From Christ in Me to Christ in We

In April, I finished my fourth semester of biblical Greek at Providence Theological Seminary! Four semesters of language studies was harder and far more time consuming than I thought. And as is usually the case, the more I learned Greek, the more I learned just how much I don’t know. But in the end, it was more than worth all the time and energy.

In our last class, our professor asked us about our main take-away of the past two years of Greek study. That may have been the easiest question of the year! My classmate presented an excellent paper on a passage in Colossians the week before, and something he said stuck with me because of how much of our learning was wrapped up in it. It all had to do with one word.

First let me take you back 12 years to my time in Germany at the Bodenseehof Bible School. I was fresh out of high school, trying to find my identity, and longing to grow in my faith. At this Torchbearers Bible School, I was introduced to the work of Major Ian Thomas. He was the founder of Torchbearers and a very influential teacher and preacher.

One of Thomas’ key talking points was focused on a verse from Colossians. In the first chapter of this letter, Paul writes about the person and work of Jesus. Paul then describes himself as a servant of Jesus whose goal it is to fulfill the ministry Jesus had given His followers. Part of that ministry is to make known to the whole world the mystery which is revealed in Jesus. As Paul writes in Colossians 1:27:

“To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

The indwelling life of Christ was one of the main take-aways from my time at Bodenseehof. How amazing is it that Christ lives in me. Even the idea that God would want to dwell within me is amazing! This was described to us as the core of the Christian faith. This is the hope we have, that Jesus takes up residence in the hearts of all those who believe in Him.

As beautiful as this sentiment might be, the idea of “Christ in you” has become problematic for Western Christianity because of how much our individualistic culture has affected it. We’ve allowed individualism to inform the way we think about and live out our faith to the point where it’s “all about me.” Being a Christian is about my relationship with Jesus.

Very few contemporary music songs use “we” language. It’s all about me. It’s about what I can do for God, who God is to me, and my commitment to follow Jesus. Most Western protestants have been trained to speak of their faith in first-person language as well. I have a personal relationship with God because Jesus lives in my heart as my personal lord and saviour.

The problem with a personal Jesus is that it leaves little need for a community of believers. The trend of my generation has been to say that I can follow Jesus without the Church. I don’t need to be in fellowship with other Christians because the most important part of faith is that Jesus dwells in me. Anything other than me and Jesus is bonus (i.e. unnecessary).

Let’s jump back to last semester as our class took on the painstaking task of translating all of Colossians. By this time, we had three semesters of Greek behind us, spending most of our time on Greek grammar. As is the case with all language, we learned that we always lose something in translation, even with very simple words.

Unlike English, Greek differentiates between the singular and the plural second person personal pronoun. In English, we use the same word “you” regardless of if we’re talking to one person or a group of people (unless of course you live in the South where “y’all” is a regular part of your vocabulary). In Greek however, these are two distinct words.

I was very surprised to learn that when Paul writes about this mystery that has been revealed, he says that it is “Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν.” ὑμῖν is the plural form of the second person personal pronoun, something we lose in English when we simply translate it as “you.” The hope of glory that we therefore have is not Christ in “you,” but Christ in “y’all!”

All of the instances of “you” that we read in this chapter of Colossians are plural. Paul wasn’t addressing an individual Christian or a group of Christians on an individual basis. He was talking to the Church as a collective. Christ doesn’t dwell in me - Christ dwells in us. The “us” is Christ’s body - the Church. This is the profound mystery that we have been invited to experience.

Furthermore, my classmate noted in his paper that the preposition that we translate as “in” can also be translated as “among” which may make more sense in the context. This gives new light to what Jesus Himself said in Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

“A personal relationship with Jesus can’t be understood outside of the context of God’s indwelling presence in the collective - the Church.”

After 12 years of loving Colossians 1:27, I now love it in a whole new way. Being a Christian isn’t simply about saying a prayer to invite Jesus to live in my heart. That’s not what Paul or any of the early apostles advocated for. That’s not to say that personal connection with God isn’t possible or good. It’s very much part of the spiritual life and the big reason why spiritual disciplines are so important. But a personal relationship with Jesus can’t be understood outside of the context of God’s indwelling presence in the collective - the Church.

The North American church needs to be careful with an over-individualized view of faith. Scripture in general, and Paul specifically in Colossians 1 pushes us to see the bigger picture of God’s plan for the world - a plan that necessitates community and relationship. Christ didn’t come for you, He came for y’all. Christ doesn’t save you, He saves y’all. Christ doesn’t dwell in you, He dwells among y’all!