The New Testament on the Camino: Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

I finally reached the end of Paul's letters to churches. As they progressed, his letters decreased in length and increased in specificity. This makes sense to me, as the first letter (to the Romans) set the baseline in terms of theology and how we should behave. Considering most of these churches fell under the Roman empire, it was sort of the universal letter (that's not necessarily true in all cases, but it works as a general idea). Now, as I read Colossians and 1-2 Thessalonians, I can see that Paul had finally "made his point" and was now making relatively minor "corrections" in the early church, both in the form of direct corrections and universal encouragements.

Man-Made Religion. The laws of the Old Testament plagued the early Christian community, including Jesus, as moving forward with the Messiah meant abandoning the lifestyle of governance systems that had been in place for thousands of years. But Jesus was clear: believing in Him means we have abandoned what Paul refers to as "the elemental spirits of the world" (in Colossians 2). That is, those things which we have established as religious rules for ourselves that are not grounded in the scriptures. In his examples, Paul talks about things we shouldn't taste or touch as governed by the laws of the pharisees, but he refers to these things as self-made religion and asceticism. How many times have we, as the global Church and within individual denominations, subjected ourselves to self-made religious rules? Throughout this series, I have pointed to the Catholic Church's doctrinal rules that are not grounded in Biblical principles, but Protestants are not exempt. I am old enough to remember when the "dunk vs sprinkle" argument rippled across the United States and caused significant turmoil. We should heed Paul's warning against self-made religious practices, as they only divide the Church instead of uniting us under one banner.

Rules for Households and Perspectives on Slaves. Colossians 3 gives a summary list of rules for each member of the home, from the father to the slaves. Something I noticed in every New Testament discussion of slavery is that not once does Jesus or Paul justify the institution of slavery. Instead, they give instructions on how slaves should behave given that the institution exists. In these instructions, Paul tells slaves to work for their masters as though they were working for the Lord. This is not to benefit the masters, although that would certainly be a secondary effect, but to serve as an example for other Christians to follow. Paul is clear: slaves will be rewarded for their toils in Heaven. As such, they should believe and act in such a way. So are we, though removed from institution of slavery, to believe and act. In doing so, we set a Christ-like example for others to follow, which will only serve to glorify the Kingdom of God.

Sexual Immorality. For those who say the Church shouldn't be concerned with individual sexuality, they need to re-read their New Testament. In almost every letter, Paul discusses this very issue. He, again in 1 Thessalonians, he commands us (with the authority given to him by Jesus in the Gospels) to abstain from sexual immorality and to control the desires of our bodies. We live in a time where sexual immorality is not extreme or in the minority; it is the mainstream. OnlyFans has normalised sexual activity for profit, even to the point of making it lucrative and legitimate when compared to other lines of work. Our politics are dominated by issues of sexual immorality, be it the legal status of on-demand abortion, the legality of LGB unions, or the public displays of "kink" during June's "Pride" celebrations. Modern-day reformists will say that Christians should accept these things in society, within our own ranks, but we clearly are commanded not to. Even if Christians say that we should not use the government to force our beliefs on others, that doesn't mean we shouldn't voice our positions in the community, through advocacy, or even at the ballot box by voting for values that align with our religious beliefs.

Day of the Lord will be Sudden. "The day of the lord will come like a thief in the night." This is true, as even Jesus said this. Any claim that the rapture will come on a specific day are clearly not based in Biblical reality (like happened recently). That said, in the Gospels, Jesus says that there will be signs that the day is approaching (without detailing out what those signs are). But indicators and signs will not point to the definitive day; just that the day is nearing. What are those signs? Jesus himself didn't say in the Gospels, but the Revelation to John spells them out for us (stay tuned for that one).

Warning Against Idleness. Idleness in this case (in 2 Thessalonians 3) is not simply a sedentary lifestyle, although that certainly plays into it. Paul is specifically referring to idleness in faith. I am guilty of such idleness, though I am working on coming out of it, but many, I would argue most, modern-day Christians are content with being idle in their faith. Why did it take the assassination of Charlie Kirk, who was unapologetically vocal about his faith and how it informs his personal and political values, to ignite a major revival in the world? The answer is because everyday Christians were idle and not living the values in a way that set a positive example for others. Charlie, who was not idle, did, and the impact of his death shows us just how important and impactful unapologetically living the Christian faith is in our society. As a personal note, in travelling the world, I see a clear difference in the impact of idle Christianity and active Islam. Islam is spreading at an alarming rate not because its message is so profound, but because Muslims are unapologetic in practicing their faith regardless of where they find themselves. For years, decades even, Christians worked to separate their religious beliefs from the social and political fabric of the West (again, I am guilty of this). This idleness has contributed to the decline of Christianity and the rise of Islam, especially in the West. Hopefully, especially after Charlie's assassination, we can reverse the errors of our ways.

Do Not Grow Weary. Related to the above point on idleness, we are encouraged not to grow weary in doing good. As we have seen over the last fifteen years (or more), being a Christian in today's Western society is not the popular thing. Christians are accused of being bigots, our good deeds are separated from our faith in the media and politics, and Christians are put down and called intolerant for evangelical missions in non-Christian nations. None of this matters. We grew weary and retreated from the world, relegating our faith to third place behind social tolerance and political expediency. We should not. Our good deeds and examples, as long as they are in the name of God and not self-aggrandizing, will ultimately serve the Kingdom, regardless of how the rest of our society looks at us.

I wonder what letters to modern churches would look like? I can imagine that they would not be as encouraging as we would hope. We would probably be lauded for ending the scourge of slavery and honouring our women by elevating them above second-class citizen status, but Paul would probably also lambast us for some things we have allowed to become commonplace in the church in the name of social and political expediency. Gay pastors leading worship with a song with the lyrics "I'm f-ing gay," the hatred for leftist politics in firebrand sermons, and the sharp divisions between the Christian denominations (Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Seventh Day Adventists, Episcopalians, and the list goes on). That thought distresses me a little, because it shows just how far the modern Church and society have fallen. This is by no means a condemnation of every Church across the world; indeed, many are doing great work (especially in smaller communities, in my opinion). But I think those have become the exception rather than the worldwide rule. That's something I'm keeping in mind as I move forward into Paul's letters to people.