Confidence in the genuineness of any valuable commodity is often difficult. In 1300 King Edward I of England decreed that gold and silver had to be tested and approved by master craftsmen before being sold. Later, London artisans were required to bring finished metal goods to Goldsmiths’ Hall to be checked, and if those items met the quality standards of the craftmasters there, they would be marked with a special stamp of approval—called a Hallmark. But over the years the word came to refer to any mark guaranteeing purity or genuineness.
What is the hallmark of genuine Christianity? What is the outward sign that a person is truly Christian, or that a community of Christians is the real thing? What is the inevitable fruit of obeying the gospel? There are many potential hallmarks:
- Ongoing repentance (for eg Acts 20:21, Col 3:5);
- Faith, love and hope (1 Cor 13:13, Col 1:4–5, 1 Thes 1:3);
- Humble listening to God’s word (1 Jn 4:6, Jas 1:19–22);
- Longing for Jesus to return (1 Thes 1:10, 2 Tim 4:8).
But I have been struck by another recurring note as the Bible describes those who know God in Christ: thanksgiving.
The Beginning of Thanksgiving
Lack of thanksgiving is the hallmark of the rebellious, unregenerate human heart (Rom 1:21). There is something pathetic and perverse when people’s hearts are filled with joy at the experiences of delight the world delivers, yet they refuse to thank the God from whose hand they come. Enjoyment of a delicious meal, a stunning sunset, an intimate moment—all have the capacity to overflow in thanks to their creator, but instead there are vague nods to Mother Nature or lucky stars. The truth gets suppressed because giving thanks to God means acknowledging his goodness and our dependence. It runs the risk of entering the world of moral obligation towards God which secular humanity wants to avoid at all costs.
When a person stops suppressing the truth and quits their rebellion, thanksgiving to God springs to life. At first it may only be gratitude for the experiences of common grace— food that nourishes the body and tastes good to boot, relationships that bring connection and joy, or the expanse of incredibly blue sky that thrills the eye. ‘For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving’ (1 Tim 4:4). The simple act of turning our joy in life into thanks to God is a profoundly relational event. Everything has changed.
But simple thanks to our Creator is the shallowest of Christian thanksgiving. For all true Christians have experienced God’s special grace to us in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Every page of the New Testament rings with the thrill of grace lavished on undeserving sinners. Such a wonderful truth brings many responses from our hearts, including repentance and faith and love and hope. But it also brings thanksgiving in truckloads.
Thanksgiving in Paul’s Letter to the Colossians
I recently read through Paul’s letter to the Colossians and was struck by how pervasive thanksgiving is in this short letter. It begins with Paul who overflows with thanks to God every time he goes to pray for the Colossian Christians (1:3). Even though he has never met them, their response to the gospel of God’s grace becomes the source of ongoing thanksgiving, not to the Colossians but to God whose gospel has borne fruit in their lives. Do you know anyone who has come to trust Christ Jesus? Doesn’t the mere recollection of them bring thanks to your heart and lips?
As Paul shares his prayer for the Colossians, thanksgiving again features:
May you be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. (Col 1:11–12, emphasis added)
Even in trying and traumatic circumstances, Paul longs that they not simply endure through gritted teeth but with joyful thanksgiving. That would be extraordinary, and will take God’s limitless power to achieve, but it is worth achieving.
The solid ground for this thanksgiving is that God has qualified the Colossians to share in the inheritance of God’s people. Where this confidence is taken away, thanksgiving is threatened.
Threats to Thanksgiving
Distortions of the gospel will not create a life of joyful thanks. It appears that the Colossians were coming under the influence of some who subtly denied that through Christ they are fully qualified (2:16, 18). The true gospel tells me that Christ has fully qualified me: in him I am justified and adopted. Distortions of the gospel often exploit my feelings of inadequacy. They tell me I need to try harder, do more, get better in order to come up to standard, which only exacerbates my feeling of inadequacy. And feeling inadequate banishes thanksgiving far from my heart and lips. Instead of joy, I am overcome with guilt and doubt. However the true gospel assures me that in Jesus I have come to fulness (2:10), guilt has been nailed to the cross (2:14) and all my sins have been forgiven (2:13).
Thanksgiving in the Christian Life
The central call of the letter concludes with ‘abounding in thanksgiving’ (Col 2:6–7). It is not clear whether Paul is urging them to abound in thanksgiving, or whether he envisages that their continuing to walk in Christ will inevitably result in thanksgiving overflowing from them. Both are true. The fruit of being in Christ is thankfulness; and deliberate thankfulness also needs to be encouraged.
As Paul describes the life of those who are God’s chosen, holy and dearly loved children in chapter 3 verses 1 to 17, gratitude again comes to the fore. When the message of Christ dwells among us richly, fuelling our singing, our hearts will be filled with gratitude to God (3:16). In verse 17 Paul urges us to give thanks to God the Father through the Lord Jesus in whatever we are doing or saying. Thanksgiving is inevitable for those who know the message of Jesus; it also something we should consciously choose.
Thanksgiving and Evangelism
As Paul’s mind turns to evangelistic opportunities (4:2–6), he urges the Colossians to ‘Devote … [themselves] to prayer, being watchful and thankful’ (verse 2). I don’t think it is a stretch to see thankfulness included in what it means for their ‘conversation [to] be always full of grace, seasoned with salt’ (verse 6). Surely our thankfulness to God the Father for all his blessings, both temporal and eternal, will stand out to our non-believing family and friends.
Christian thankfulness is a habit of the heart. Its source is consciousness of the grace of God to us in the Lord Jesus. It is an obligation but it is usually not experienced as obligation. Instead it is experienced as joy produced by God’s love for us. And so it is a fruit of the gospel you will find everywhere the true gospel is preached and believed. It is a hallmark of genuine Christianity.
