimes we can feel like we need to correct people, and can do so by demanding obedience, and here Paul is urging a more educational encouragement, helping people see where they are and where they need to get to.  This is really what repentance is about, someone recognizing their need to change and then choosing to change.  

Sometimes the church falls into  a more coercive approach, but this is clearly not Paul' heart here, for forcing someone to change behaviour does not bring about true repentance.  While repentance is recognizing that changing the way one thinks is needed, and then acting on that change, coercion does not appear to cause true repentance.  What does happen is people change the way they think about the coercer and they change their behaviour because they don't want to suffer the consequences.  They have changed their behaviour out of fear of punishment.  They don't choose to change because of recognizing a misalignment of heart and thought, they change behaviour because of fear, but their original thinking towards the subject is unchanged. 

As I look back at these verses, verses 15 and 16 cannot understood outside of the context of verses 12-14.  Our approach to one another must be kind, gentle, humble, patient and loving, and bring about peace, thankfulness and unity. 

The church has at times lost a focus on the invitation of love and relationship with the Lord, and made the message one of fearing the outcome of bad and sinful behaviour, namely hell, and God's judgment.  I am quite convinced that Jesus primary mission was to represent to the world what the Father was really like, and He did so by speaking of the Kingdom of God and then demonstrating that Kingdom through healings, miracles, signs and wonders, forgiveness, casting out demons, and raising the dead.  The Kingdom reality flows directly from the rule and character of the King, in this case God, and while Jesus did provide warnings, His primary message was one of relationship, restoration, and God's love for us all. 

I am reminded of a couple of different sections of scripture, but in an effort towards brevity, I won't include all the verses.  First, I am reminded of Matthew Chapters 5-7 which is titled the sermon on the Mount, and thought of as the best description of the Kingdom principles, some even calling it the constitution of the Kingdom of God. In several verses Jesus reveals the character of the Father such as Matthew 7:9-12 NIV: “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? [10] Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? [11] If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! [12] So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."

The second set of verses that immediately comes to mind contains one of the most frequently quoted verses - John 3:16-17 NIV: 'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."  The Father is inviting us to embrace this loving invitation, that we might experience salvation and redemption, and eternal life.

This morning I am encouraged to look at my life, at the way I represent the Lord, and to consider if and how my life leads others toward Him.  Do I  clothe myself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience?  Do I represent and demonstrate forgiveness in the same way I have been forgiven?  Do I clothe myself in love at all times?  Is my approach to brothers and sisters encouraging, and enlightening?  Do I embrace repentance in my own life, seeing the opportunity to adjust my thinking and my actions, and embracing that opportunity as an invitation from the Lord to become more like Him? 

Lord help me to represent You more faithfully in my life! 

Amen and Amen!