Bottom Button

I have known Les Johnson since about late 1996.  A man a few more years advanced in age than I.  A man with a lot of Biblical knowledge.  A man who corrects me on occasion.  There have been, on some of those occasions, times that he attempts to correct me in my style of dress.  Let me explain.  I wear a suit coat or a sport jacket every now and then to church service and to work.  Some of those coats or jackets have two, three or even four buttons going up and down on the front.  I figure each button has about the same function---to keep the jacket closed when I want it closed.  Not Les.  It seems most times I am around Les with my jacket 'fully' buttoned, that is, all buttons accomplishing their missions, Les unbuttons the bottom one, and then tells me 'that is not in style'.  (Of course he has been doing this about 10 years---I wonder when the 'style' is going to change.)  Now, I am not one to be 'stylish'.  Stylish, in my opinion, means going along with the crowd--to be like everyone else.  Well, both in my dressing habits as far as jacket buttons are concerned, and in my daily life, I don't care to be like everyone else.  I don't mind standing out.  I LIKE all my buttons buttoned. (Maybe it's the military upbringing, but I guess I like uniformity over chaos.)

 

You're probably wondering what this has to do with anything Biblical.  Well, I can see a few possible comparisons.  First, 'being like everyone else'.  As Christians, we have been called apart from the rest of the world. (And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. (Rom 1:6 ) Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: (Col 2:20)).  Second, unity.  I like all my buttons to be in sync (~smile~).  (See John 17:23).  And third, the point I want to make in this study this morning, is how that bottom button must feel if it is not accomplishing its mission.

 

Turn to Colossians, chapter 4.    Starting in verse 7, read through verse 18.  (I am not sure how many of you keep a Bible around when (if) you read these short studies, but I hope you do, and use it instead of me putting all the Scriptures inside this document.) (Maybe I could get some feedback and see which you would prefer.).  Anyway, if you will now stop and read those verses, we can continue.

 

 

Paul was just completing a letter to the church in Colosse and 'buttoned a group of top buttons'......In the beginning of the letter, the first button was fastened during his introduction.  He praised the members of the church for their faith and demonstrated love.  The second button was pushed through the hole in the last 13 verses of chapter 1 and all of chapter 2 where he warns of false teachings and the treachery of sin.  He hooked the third button in chapter 3 by describing what is needed to live holy in the sight of God.  And finally, the last button (this is a four-button suit coat), he fastened good and tight by talking about quite a few people who are in his life, and some who would be visiting the Colossians in the near future. 

 

Each of these people could be us.  We could be the last button on the front of a suit coat or sport jacket.  Each of the persons Paul mentioned were like a button with a purpose.  They each had a mission.  They were called to DO something, not just sit there.  Tychicus, he called a faithful minister and fellow servant.  Onesimus, who we learn more about in Paul's letter to Philemon, had a mission as well.  Mark and Barnabas, along with a fellow prisoner of Paul, Aristarchus, had functions.  Justus (who Paul also calls Jesus), served a purpose here by sending greetings.  There are others in the final closing passages of this book, but the point I want to make, is that each of the people Paul refers to, had some sort of mission.  Because they fell at the end of his letter, much like the last button is the bottom on a coat, did not make their mission any less important. 

 

WE, disciples today, are also like those friends of Paul as he described them.  We all have missions to do for God.  In a list of heirarchy of spiritual buttons, we are definitely on the bottom, with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and angels above us.  We should not remain unbuttoned, but like Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus and the others to whom Paul refers, we need to accomplish our mission.  We need to be buttoned.

 

My apologies to Les if he is offended because I prefer to not be 'in style', but to make every button count.  My aplogies to each of you as well if you read this and could not understand what point I was making.  I just don't believe in putting a button on a jacket if it is not going to be used, just as much as I don't believe God would put us here on earth to do nothing.  We each have a purpose, a mission.  So, regardless if it is 95 degrees out today, no matter what style of clothes you wear, let's all button up, let's be different from the world, and let's go out there and do our mission.