NOTES for Col 4:2-9

One of the first questions believers ask themselves is whether to bear witness to Christ before unbelievers, or “outsiders,” as the apostle Paul calls them in today's reading. If so, how, and with what words? He answers these questions briefly and simply.

First, he urges us always to make use of the time—that is, to be guided by the particular circumstances. We should not regard unbelievers as an inert or aggressive mass, but, following Christ, approach each person individually, taking account of their personal characteristics and problems, and speaking their language, “wisely,” as the apostle writes. In another letter Paul will write that he became “to those outside the law, as one outside the law” (1 Cor 9:19–23), and he calls his disciples to do the same.

Second, Paul draws attention to the importance of precisely how believers should address unbelievers. Speech with grace, seasoned with salt, is not empty argument, not a desire to insist on having one's own way, not the destruction of everyone who disagrees. It is speech filled with truth, a word of reason—ultimately, it is the living Word that was in the beginning.