NOTES for Col 4:2-9

One of the first questions believers ask themselves is whether they should testify about Christ to unbelievers or “outsiders,” as the apostle Paul calls them in today’s reading. If they should testify, then how, and with what words? The apostle Paul answers these questions briefly and simply. First, he proposes that we always make use of the time, that is, let ourselves be guided by the specific circumstances. We should not regard unbelievers as an inert or aggressive mass, but, following Christ, address each particular person while taking account of his individual characteristics and problems. We should speak to each person in his own language, “wisely,” as the apostle writes. In another epistle Paul will write that he became “to those who are without law, as without law” (1 Cor. 9:19-23), and he calls his disciples to do the same. Second, Paul draws attention to the importance of how believers should address unbelievers. Speech with grace, seasoned with salt, is not empty argument, a desire to insist on one’s own way, or the destruction of everyone who disagrees. It is speech filled with truth, the speech of reason. Ultimately, it is the living Word that was in the beginning.