The Character of the True Team / Colossians 3:1-14
Welcome to the Well
Amen. Amen. Why don’t you grab a seat? We are in for a treat this week in a big way because I get to introduce a dear friend. A couple of years ago, we met and struck up a friendship. That turned into one burrito, and then another, and the next thing you know, we developed—at least I did—a little bit of a man crush on this guy. As often as I could hang out with him, I wanted to.
He said, “Well, why don’t you come preach at my church?” And I said, “Man, that’d be an honor.” So I had the privilege to go and preach at Saint Rest Church, and the history and heritage of that was awesome. I said, “Man, we’ve gotta return the favor.” With the Well Community Church having multiple venues and services, we decided to bring Pastor in, capture his teaching, and share it across our community this weekend.
I want to introduce our pastor whom we get to sit under this evening. He is a Valley native, grew up in Stockton, California, attended Fresno State studying sociology, and earned his degree from Fresno Pacific University in business with an emphasis in organizational leadership. He serves as the campus pastor at Fresno Pacific under the leadership of Dr. Angelus Wilson, whose son, Alex, is one of our pastors on staff. This man is deeply committed to our city, deeply committed to being faithful to the Word of God, married to his sweet wife Jessica—Lady J, or the First Lady, however you prefer to call her—and he has three beautiful daughters: Faith, Giselle, and Riley.
Could we welcome to the pulpit here at the Well Community Church, Pastor DJ Criner?
What a tremendous honor. What a privilege to stand before you, to see those who are seated here and those joining us. It is an absolute honor. Do me a favor: bow with me in a word of prayer.
Father, it’s another day’s journey, and Lord, we’re glad about it. We’re glad to be in the land of the living. We’re glad, Father, that today was not our death day, but You have given us another opportunity to speak to Your people, to evangelize, to love on people, and to show others what it means to truly serve You. Father, all to be like You—we give everything that we have just to know You, because You gave everything that You had to know us. As we come to the point where the preached gospel is declared, empty me out so that You can fill me up. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. And let all of God’s people say amen. Amen.
The New Playbook and the New Uniform
Our study comes from the book of Colossians, the third chapter. For the purpose of our study today, we will consider verses 1 through 14. Colossians is in the New Testament. If you get to Revelation, you went too far—come on back! If you get to Acts, you went too far back—come up a little bit! Colossians starts with a “C.” Y’all can laugh a little bit, it’s okay.
Colossians 3:1-14 (NASB)
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, [and] abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its [evil] practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him– [a renewal] in which there is no [distinction between] Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things [put on] love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
If I may, I want to put a tag to this text: The Character of the True Team.
Many people know that I am a diehard Golden State Warriors fan. I became a diehard Warriors fan when Steph Curry was drafted. Before that, I was a diehard Sacramento Kings fan until Robert Horry hit that ugly shot against the Kings, and the Los Angeles Lakers ended up going to the NBA Championship in 2002.
This past season, the Golden State Warriors lost against the Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron James—who considers himself the king, though he is not the true King, for the King of Kings does not have a receding hairline—held up the trophy, and the Warriors were declared the losers of the championship. But then Golden State picked up a superstar named Kevin Durant from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Something fascinated me about that transition. Kevin Durant constantly stated that there is a different methodology when it comes to the Golden State Warriors’ style of play. In Oklahoma City, it was just two superstars: Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. However, in Golden State, there were three superstars plus Kevin, making four. Durant said, “There is a different playbook that I have to learn. There are different demands that I have to meet. But more than anything else, there is a different uniform that I have to wear.”
The style and foundation of being a Thunder player is different from being a Golden State Warrior. The demands of playing for a franchise that had never won a championship are quite different from the demands of joining a team that has championship rings. And, of course, the uniform is completely different.
That says something powerful to us. When we are picked up by a new team, instantaneously there is a different style, a different method, a different foundation, and a different character required. There are different demands, especially because this team has already won. And you have to take off that old uniform and put on a new one.
How wonderful it is to be a Christian on a team that wins every single year, led by the true King, Jesus Christ! It is wonderful to know that when I got on this team, I wasn’t traded—I was picked up. Picked up from darkness, snatched out of a life of sin, and placed into this marvelous light. Not running the floor with Steph, but with Jesus the Christ; not with Draymond, but with Moses; not with Klay Thompson, but with Elijah; not with Kevin Durant, but with Peter, James, and John.
In order to step on the court, you have to step out with a new mindset, new thoughts, and a new way of doing things.
Grounded in the Resurrection
Paul begins this passage with the word “therefore.” Therefore is always there for a reason. “Therefore” literally means: as a result of what was just said, what was just taught, what was just established. Paul is saying: since that old life is no longer you, since you have become a new creation, and since you live for Him, there is a completely different behavior you must walk in.
Paul is talking to us about practical living, but practical living must rest on the foundation of theological truth. Our death and resurrection with Christ has discharged us from the yoke of the ceremonial law and granted us full access to God. Paul presses down upon us the duties of what it means to be on this new team. Because we know who Jesus Christ is, and because we know He was truly raised from the dead, our identification with Him is real.
Living in Christ does not mean we get to live however we want to live. We must walk closely with God, with the instincts of evangelism on the tip of our tongues. Nothing on this earth should have more appeal to us than what is in heaven. Paul exhorts us to set our hearts on heaven and take our eyes off the temporal fantasies of this world that will never last.
Stop submitting yourselves to the world’s playbook. If you have been taken out of this world and snatched onto a new team, why are you still studying the playbook from the team you left? Why are you still wearing the uniform of your old team, following the demands of a team that didn’t want you anyway?
You have been delivered from that playbook and raised with Christ. When a person surrenders their life to Jesus, God forgives their sins and accepts them in Christ. Your identification is now bound to Jesus’ death and resurrection. God sees you as having died with Christ and having been raised with Christ.
Even though you and I were not physically there at the garden tomb, God, in His supremacy, foreknowledge, and sovereign wisdom, considers us to have been there. Because He loves His Son, God counts our faith as the real thing. He counts us as having died to the world and risen to new life. The old sinful world is over; it no longer has any rightful claim over us.
Since we are no longer part of team world, we should not consume our minds with the things of the world. Heaven should consume our thoughts.
Romans 12:2 (NASB)
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
The supremacy and sufficiency of God—the proof that He can do anything but fail—is anchored in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That resurrection proves that Jesus is exactly who He said He was. It saves us, justifies us, and gives us power to live victoriously over sin. It guarantees that when this earthly tent is taken down, we have a house in heaven not built with human hands. Our credit was never good enough to purchase that heavenly home, but Jesus stepped in as our cosigner and signed His name in blood.
Take your index finger and hold it up in the air. Now take your other hand and wrap it tightly around that finger. We were once exposed and naked to the world, but Jesus wrapped Himself around us and covered us. When God looks at you, He sees your covering. When the enemy tries to destroy you, he has to deal with your covering.
Isaiah 54:17 (NASB)
‘No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me,’ declares the LORD.
Because we are hidden in Christ, the foundation of our life is transformed. That is why you can turn off the television and pick up the Word. That is why you can wake up singing “Oh Happy Day.” That is why when somebody cuts you off in traffic, you can say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord,” instead of cussing them out.
Demand #1: Put the Old Nature to Death
Being on this team comes with serious demands. These demands are not gentle; they are violent. Paul gives two aggressive commands: put something to death, and strip something off.
Putting something to death targets what enslaves your own body and damages you internally. Stripping something off removes what harms and destroys the people around you.
Paul tells us to violently put to death the evil longings of our earthly body. You cannot accomplish this by simply setting passwords on your phone or installing secret codes on your computer to avoid pornographic websites. Human nature is devious, and flesh will always try to bypass a password to get what it craves. Defeating sin is not about hiding a phone under the mattress. True victory only happens through Jesus Christ acting by the power of the Holy Spirit.
You must take up your cross daily and treat your flesh as dead to sin. Human discipline alone cannot permanently conquer sin. The decisive difference between mere human self-discipline and godly transformation is Jesus Christ.
Paul names what must die: sexual immorality, impurity, sinful passion, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. These things bring down the wrath of God. God’s wrath is not a petty tantrum because someone stepped on His toes; it is His righteous, holy opposition to sin.
Put these things to death, first, because sin grieves God’s heart. Second, put them to death because that is not who you are anymore. That belongs to your past. That was the old you that hung out in the clubs, frequented the lounges, and cruised the streets looking for trouble.
Every single person in here used to be a “used to.” Don’t get it twisted and assume that because you attend church, you were never an “ex-something.” No matter how sanctimonious you look, or how quickly you quote Scripture before meals, none of us woke up in the sanctuary, bathed in the baptismal pool, or spent our youth entirely sinless.
Romans 7:21-24 (NASB)
I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
Thank God for Jesus! He snatched you out of that life and brought you into His marvelous light. Since you have been brought from death to life, kill what used to hold you captive. Kill it violently. Don’t lightly tap it, don’t moisturize it, and don’t negotiate with it. Put it to death, stomp on it, and check back to make sure it is completely dead.
You had a “but God” moment. You were heading in the wrong direction—but God. You should have faced destruction—but God. Jesus went to the cross, and that became your turning point.
Demand #2: Strip Off the Filthy Garments
Now comes the second demand: strip off the old garments. I’m not talking about dancing out of your clothes like David; I’m talking about violently casting off filthy, toxic spiritual garments.
What do we strip off? Anger, rage, malice, slander, obscene language, and lying. Rid yourself of everything that belongs to the world’s culture. The sins you put to death were destroying you, but the sins you must strip off destroy other people. If you keep speaking and reacting the way you used to, nobody will believe your testimony. They won’t believe that Christ has set you free.
Tell somebody: That was then, but this is now!
I used to lie, I used to cuss, I used to gossip—but that was then, and this is now. You cannot play for the championship team while acting like you’re still on the losing squad. If you don’t take off those dirty clothes, you will end up spewing wrath on the very people who are your spiritual family.
Paul dismantles every worldly dividing line that fractures human community. He addresses race—there is no longer Greek and Jew. He addresses religious ritual—there is no longer circumcised and uncircumcised. He addresses culture and education—whether barbarian or Scythian. He addresses socioeconomic status—whether slave or free.
In Christ, all those worldly divisions fall away. We are one family. You cannot treat your brother or sister with worldly contempt, regardless of their background, their status, or their political party. We are all precious in His sight.
Putting on the New Uniform
Paul tells us to kill the old flesh and strip off the old clothes. But if you take off the old clothes without putting anything on, you are left naked. God never intended for His people to walk around spiritually exposed. He wants you clothed in garments of grace so that the moment people see you, they recognize your team.
My five-year-old daughter attends a private school that requires uniforms. When I drop her off at choir near Barstow and Fresno Street, people immediately know where she goes to school by what she is wearing. One day I tried to put a San Francisco 49ers jersey on her for school. She said, “Daddy, I can’t wear that.” I joked with her, but she looked at me and said, “Daddy, I have to wear the school uniform. It identifies who I am.”
The uniform identifies the student. In the same way, the believer’s character identifies the Savior. You cannot walk around in the world’s gear, and you cannot walk around naked.
Jeremiah 1:5 (NASB)
‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.’
You are chosen, holy, and deeply loved. God handpicked you with sovereign intention. Because you are set apart, you are called to dress the part.
You don’t put on the new uniform violently like you took off the old rags. When you pick up fresh, pressed garments from the dry cleaners, you handle them with care. You put them on intentionally.
Put on mercy so people can see it. Put on kindness so people can feel it. Put on humility, gentleness, and patience. Put on forbearance—exercising self-control through every circumstance. Put on forgiveness—freely forgiving others just as the Lord has forgiven you.
Above all these garments, put on love. Love is the belt that holds the entire uniform together. If you take off love, everything else falls apart; you will lose your patience, your kindness, and your willingness to forgive. Love binds the whole outfit into perfect unity.
The Hall of Fame
How do we know this team wins in the end? Just look at the Hall of Fame roster.
Moses laid down his violent past, picked up a shepherd’s staff, and led God’s people straight through the Red Sea. David laid down his failures, turned back to God in repentance, and served the purpose of God in his generation.
Look at the true Captain of our faith: Jesus Christ. He stepped down from heavenly glory, entered our broken world, and walked the Via Dolorosa. When He reached Calvary’s hill, love and mercy held Him to that cross.
Luke 23:34 (NASB)
But Jesus was saying, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.
On that cross, Jesus made the full down payment to bring you onto His team. You cost too much to ever go back to where you came from. You have been through too much to return to the things you used to do.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NASB)
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, [he is] a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become brand new. Welcome to the team.