Patient Endurance

Sunday, February 25                   

Paul normally starts out an epistle with two important things, the spiritual needs of his readers and prayer in that regard.  In the epistle to the Colossians, he is very positive about their spiritual lives, and prays accordingly—thanksgiving and requests for further progress  (Col. 1:3-14).  One of the key phrases is that they should walk worthy of the Lord (v. 10).  He then itemizes spiritual traits that are needed to achieve that.  Among those traits are endurance and patience (v. 11).  I did a double take on that because they seem much the same.  As I chewed on this, I concluded that a person could endure without really having his heart in it.  When  Americans became prisoners of war, they often endured extreme conditions—cramped quarters, physical abuse, lack of food and water, and no medical facilities. They were soon emaciated and gradually wasted away, many of them dying.  They endured, albeit out of duress.  People living in poverty endure, too—also not of their own choice.  Then there are those that voluntarily endure—with a specific goal in mind—people on diets, athletes in training, students with incompetent teachers.  This is where patience comes in.  Their hearts are in it and they are willing to pay the price to reach a goal.  Endurance with patience added.  And that’s why Paul used the two words.  Christians in the early Church were persecuted by both the Romans and the Jews.  They had to endure it, but they didn’t have to endure it patiently.  This may seem to be an insignificant difference, but it isn’t.  When Christians endure persecution patiently and lovingly, it registered with their persecutors.  The godly trait of patience under duress was a powerful witness to unbelievers.  The Church grew by leaps and bounds under those conditions.  Our world today is no different.  We need the lesson of Colossians 1:3-14 just as much as they did in the first century.