Bona Fide

Colossians 1:15-23

BONA FIDE

The internet says (so it must be true) that as an adjective, bona fide means “genuine or real” and as an adverb it means, “sincerely, without intention to deceive”. 

I can’t hear the term bona fide without thinking of a scene from one of my favorite movies, “O Brother, Where Art Thou”.  The scene is where Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney) confronts his daughters, The Wharvey Gals, after they sing, “In the Highways” at a political rally.  The girls tell him that “Mama’s got a new beau”, “He’s a suitor”, “Mama says he’s bona fide”.  Obviously, mama had been making the point to the girls that her new beau was the real deal, he was the genuine article, he was going to be their new daddy.  Apparently that was important to the girls.

It may be a stretch but you can compare the Wharvey girls’ message to Everett to Paul’s words to the church at Colossae (only without the deep Mississippi accent).

Verses 21-23.  You were once enemies of God through your sin, but because of what Jesus did on the cross – dying for you – you’ve been brought back to God’s side.  You don’t walk away from a gift like that.  You embrace such a gift gladly.  Mama’s got a new beau.

Verses 18-20.  He, Jesus, was supreme from the beginning; he towers over everyone; so spacious is He that there is plenty of room for everyone; all broken pieces of the universe (including us) can get fixed and made right because of His death on the cross.  He’s a suitor.

Verses 15-18.  We see Jesus, He is visible, and through Jesus we can see God who is invisible.  In Jesus we can see God’s purpose in creation.  Everything, everything, got started through Jesus.  He was there before anything came into being and everything that came into being was through Jesus.  He is the reason for the church.  He holds the church together and leads the church as a head leads the body.  He’s bona fide.

Jesus and what he means to the church – to us – is real and genuine.  His love for us is absolute and sincere.  He is worthy of our belief, our faith and our love.

BONA FIDE

Written by Jim Morgan