The Apostle Paul's Facebook wall?

I hit the height of my Facebook "use" a few months ago and I am no longer on it every day (hour) of the week. I still enjoy the reconnects that I have made through the site and the memories that I have recalled in light of the conversations.

I remember the first time I realized that my Wall was available for my friends and the world to see. A person can start to get a sense of a person from scanning his or her wall. The standard information (Activities, Interests, Favorite Music, etc) given in the Info section provides an initial snapshot of a person. The wall, however, provides a dynamic view of a person through his or her interactions.

I was reading through Colossians for my small group study the other night and I came to the final section of the letter. In the past, I have often skimmed the descriptions and exchanges in this part of the letter because I (naively) found them to be repetitive and not as interesting as the rest of the letter.

I changed my view on this the other night. In many ways, the final greetings from Paul reveal the nature of his relationships with others from various "networks" (do you see the Hierapolis Network, Colosse Network, the Laodicea Network?). The final section is like a Facebook wall - the Apostle Paul's Facebook wall.

Of course, the individuals did not post to the letter directly but you can see the nature of the relationships and the personal interactions between Paul and others in this section. In many ways, the exhortations that Paul gives in chapter 3 of Colossians are lived out in chapter 4 and seen in these real relationships.

Go ahead and read Colossians 4 with eyes toward these relationships. You can then see other "posts" from his other letters such as 2 Timothy...