When Opposition Becomes Opportunity

Scripture

2Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. 3Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. 4Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. 5Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. 6Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. Colossians 4:2-4

Observation

If anyone had a reason to hate the oppression of the Romans it was certainly Paul. They had thrown him in prison for preaching about the reign of King Jesus. This was illegal in Rome and a threat to the Caesar. Yet, Paul isn’t writing the church to ask for sympathy or to rally them to grab their picket signs and pitchforks. No, instead he’s asking the church to pray that this “opportunity” wouldn’t be squandered. Wait! What? How did he see this opposition as opportunity? As far as Paul was concerned he wasn’t the captive as much as he had a captive audience. He describes it this way, “12Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. 13As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.” (Philippians 1:12-13) His prison was his pulpit, his loss was a launchpad, and his setback was a setup for comeback. Then, Paul applies this powerful perspective to the persecuted Christians.  He reminds them that, they too,  have been given the same opportunity to live wisely among those who don’t know Jesus.

Application

Why should we have “attractive” speech towards those attacking us? Why should we have a reasoned response seasoned with grace when others are reacting in hatred toward us?  The answer is in the word “opportunity.” There are two primary Greek words for time. Chronos is the word used for our clock time. When we look at our clock we never have enough time, let alone make time to spend time with those who are hateful, hurtful or just on the other side of an important issue. We have used this excuse as Christians to cancel the very people we are called to connect with through the grace of Jesus. Paul is calling us to recognize this as a kairos moment.  This Greek word indicates a “divine opportunity, a decisive or appointed time.”  For example, if someone is drowning in the ocean we don’t stand around on the shore debating whether they should be saved. We don’t yell at them and ask if they watch Fox or CNN, did they vote for Trump or Harris, where do they stand on the immigration issue in the US or on the Israel/Iran war in the Middle East. No, we recognize innately that we have been given an opportunity (kairos) to save a life due to sheer proximity and we must do everything in our power to rescue them before they go under. In fact, the Greek word for “redeeming the time”  (exagorazomenoi) means “making the most of, buying up"—from the root exagorazō, meaning to buy out or rescue from loss. This is present middle participle—an ongoing personal action.  In other words,  every where we go and in everything we do as we follow Jesus we must walk in discernment and Spirit-led responses, tailored to the person in front of us. The world demand we take a side and Jesus calls us to take a stand and love the person enough to put the focus back on Jesus.

Prayer

Lord, this is a kairos moment. With conflict on every  side and everywhere I look both locally an globally You’ve called me to be a peacemaker. Have my words been seasoned with grace or have I been handing out bland spiritual platitudes because I don’t want to take the time to hear the persons heart behind the rhetoric. I don’t have the luxury of writing people off because You died for everyone. Help me to see these obstacles and oppositions as opportunities for Your Gospel of grace. I don’t want to miss this moment because I’m so focused on what matters to me rather than what matters most in the scope of eternity.