Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

This total passage (12-17) is one of the most concise and yet thorough descriptions of the Christian lifestyle in the whole Bible. This particular verse has been very effectively put to music in Japanese, and we sing it fairly often, though perhaps not often enough. What strikes me about it this morning is the element of mutuality expressed in it. Believers are to teach one another and admonish one another, not leave all of that up to the pastor. In his very effective work for literacy in the 20th Century, Frank Laubach coined a phrase that actually should be something of a watchword in the Church: “Each one teach one.” The point is that everyone has something they can teach someone else. Anyone with children has observed that older children can and do teach younger ones, often much more effectively than adults can do so. That’s because the older children are much closer to the younger ones in outlook and experience, so they know what will relate and put things in understandable terms. That is likewise true in the Church, though we forget it all too often. Few people are really ready to be taught by a theology professor! Rather, they learn best from someone who has been through the same lesson recently themselves. It has been noted that new converts are often the most effective evangelists. They don’t know much, but what they do know is fresh and real, and they are eager to share. That should apply in every area of church life, but too often we are hesitant to do so, feeling we “aren’t qualified.” That particularly applies to admonishing, because we are very aware of our own failures. Actually, such awareness is a necessary requirement for admonishing effectively in love, because otherwise we don’t see where the other person is coming from. As the day before yesterday’s passage said, the Body of Christ builds itself up in love, as each member of it expresses what God has given them. (Ephesians 4:16)

This is a major consideration for me, but one that I haven’t communicated all that well to the believers. Japanese society tends to be very expert oriented, with most people feeling they can’t do something unless they have been trained and credentialed in it. That puts a major damper on volunteering in general, and it has been crippling in the Church. The flip side of that is that since I was steeped in the Bible from infancy, Scriptural truths come naturally and easily to me. Often I have trouble grasping how something that seems so obvious to me could be so hard for the believers to understand. That makes me less than the most effective teacher! I love teaching the Bible, but I’ve got to help the believers grasp the concept that once they have learned something, no matter how small, they can teach that to someone else. They look at me and my depth of Bible knowledge and disqualify themselves from teaching anyone anything. That plays directly into the devil’s hand, and violates this verse. I cannot change Japanese culture on my own, but the Holy Spirit can change each one of us in this church, and that needs to be my goal.

Father, thank You for the good service yesterday, for speaking through me and for preparing the people’s hearts to receive Your word. Thank You for how You are leading us. Help me be faithful in my obedience, allowing You to work powerfully through me, so that all of Your purposes for this church and this city may be fulfilled, on Your schedule and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!