A Message to Church Leaders from Colossians 3:10
The calling to shepherd God’s people begins with belonging to the Shepherd. Before there are sermons to prepare, decisions to make, ministries to organize, or burdens to carry, there is the gracious work of God making His people new in Christ. Leadership never places anyone beyond the need for that work. Those entrusted with teaching the truth must continue being shaped by it. Those who encourage others toward holiness must remain willing to have their own lives examined and changed. Colossians 3:10 brings this responsibility into clear focus: “and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”
Paul places this statement within the reality of the believer’s union with Christ. Earlier in the chapter, he speaks of having been raised with Christ and calls believers to seek the things above. Their lives are hidden with Christ in God. These truths establish the foundation for the commands that follow. Christian obedience grows from what God has done through His Son. Church leaders therefore serve from an identity received by grace. The approval of a congregation, the growth of a ministry, and the recognition of other leaders cannot provide the security that belongs to those whose lives are held in Christ.
The language of putting on the new self describes a decisive change of identity and allegiance. Through Christ, believers have entered a new life, and the patterns belonging to their former existence no longer have a rightful claim upon them. Yet Paul also says that this new self “is being renewed.” Here, a completed change and an ongoing transformation stand together. Leaders must hold both truths faithfully. Conversion is real, and sanctification continues. Years of service do not make repentance unnecessary. Experience does not eliminate the need for correction. Spiritual maturity includes a growing readiness to submit every part of life to the Lord.
This matters because ministry can create the appearance of growth while concealing resistance to it. A leader may become more skilled at speaking, more efficient at administration, and more confident in public settings without becoming more patient, truthful, or loving. Gifts can develop while character remains neglected. The language of Scripture can become familiar even when its demands are being avoided. Colossians 3:10 calls leaders to welcome a deeper work than professional improvement. God is renewing people in the image of their Creator. His purpose reaches beneath visible performance into desires, judgments, relationships, and the use of power.
The reference to the Creator recalls humanity’s original calling to bear God’s image. Human beings were made to reflect His goodness within His creation, living in dependence upon Him and treating one another with dignity. Sin has corrupted that vocation, turning dependence into rebellion and stewardship into self-interest. Renewal in Christ restores people toward the life God intends. In the same letter, Paul identifies Christ as the image of the invisible God. The direction of Christian transformation is therefore made visible in Jesus. Leaders learn what renewed humanity looks like by attending to His holiness, compassion, truthfulness, humility, and obedient love.
For church leaders, this gives a searching standard by which to evaluate ministry. Does the exercise of authority reflect the character of Christ? Do people encounter patience when they bring difficult questions? Are those with little influence treated with the same care as those whose approval appears useful? Is truth spoken with courage and tenderness? A ministry may possess impressive organization and still cultivate fear. It may defend correct doctrine while tolerating cruelty. Renewal in the Creator’s image requires leaders to ask whether the life of the church increasingly expresses the character of the Lord it confesses.
Paul describes this renewal as taking place “in knowledge.” Such knowledge involves more than collecting religious information, though careful learning remains essential. It includes a growing recognition of God as He has revealed Himself in Christ, a deeper understanding of His will, and a life increasingly responsive to His truth. Knowledge becomes fruitful as it reshapes obedience. Leaders should study diligently, interpret Scripture responsibly, and resist shallow teaching. At the same time, they must allow what they learn to challenge their assumptions and conduct. Truth that is faithfully understood will have implications for how meetings are conducted, conflicts are handled, and vulnerable people are protected.
This requires a posture of submission when opening Scripture. The Bible must remain the word under which leaders live, even as it becomes the word they teach. Sermon preparation can never fully substitute for receiving God’s correction. A passage about humility must reach the preacher before becoming an exhortation to the congregation. Teaching about forgiveness must address resentment within the leadership team. Instructions about honesty must govern reports, finances, and public explanations. Church leaders honor the authority of Scripture when they accept its right to expose whatever is inconsistent with Christ, including practices that have become customary or personally advantageous.
The immediate context of Colossians 3:10 makes renewal especially concrete. Paul commands believers to put away anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech. He also tells them not to lie to one another. These commands belong in leadership meetings as fully as they belong in sermons. Angry intimidation cannot be excused as strong leadership. Slander does not become acceptable because it is shared privately among trusted colleagues. Misleading statements do not become truthful because they protect a ministry’s reputation. The old self often seeks respectable clothing, but its habits remain destructive. Renewal requires naming those habits honestly and putting them away.
Consider the importance of speech in the life of a church. Leaders can strengthen trust through patient explanation, careful listening, and promises they intend to keep. They can also weaken trust through exaggeration, selective disclosure, dismissive humor, and the careless repetition of accusations. Because leadership gives words additional weight, it also brings additional responsibility. A passing remark from a pastor or elder may shape how an entire group regards another person. Renewed speech recognizes that every person discussed is a neighbor to be treated justly. It refuses to sacrifice another person’s dignity for convenience, amusement, or influence.
Renewal also changes the way leaders receive correction. Where identity depends upon appearing competent, correction will feel like a threat to survival. Where identity rests in Christ, failure can be acknowledged without pretending that it is insignificant. Leaders who belong to Jesus can admit mistaken judgments, apologize for harmful words, and accept necessary accountability. Repentance should be specific enough to address the wrong committed and practical enough to produce changed conduct. When harm has occurred, forgiveness must never be used to bypass protection, appropriate consequences, or the patient work of rebuilding trust. The grace that pardons sin also teaches people to turn from it.
The following verse broadens the vision beyond individual transformation. Paul describes a renewed people among whom inherited divisions no longer determine standing before God, because Christ is all and in all. Renewal creates a community whose shared life is centered on Him. Church leaders must therefore resist favoritism rooted in wealth, education, ethnicity, social familiarity, or usefulness to the institution. The person who cannot contribute money or offer public influence still belongs within the church’s attentive care. Congregations display the new humanity in Christ when their welcome, fellowship, and opportunities to serve reflect the dignity He gives His people.
This truth deserves practical expression in the ordinary distribution of attention. Leaders should notice who is regularly heard and who is easily overlooked. They should consider whether people with disabilities can participate meaningfully, whether newcomers can understand the church’s customs, and whether struggling families can seek help without humiliation. They should listen carefully to those whose experiences differ from their own. Such practices belong to the spiritual life of the church. They reveal whether growing knowledge of Christ is producing a community that receives people with His compassion and takes their needs seriously.
Paul goes on to describe the clothing appropriate to God’s chosen and beloved people: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love. These qualities define the atmosphere leaders are called to cultivate. Compassion makes room for suffering. Kindness attends to people in practical ways. Humility remembers dependence upon grace. Gentleness refuses unnecessary harshness. Patience allows time for growth while remaining faithful to truth. Love binds these qualities together and directs them toward the good of others. None of them makes leadership passive. They shape the manner in which difficult responsibilities are carried out.
A leader may need to confront persistent wrongdoing, remove someone from a position of responsibility, or guide a congregation through painful change. Renewal does not remove these duties. It changes the spirit in which they are undertaken. Firmness can serve protection and restoration without becoming vindictive. Clear boundaries can be established without contempt. Difficult decisions can be communicated honestly without humiliating those involved. The example of Christ teaches leaders to hold truth and love together. Faithful shepherding seeks the good of the flock, especially when doing so requires courage, personal cost, and a willingness to disappoint influential people.
The ongoing nature of renewal also teaches patience with the congregation. God is forming people whose histories, weaknesses, and understanding differ greatly. Some will need repeated instruction. Others will struggle to abandon patterns that have shaped them for years. Leaders should neither normalize sin nor treat every struggle as proof that grace is absent. They are called to distinguish between defiant resistance and the uneven progress of people learning obedience. Patient discipleship makes room for questions, supports concrete steps of faithfulness, and keeps directing people toward Christ. Growth often becomes visible through small acts of honesty, generosity, reconciliation, and perseverance.
Churches should therefore evaluate fruit with care. Attendance, giving, and participation provide useful information, but they cannot fully reveal spiritual health. A congregation may be growing in visibility while becoming less teachable or more dependent upon a single personality. Another may experience outward limitations while deepening in love, prayer, and faithfulness. Leaders need to ask whether people are learning to understand Scripture, bear one another’s burdens, confess sin, practice justice, and serve without applause. Renewal in the Creator’s image offers a richer account of progress than institutional expansion alone. The church’s purpose must remain shaped by the God to whom it belongs.
Leaders themselves need the shared life through which such growth is nurtured. No one should be expected to remain spiritually healthy through constant giving without receiving care. Prayer, worship, rest, honest friendship, and accountable fellowship belong within faithful ministry. Leaders need trusted people who can ask difficult questions and speak without fear of retaliation. They need space to acknowledge weariness and seek help. Receiving these gifts expresses dependence upon God and membership in His body. The shepherd who serves a local congregation remains one of Christ’s sheep, needing His voice, His provision, and the care He gives through others.
Dear church leaders, the promise within this verse is as necessary as its challenge. The new self “is being renewed.” God has not abandoned His transforming purpose. The discovery of remaining pride, impatience, or fear can become an occasion for fresh repentance and deeper reliance upon His grace. Bring those places into the light. Receive the truth you teach. Let Christ shape your use of authority, your treatment of critics, your care for the overlooked, and your conduct when no congregation is watching. As He renews His people in the image of their Creator, may your leadership help the church recognize His character, trust His goodness, and walk together in the new life He has given.
No comments:
Post a Comment