The pre-eminence

And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, – Colossians 1.18-19

Everyone likes a little bit of pre-eminence. Sadly some of us like it more than others and some of us like it far too much. This has always been an issue and a problem in the church. In 3 John we read about a man who thought pretty highly of himself - 'I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the pre-eminence among them, does not receive us.'

Diotrophes caused all kinds of problems because of his love to be known. He wouldn't receive Paul because he was jealous. Not only that, he was 'prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church.'

This is what happens with misplaced pre-eminence. There is division and hatred and all sorts of problems.

This all happens when we forget that Jesus is the true head of the church. He is the only one who deserves pre-eminence. The rest of us are flawed men who are no better than the other.

So the key to us all getting along is the give Jesus the pre-eminence, because when we focus on Him we don’t have time to focus on each other.