Green Beans and the Pursuit of Holiness | Colossians 3

Pastor Scott Smith- March 15, 2026

This message walks through Colossians 3 and calls believers to embrace the reality of their new life in Christ by shifting their focus from earthly desires to the realities of heaven. It explains that following Jesus is not simply about believing the right things but about allowing the gospel to reshape how we live, think, and treat others. Through practical teaching, the message unpacks challenging passages about work, family roles, and relationships, showing that every area of life should reflect submission to Christ. Whether in marriage, parenting, or work, believers are called to live with integrity and humility, honoring God not for the approval of others but because their identity is rooted in Christ.

This message also emphasizes the need to actively confront the sinful patterns “lurking” within us and intentionally pursue a new way of living. Instead of passively drifting through life, believers must put destructive habits to death while clothing themselves with mercy, kindness, humility, patience, forgiveness, and love. The Christian life becomes a pursuit of holiness—an intentional effort to follow the way of Jesus in everyday decisions. The message ultimately reminds us that spiritual growth does not happen by accident; discipleship requires pursuit as we continually bury what harms us and build lives that reflect the character of Christ.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

All right, our Colossians series. There are four chapters in Colossians, and we are halfway there. Oh, halfway there. And that is why I love this church. Yes, yes, yes. That is so great. We did not do that in first service. That's just for second service. I love y'all. It is great. Four chapters in Colossians, chapter four. If you're new, you're like, what kind of church is this man Pon Jovi in the Bible? That's the kind of church it is right there. All right, Colossians 4. We said this. We're reading at the onset of every week. We're reading a chapter in Colossians. And so at the end of this week, you're going to be three-quarters of the way there from completing an entire book of the Bible. So congratulations to you. I want to encourage you to lean in on that if you're watching online to continue to keep up so that you can do that. And so here's what we're going to do. We're going to read through this, and then we are going to learn through it backwards. So if you have your copy of God's Word, if you have your phone, whatever it is, you can follow along. Here we go. Colossians 3, verse 1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. So put to death the sinful earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don't be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshipping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still a part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don't lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him. In this new life, it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised, uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave or free. Christ is all that matters, and He lives in all of us. Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tender-hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with the love which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from the Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. Always be thankful. Let the message about Christ and all its richness fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly. Children, always obey your parents, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not aggravate your children, or they will become discouraged. Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord. Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you are working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the master you are serving is Christ. But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back the wrong you have done, for God has no favorites. My mother, her name was Kathy Smith. She has been in heaven with Jesus for 17 years now, and um she was a lousy cook. I mean, man. Yeah, it's not where you thought that was going. She was, and I have family who watch online, and we all know this, so there's no offense taken here. Kathy Smith was a lot of things. A good cook was not one of them. And it was just her and I for several years in a single parent situation, and so it's not like she devoted a ton of time to learning how to cook, and as a result, she got by with hamburger helper and fried bologna sandwiches and spam out the can and all the things that uh growing up, you know, of lesser means in the South, we got to enjoy. But even though she wasn't a good cook, she wanted to make sure we had nutrition in our lives. She wanted to make sure we still got our vitamins. So maybe, like some of you, I chewed that really, really gross old hard flintstone vitamin every morning as a kid. Yeah, some of you know what that is. They spoil these kids nowadays, they're gummies. No. For us, it was grape-flavored rocks that we chewed on. It was awesome. But she wanted to make sure we had nutrition, and so she made sure we ate our vegetables. But she only knew how to prepare one vegetable, and it was green beans. And I know what you're thinking. Scott, you're from the South, Southern green beans, that's the best side dish ever. Yes, you're right, it is. When your grandma makes it, but grandma did not pass that skill down to mom. So the way our green beans would be prepared is my mom would get it from the can, open it up, and pour it out, including all the water and whatever liquid that was that it was preserved in, and she'd pop that bowl in the microwave for one minute and then serve it up. No salt, no pepper, no seasoning, just there you go, right out the microwave. Every single night I have eaten more green beans. I have eaten my body weight times five in canned microwaved green beans. And it got to the point where I would show up at dinner every night, Monday through Friday, we would have family dinner, and I would stare at those green beans. And it was my nemesis. Because I wanted to eat the hamburger helper, I wanted to eat the fried bologna sandwich. It made those green beans made applesauce look good. And I got to the point where I developed a strategy and it paid off. And it was this I'm gonna eat those green beans first. I'm gonna get it out the way, and then I can enjoy the rest of the meal. Now, what on earth does that have to do with Colossians chapter 3? We're gonna eat the green beans first because I said some stuff as I read from this letter, not written to us, but for us, that we can eavesdrop on, written to a specific group of people, a unique church that was young, five to six years old. And I read some stuff at the end of the chapter that I felt the tension in the room when I read it. Shall I repeat it so we can be tense yet again? Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord. I heard chuckles from men and women, so I don't know where this is gonna go. Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly. I know we got students in the room. Here it is. Children, always obey your parents. Nobody laughed at that one. For this pleases the Lord. We're gonna eat the green beans first. Slaves. Obey your earthly masters. So let's work backwards here. Let's eat these green beans first. Because the Bible is God's inspired word, profitable for instruction for us to learn from. But the Bible is a library of books written by certain people, to certain people, in a certain place within a certain context, and it is not the same context we live in. So it would help us to understand what's going on here so that we can then in turn learn from God's word and how to apply it to our lives. Slaves obey your masters. There is no argument. Slavery is evil, it is wrong. We all know this. But it is a different contextual situation 2,000 years ago in the Colossian church. It is not slavery in the way that you and I are familiar with it. Essentially, what would happen now? There were parts of the world that it was slavery, the evil that we know it to be did exist. But in this context, you have to understand what's happening is uh that word slaves is a Greek word dulos, which means a bonded servant. It meant someone who was basically entered into service for a utilitarian and monetary reason. What I mean by that is someone who maybe did not have the physical or mental capacity to go provide for themselves, to go make sure they could eat and make sure they could live and take care of themselves, would willingly put themselves into a dulos, a bond servant arrangement with an individual or a family, and they would, in order to take care of themselves, serve them and work for them. Or there were moments where people would have uh debts that they could not pay. And in return for paying off the debt, they would be entered into a bonded servant situation. And so there are layers to this conversation because in our modern American minds, we read this and it rubs us the wrong way, rightfully so, because our understanding and our interaction with what we would know slavery is evil wrong, and we've put that to bed, and we all agree on that. So when we read this, this is not the Bible's endorsement of slavery. This is the Bible's acknowledgement of a reality going on in colossae that these people needed to hear of. The greatest way, I should say the most efficient or sufficient way for us to understand what's going on here, would be to think of it like this, if we're gonna kind of modernize it and lace up our shoes with it on some level, because there is something to be learned here, and we'll miss it if we don't try to understand how our lives collide with the Colossian church and the letter that we're eavesdropping on. I would look at it like this, if it might help you understand this. Um, your mortgage is not going to pay itself. Your rent is not gonna pay itself. Your SDGE bill is not gonna pay itself, even though you're gonna get that letter when we get closer to summertime and you've got to run your AC, and SDGE shows you how much power you use versus how much power the house down the road uses and shows you how much your bill is likely going up because of unpredicted reasons. And we think, I wish that SDGE bill would pay itself. It doesn't. Those grocery bills do not pay themselves. You don't get to walk into Vonds and leave with lucky charms and people not say something to you if you don't pay. That's not how it works. So all of us are in a position, if we want to care for ourselves, where we do have to work to attain living. Can we all agree on that? So if we understand that, how can we then take what is being written to a group of people 2,000 years ago and apply it to our lives? It's this. When you do what you do in any professional environment, do that thing in a way that pleases God as unto the Lord. Because he tells them, look, you you you must be working hard when they're around. When boss is around, when the boss is there, everybody get to work. But when the boss rounds the corner, you're like, all right, what were we talking about? Anyone do that? Anyone experience that? No, you don't want to raise your hand. Nobody wants to raise their hand and admit that. It was oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I always work hard. Yeah, I always work hard. Unless the Olympics are on and I want to watch it on Peacock on my phone when I'm supposed to be working. You're like, oh, what? And oftentimes there's two things that happen if we approach it the way Paul and Timothy write. If you work as unto the Lord, not as unto man, here's what's gonna happen: you're going to form the integrity needed to honor God in all you do, even when no one else is looking. That's the lesson. Is when no one else is looking, what you're doing, do it in a way that honors God because your ability to do it is a gift from God. So give those efforts back to Him in worship. The second thing is so that when you do what you do, you're not doing it for the acclaim or the applause of man. Because the more you do that, you're going to define yourself by what others say about you. And if you work good enough, you'll be enough. And if more people tell you you're doing a good job, you're gonna feel valuable. But your worth is not found in your wages, your worth is found in your identity in Christ. So that you no longer chase your identity by your performance, but that you serve and you do what you do as an overflow of you serve Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior who gives you the ability to do the very things you have so that your relationship with God overflows into your lives. That's the lesson we can learn from that. That's our first bite of green beans. Let's go to the next one because this one's more fun, especially for our married couples in the room. And I understand I shared this earlier, right? It was a part of a single parent family for a while. So I'm gonna ask any of any of our friends uh who are uh, you know, that's your family dynamic from one to another, I would ask. Just hang in there for a few minutes. We're gonna learn some stuff. And maybe for those who aren't married or aren't married yet, maybe we can still learn some things because this is one that gets tough to talk about because the word submission is hard for most people. I don't want to submit because if I submit, it means I have to give up. Has anybody been blessed with the gift of rebellion? Anyone? No? Yeah, okay. Yeah, you know who you are. It took a few of you to get comfortable. It was like the wave. These folks over here were very quick to admit they were rebellious people. And then these folks, and then you guys saw them and you're like, well, all right, yeah, sure, I rebel. And then some of you are so rebellious, you didn't raise your hand because that was you rebelling. To that I say, respect. See, this is an uncomfortable conversation in our modern American way of thinking, but it was not an uncomfortable conversation back then. And I wrote some context down because I want it to be clear and helpful for all of us. Because context matters. When Paul and Timothy say, wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting for those who what? Belong to the Lord, and then husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly. You need to understand something. In culture at this time, men were given full authority, no matter what, over their wives and their families. There was no discussion. There was, you knew this was happening. And so new Christian women at the time, this young church, are now having to deal with a new paradigm because they've been told their whole lives, once you get married, your husband is over your life. And now you're telling us Jesus of Nazareth, who was killed and raised to life, is our Savior and our Lord. So who am I supposed to listen to? We don't think about that, but that is a natural question they were asking. So Paul here is helping them wrestle with this new paradigm and giving them some basic wisdom and instruction here. But it's not submission for submission's sake, and it is not blind submission, and equally, it is not a husband lording his position over his wife. I want you to notice that both husbands and wives get a talking to. Both of them. And the words here matter. The word submission that we read is actually to be subject to, to willingly adhere to leadership. And the word love that is used for husbands is a derivative of a word pronounced agape, which is an unconditional love, expecting nothing in return. Let that linger. Be subject to oftentimes would be used in military context, in way of rank, to adhere to an instructional set of someone who is responsible for you. Any of our friends who have served in the military understand there are officers and there are enlisted. Both serve the greater purpose, but have different roles and responsibilities. Now, here's what Paul does when he addresses both husbands and wives. He provides basic order and wisdom and this reality of mutual submission to Christ first and then to each other. And you'll see how that plays out. It's submission not based on status. It is not about the husband being better than the wife or more valuable. It is not submission based on worth or value. It is submission to Christ. His headship over the Christian family and the recognition that God's design is that a husband serve Christ by leading his wife and family in a God-honoring way and loving as Christ instructs us to love. Both husband and wife submit to Christ first. Then the wife submits to her husband, but it is not a forced submission. That's why Paul tells husbands to love their wives. He never says, Lord, your position over your wife. No. He says, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. He says, love, which is to sacrificially give, to serve them, to care for them, expecting nothing in return. This is not a transactional dynamic that Paul describes for marriages. It is an obedient posture towards Christ first, then each other. As is fitting, in such a way that reflects the heart of Christ in your marriage to one another. It is not blind submission from the wife, and it is not manipulative treatment from the husband. You both belong to Christ. And from that, the way you treat each other shows up. It is sincere. It is for the purpose of honoring God together in your marriage. And in context, it was a necessary word of instruction at the time. Those are our green beans. We will continue to journey through Colossians 3 as we return to verse 5 in Colossians chapter 3. We're going to make more people uncomfortable here. Good, here we go. We've already done it so far. So put to death the sinful earthly things lurking within you. I have not used the word lurking in a long time. But what does lurking mean? Kind of underneath the surface, right? Kind of waiting out. Did you ever maybe stay at like a hotel growing up and there was A swimming pool and it was nighttime, and and you wanted to go get in the pool, but the pool it was dark and you couldn't see what was underneath the pool. You guys know what I'm talking about? You ever done this? And maybe it didn't matter. You could be in Oklahoma. It didn't matter. You swore there was a great white shark in that pool. You just knew, and your brother's like, I dare you, I dare you to jump in it. Jump and you're like, I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it, but you don't, because you know all you see when you look at that dark pool, you can't see the bottom. All that's going on in your mind is dunno, dun-un. Because you just know Jaws is lurking. He says, You gotta put to death the sinful earthly things lurking within you. And then he lists those out, doesn't he? Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. I'm not gonna go on a diatribe here. I'm not trying to be put on the internet. I want to serve you well, so I'm going to teach you what the Bible says. It is not popular opinion, what I am about to say, but it is what God's word says. So I am going to humbly submit to the word of God and as a vessel teach you this. That word, sexual immorality, is a word in the Greek pronounced pornea. It is where we get our modern English word, pornography. And I'm going to let this teach on its own and not expound upon it. So I'm simply going to read exactly what it is. It is fornication, any sexual activity outside the covenant of marriage between one man and one woman. The marriage Jesus Himself mentions and encourages people to stay faithful in. You can take that as you will, as he says, put to death the sinful earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don't be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater worshiping the things of this world. Do you know why that is a problem today? Because it's been a problem since the invention of our ability to acquire things as a human being. Because we think if we get more, we will be more. And so greed gets produced in our spirits because we define ourselves by what we have, not who we are. It is a lesson for everyone. Now, here's what we learn here. He says, put to death the earthly things lurking within you. That's some strong language, isn't it? So I'm going to give us some practical things to do because most people do not approach sin wisely. Most people approach sin with a passive posture. We're not looking out for it. Now I'm not saying look for it. I'm saying look out for it. Looking for it, that's a different road. And it's a road that leads to places you don't want to go, keeps you longer than you want to stay, and hurts more than you think it's gonna hurt. But to look out for sin is to be aware that Jaws is in the water. It's to be aware that there are things in you that will lie to you and betray you and do not have your best interest at heart. You are told to follow your heart. The Bible tells us not to. Do you know why? Because your heart can lie to you. And your heart, sometimes the things lurking in here are like a magnet to the sins that are readily available to us. But I want affection and I want to be desired, and I want these things and I want this gratification. And you're like, well, look at that. There's that, that, that, that, and that. That offers all those. And so it's like a magnet drawing you to it because it's lurking, because you're not looking out for it. And so we have a passive approach towards sin. So it takes us off guard and we end up doing things. That's not the lesson here. He says, put to death. So I'm gonna give you something practically to do, and I want everybody to do this. And I do mean everybody, so don't just stare at me and not do this, okay? Here's what I want you to do: I want you to grab your Chuck E Cheese game mallet with two hands right here. Chuck E. Cheese game mallet. Come on, everybody do it. You know I can see you, right? I can see, other than some shadows, I can pretty much see everybody. I even if you're watching online, I want you to do this. Everybody do this. Have you ever played the game whack-a-mole at Chuck E. Cheese? The things pop up and you gotta bam, hit them down, and then the other guy pops up, bam. And then that one that you just smashed down pops back up again, bam, and you're yelling at this machine because you're trying to win a squish ball for your nephew at Chuck E. Cheese. Bam, bam, bam. Here's how practical we want to get today. God, I feel like if I just got more stuff, then I'd be happier. So I'm just gonna do whatever I want to do to get more stuff, but I need this, I want this, I want this, bam, no. God, no one's gonna see what I look at on my phone or my computer when no one else is around. So it's it's gotta be a bam. No. God, this person stinks. I do not like them. And what's really great is that other people don't like them too, and they're talking negatively about them. And so maybe I'll just chime in and join the fun.

unknown 27:38

Boom.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

No. You have to be on the lookout for the things lurking within you, and you gotta be willing to put those to death. It's real because sin is destructive. And so he teaches this. Don't be caught off guard by the things lurking within you, because the things out here to tempt you, what's in here is like a magnet, and you got to keep a lookout for it. And you're gonna have to play whack-a-mole sometimes. That's just the reality of the Christ life, is as you submit to the way of Jesus, it means putting to death the things that are destructive. It means burying those things. He says that. He says, you gotta bury them. You gotta put them to death. Okay, how do we do that? If we're gonna feed our focus, we gotta starve our distractions, and so we gotta be on the lookout for things. But we can't just focus on our sin. In fact, he says, if you want to bury these things, you gotta build in a new direction. He calls it new life. And he doesn't call it new life because it sounds good on a Hobby Lobby pillow or it's an eloquent way. He calls it new life because it is a new way of living. And in fact, in verse 1 of chapter 3, he says, set your sights on the realities of heaven. Set your sights was a navigational term. Whether on the water or on land, it meant to dial in a direction and move in that direction. The word that we have in our modern language would be strive or to keep seeking. To strive is to address a direction and move in it. It is an ongoing focus of attention and effort to keep visible in front of you. He says, look, you need to keep visible in front of you the realities of heaven, meaning you need to keep visible in front of you the character of God. Heaven is heaven because your soul is at rest, at peace with God in his perfection. So you need to set your sights on the things Jesus teaches that honor God. How do we do that? He actually says how to do that. He says, you build, you clothe yourselves, you are what is seen when people look at your life is submission to Christ, tender-hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, making allowances for each other's faults. Forgive anyone who offends you. Tap the remote, rewind it back, because we live in a day and age where everybody likes to cancel everybody, and people put up fences from offenses. Well, you offend me, so we're done. Well, you offended me, so I'm out. Forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you. And you must forgive others. And above all, clothe yourself with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony, and let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your heart. For you are called to live in peace and to always be thankful. To strive for the things of Jesus is a word we use, pursuit. It is the modern word pursuit. That's what you get when you look at this Greek context here in Colossians 1, written, and what we would say, the realities of heaven, heaven is heaven because God is there and God is holy, He is perfect. And so for us, the tangible takeaway is this understanding that as a Christ follower, we are be we are to be in pursuit of holiness. What does that mean? What is the pursuit of holiness? It's when our desire to honor God drives the decisions in our lives. It is an appreciation for the gospel and an application of the gospel. It is living like you know Jesus. It is following the Jesus way because you desire to honor God in all areas of your life. In the New Testament, that holiness involved a joyful commitment to God in God's way. It was an appreciation for the work of Jesus Christ and a commitment to the gospel mandate Jesus gave to reach people with the good news that he gave them. It was a commitment to live like Jesus teaches, to love like Jesus teaches, to give like Jesus teaches, and to help others do the same. And when you pursue holiness, that commitment shows up in every area of your lives. So I'm going to give you a phrase to write down if you are a note taker. And as I prepare to give you this phrase, I want you to consider this reality of your pursuit of holiness as you choose to follow the Jesus way. Your faith is not going to grow on accident. So here's the phrase. It alliterates. Your relationship with God will not grow if you don't work to bury the things Jesus came to save you from. It's new life because it is a new way of living. Burying the things that hurt you and pursuing the things that help you. So as we ate our green beans and worked our way backwards through this chapter, ultimately what we see is that God is growing us from the inside out. And if we choose to put our faith in Jesus and follow him, we are called to this pursuit of holiness. Burying the things that hurt. Likely having to play whack-a-mole in different seasons and situations of life. But then embracing, clothing ourselves with tender-hearted mercy, patience, kindness, love, forgiveness, grace. A pursuit of holiness, wherein our desire to honor God drives the decisions in our lives. So that is the pursuit we are called to. How will you play whack-a-mole this week with the things lurking within you to be on the lookout for? And as you're on the lookout for, your eyes are set at striving at sights on who Jesus is and his best for your life. Let's pray, and then we can linger in the lobby as we all end our time. God, thank you again for your word. I pray that your word is what's heard, and I pray that it helps us grow in our relationship with you, that you would give us the discipline to pursue you, the wherewithal to be to be uh cognizant of some of the things lurking within us, that we would be on the lookout, and that we would strive in your direction, burying the things that only take, that never give, and finding peace that comes when we pursue you. So in your name we pray. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 36:03

Thank you so much for joining us today at Sunrise Church. We hope this message encouraged you and blessed you. If one of the ways that you choose to worship with us here at Sunrise is by giving online, there's a link right here that you can follow and it'll take you to that payment portal. Everything that you donate helps not only go towards reaching people in the greater San Diego area, but also all around the world through our ministry partner. If you want to get further connected, whether in person or online, you can email this email right here, and either myself or some one of our team members will be there to answer it and help you get connected in any way that you need. Thank you so much for joining us, and we'll see you next week.