'I've Heard All About You'

In our prayers for  you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Colossians 1:3-5a

"You're Pastor Mike Foss," he said with a grin. "I 've heard all about you." Then he was silent and I couldn't help but wonder what he had heard. Later in the conversation he, graciously, told me that he had heard good things. But I have lived long enough and made enough mistakes to have wondered!

This line in the opening of Paul's letter to the Colossians gives us significant insight. Paul didn't know these people. Yet, he thanks God for them because he has heard of them. More specifically, he heard of their faith active in love towards all the saints. In other words, it wasn't just that they came to believe in the Savior, Jesus Christ. It was that their faith became real in how they cared for one another and other believers as well. Later Paul will praise Epaphras through whom they came to know Christ as our beloved fellow servant (vs. 7)

When I read this text the other day, I remembered that greeting and the subsequent conversation with this lay leader of a congregation. I remembered it and thought,  "I hope what people hear of me is like what Paul heard about the Colossians." When it is all said and done I'd love for others to say that I had faith that was evident in how I loved others - especially in the Christian Church.

Have you ever wondered what others have heard about you? If you have, then I have great news for you! We can influence what others hear of us by how we put our faith into our lives. I'm not suggesting that we wear our Christianity on our sleeves. Rather, that we live our discipleship in quiet and simple acts of care and concern that point to God's activity in our lives.

That's the other thing about these words. I find it remarkable how Paul directs the attention of the readers away from what they have done to what God has done in Christ. I'd like that to be my witness - because, ultimately, what matters most is what God has heard about us and accomplished in and through us.

Let's help create a buzz about faith that works - beginning with you and me.

Lord Jesus, thank you for choosing me. Send your Holy Spirit so that my faith will quietly create goodness in me and in the lives of others.  Amen