In Colossians 2:6-7, Paul calls on believers,
“As you therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so live in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith…”
There are two metaphors here for the process of Christian maturation. One is drawn from organic life – a tree which is rooted; the other is architectural – a building which is built up. These two metaphors match (sort of), two other ideas the Bible frequently uses to describe Christian maturing: to grow (Greek auxano, e.g. Col 1:10; 1 Pet 2:2; 2 Pet 3:18) and to become complete or perfect (Greek teleioo or katartizo, e.g. Phil 1:6; Heb 13:21; Js 1:4).
It seems to me that we do well to pay attention to these two metaphors. They suggest different things. One implies the idea of flourishing, growing strength, development upwards and outwards – like a tree. The other has a real sense that there is a plan to which one is moving towards, a fitting and determined shape that is the goal of development.
My impression is that in thinking about what is good for people, our world and often our church is big on the first image, growth, but perhaps not so big on the second. We like the idea that I am to flourish, fulfilling my potential perhaps. But the idea that there is a right shape for me, that I was made to be a particular way and that it is not actually up to me to decide what that is, is not so trendy.
The Bible, however, has both these ideas, and both of them are for our good. We are meant to grow and flourish in Christ, like a tree; but we are also meant to become complete or finished, like a building.
*”Weekly Digests” have been renamed “Dots and Strokes”. This is a reference to Matthew 5:18, but was also necessitated by the irregularity of these posts, which had rendered the old name a bit of a nonsense.
Yes, it’s a fascinating verse and a very encouraging one. Some versions of it have two further metaphors of “walking in him” and also a waterfall in “overflowing with thankfulness. Paul would have failed the not to mix metaphor instruction as in this one verse we are to walk with him, grow, stand firm and overflow. Thanks for the post.
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Nice point, I wonder why our modern day world and church are so into the ‘flourishing side of things’ and not the later? could it be that this points to a culture who are defined by ‘progress’ of the individual rather than ‘progress’ within the context of a bigger picture, or plan?
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Do you think we concentrate on the flourishing because that is in fact what shape we are meant to take?
In that, God’s purpose for us is to grow in Christlikeness, ‘living in him’, and his mission for us is to ‘go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.’
So the building we are meant to be made into is the Church, which in some ways we do not know how large it is meant to be and thus we continue to flourish, observing the commission we have been given, and the Christlike shape of the life we are meant to be living?
Hi Kirihgp. I think you’re right to stress the undetermined nature of the “building”—it would be a disaster for a preconceived idea of what God wants for us to undermine mission. Thanks for the comment.
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This is a interesting site. I’ve in most cases been a supporter of this kind of thinking. I’m hoping that this continues a revival of this style of thinking along the same lines.