Colossians 4:5-6 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.… Those who are within are those who have "fled for refuge" to Christ, and are within the fold, the fortress, the ark. Men who sit safe within while the storm howls, may simply think with selfish complacency of those exposed to its fierceness. The phrase may express spiritual pride and even contempt. All close corporations tend to generate dislike and scorn of outsiders, and the Church has had its own share of such feeling; but there is no trace of anything of the sort here. Rather is there pathos and pity in the world, and a recognition that their sad condition gives these outsiders a claim on Christian men, who are bound to go out to their help to bring them in. Precisely because they are "without" do those within owe them a wise walk, that "if any will not hear the Word, they may without the Word be won." We owe them such a walk as may tend to bring them in, and if our walk does not seem to them very attractive, small wonder if they prefer to remain where they are. Let us take care lest instead of being door-keepers to the house of the Lord, to beckon passers-by and draw them in, we block the doorway, and keep them from seeing the wonders within. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.WEB: Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. |
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