WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:29.980 So, earlier this summer, I was speaking with a friend of mine who had gone away on a multi-day prayer retreat, and came back and came back. 00:00:29.980 --> 00:00:31.740 I was so thankful. 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:38.780 Anytime I hear that kind of thing from anybody, especially somebody who's a friend of mine, I was deeply thankful and encouraged to hear that. 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:43.140 But if I'm being totally honest, there was also a part of me that was a bit envious. 00:00:44.120 --> 00:00:53.140 As he described this spiritual experience, I found myself wondering, why can't I have experiences like that? 00:00:53.140 --> 00:01:02.960 Sometimes when I go away on a retreat, I just sort of feel like I'm just sort of sitting there in disciplined silence, waiting for something to happen, and I'm not quite sure what it is. 00:01:03.020 --> 00:01:09.240 And I wondered, you know, this little voice in my head started to say, does he have something that I don't have? 00:01:09.939 --> 00:01:12.819 Or is he doing something that I don't know how to do? 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:14.579 Or was it the place that he went? 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:19.959 Maybe I should ask him where he went so that I could go there, because maybe that's where God is. 00:01:20.379 --> 00:01:23.519 And maybe if I go there, I will have a similar kind of experience. 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:35.420 And I just wonder, you know, for those of us who are Christians, especially if you've been a Christian for a longer amount of time, have you ever had a season or a time where you felt like your faith was missing something? 00:01:37.340 --> 00:01:51.219 Maybe you heard someone talk about a life-changing experience or hearing God during a time of prayer or some sort of profound mystical experience that they had going to a worship service or something like that. 00:01:51.219 --> 00:01:53.299 And you hear that, and you wonder, what am I missing? 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:55.780 Why haven't I had an experience like that? 00:01:57.500 --> 00:02:01.539 The Colossians were asking the very same kinds of questions. 00:02:02.599 --> 00:02:04.200 These are mostly new Christians. 00:02:04.519 --> 00:02:05.560 They're baby believers. 00:02:05.859 --> 00:02:12.659 This is the first generation of Christians who are learning how to follow Jesus after his ascension. 00:02:13.579 --> 00:02:16.579 So these are people who are very similar to us. 00:02:16.580 --> 00:02:21.400 They've not met Jesus face to face like the apostles had. 00:02:21.860 --> 00:02:23.540 They had heard about Jesus. 00:02:24.220 --> 00:02:33.760 They had to rely on the teachings of the apostles and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in order to figure out what it means to follow Jesus. 00:02:34.820 --> 00:02:37.240 And so they're asking a lot of questions like this. 00:02:37.480 --> 00:02:39.820 They're saying, you know, okay, I've become a Christian. 00:02:39.920 --> 00:02:41.420 I've given my life to Jesus. 00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:42.520 I've received forgiveness. 00:02:43.260 --> 00:02:44.140 Now what? 00:02:44.139 --> 00:02:46.319 What do I do now? 00:02:46.379 --> 00:02:47.119 What comes next? 00:02:47.699 --> 00:02:48.239 Is this it? 00:02:48.299 --> 00:02:48.839 Is there more? 00:02:50.299 --> 00:02:52.779 And so Paul is speaking in this entire letter. 00:02:52.899 --> 00:02:55.679 He's speaking to Christians who are asking these kinds of questions. 00:02:56.179 --> 00:03:00.079 And we're going to be looking at this passage in chapter 2, verses 6 to 15. 00:03:00.679 --> 00:03:03.719 And this is really the core of the letter. 00:03:03.979 --> 00:03:06.439 This is the core of Paul's teaching. 00:03:06.699 --> 00:03:12.319 And we see in here a warning for people like us and then a way forward. 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:15.319 So let's pray and then we're going to open God's word together. 00:03:16.979 --> 00:03:22.019 Lord, we thank you for your word and we thank you that it is living and active and powerful. 00:03:23.500 --> 00:03:27.079 And we need more than anything for you to speak to us. 00:03:28.120 --> 00:03:29.479 And we pray that you would. 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:31.759 In Jesus' name. 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:32.120 Amen. 00:03:32.120 --> 00:03:41.780 So first of all, Paul issues a warning to people like these Colossians, like us, in verse 8. 00:03:41.879 --> 00:03:42.200 He says, 00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:48.400 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:52.980 according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 00:03:53.580 --> 00:03:55.099 So what's he saying here? 00:03:55.099 --> 00:04:03.060 If you've ever seen the movie 12 Years a Slave, it's a story about an African-American man named Solomon Northup. 00:04:03.959 --> 00:04:10.240 He's born free and then he's abducted and he is sold into slavery. 00:04:10.459 --> 00:04:14.840 So he's born a free man, but then he's abducted and he is sold into slavery. 00:04:15.099 --> 00:04:18.139 And just imagining that, I mean, just imagine the horror of that. 00:04:18.459 --> 00:04:22.180 And that was a fairly common occurrence in this period of history. 00:04:22.180 --> 00:04:29.840 And the problem is that once you were captured and sold as a slave, it was extremely hard to regain your freedom. 00:04:30.980 --> 00:04:34.019 Paul is essentially saying, you're all in great danger. 00:04:34.699 --> 00:04:35.939 You've been born free. 00:04:37.079 --> 00:04:40.660 You've been born free through putting your faith in Jesus Christ. 00:04:40.960 --> 00:04:43.199 Through accepting and believing the gospel. 00:04:44.040 --> 00:04:49.699 You have been born again and you've been born spiritually free from the bondage to sin and death. 00:04:49.800 --> 00:04:50.759 You've been born free. 00:04:50.759 --> 00:04:57.279 And yet you are in danger right now of being abducted and kidnapped and taken captive. 00:04:57.579 --> 00:05:02.879 Not literally, but in terms of the way you think. 00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:04.480 Right? 00:05:04.779 --> 00:05:09.079 And arguably, slavery is really a matter of the mind and heart. 00:05:10.420 --> 00:05:10.599 Right? 00:05:10.620 --> 00:05:13.980 That's really where people become slaves is in their minds and in their hearts. 00:05:14.339 --> 00:05:16.360 They're taken captive by ways of thinking. 00:05:16.519 --> 00:05:19.860 What Paul refers to as philosophies or worldviews. 00:05:19.860 --> 00:05:22.379 Now, this is not anti-intellectual, anti-philosophy. 00:05:23.139 --> 00:05:26.379 Paul was very well versed in the philosophies of his day. 00:05:26.379 --> 00:05:38.860 What he means here is ways of thinking and perceiving the world that are empty, that are deceptive, and that will ultimately lead back into slavery of one kind or another. 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:40.399 So, what's he talking about here? 00:05:40.519 --> 00:05:43.339 There were various, how would you say it? 00:05:43.339 --> 00:05:48.239 Thought leaders, influencers, spiritual gurus. 00:05:48.859 --> 00:05:50.359 In Colossae. 00:05:50.360 --> 00:06:01.939 And these are people who are gaining money and gaining status by claiming to have secret knowledge or techniques that could take people to the next level spiritually. 00:06:02.379 --> 00:06:05.040 In other words, they're selling spiritual upgrades. 00:06:06.400 --> 00:06:08.280 Want to upgrade your spiritual life? 00:06:08.420 --> 00:06:10.220 Upgrade your spiritual experience? 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:12.020 Come right this way. 00:06:12.019 --> 00:06:16.979 So, the message was essentially to these Colossian Christians, yes, you're a Christian. 00:06:17.799 --> 00:06:18.839 You believe in Jesus. 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:19.399 Great. 00:06:19.740 --> 00:06:20.359 Good for you. 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:34.159 But if you really want to experience God, if you really want to know the heights and the mysteries of what's possible in human experience, if you really want to reach your full spiritual potential, you need this other thing. 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:41.780 And that other thing would differ from one influencer and guru to the next, but the message underneath was always the same. 00:06:42.140 --> 00:06:43.439 Yes, you believe in Jesus. 00:06:43.580 --> 00:06:44.180 That's fine. 00:06:44.260 --> 00:06:47.580 But if you really want to be spiritual, you need this other thing. 00:06:48.640 --> 00:06:51.920 And this is what has come to be known as the Colossian heresy. 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:59.400 It's whenever we take Christ away from the center of our faith and make it about something other than him. 00:06:59.460 --> 00:07:12.759 So, you become a Christian, you receive Christ, and then slowly but surely, subtly, sometimes, often without our knowledge, without our awareness, Christ slips away from the center and something else comes in and displaces him. 00:07:13.180 --> 00:07:14.840 This is the Colossian heresy. 00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:24.239 And it most often happens when other popular ideas that are circulating in the culture get blended in with our Christian faith and diluted. 00:07:25.799 --> 00:07:32.819 So, it's not as though there are ideas, it's not the ideas that are completely antithetical to the Christian message. 00:07:32.819 --> 00:07:45.719 It's ideas that sound very similar, sound very compatible with Christ and the Christian worldview that slip in and subtly take over and become central in the way we go about our spiritual lives. 00:07:45.779 --> 00:07:46.939 This is the Colossian heresy. 00:07:47.300 --> 00:07:49.600 And now, there are tons of examples we could give. 00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:53.300 I want to give you a few because I want you to understand what we're talking about here. 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:59.539 When I first came to faith years ago, there was a book that everybody was reading called The Prayer of Jabez. 00:07:59.540 --> 00:08:15.260 And the author, who I think in other regards, I sort of, I think was regarded pretty highly, but the author takes a prayer, this obscure prayer out of 1 Chronicles 4, where Jabez asks God to bless him and enlarge his territory. 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:24.520 And then that author turns that prayer into a kind of repeatable spiritual formula for blessing and breakthrough in your life. 00:08:24.519 --> 00:08:30.039 So, let me ask you this, is it wrong to pray a prayer out of 1 Chronicles 4 that Jabez prayed? 00:08:31.359 --> 00:08:32.159 Absolutely not. 00:08:33.319 --> 00:08:37.939 All the prayers in the Bible are worth praying to learn more about how to pray. 00:08:38.019 --> 00:08:39.620 So, it's technically nothing wrong with that. 00:08:40.139 --> 00:08:50.019 The problem is that when you take a prayer like that out of context and you turn it into kind of a spiritual life hack, a formula for success, 00:08:50.019 --> 00:08:55.100 that's where it begins to become problematic because the message is this. 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:57.279 Yes, you're a Christian on a basic level. 00:08:58.079 --> 00:08:59.199 You have access to Jesus. 00:09:00.340 --> 00:09:07.259 But if you do this other thing, then that will really lead to the spiritual breakthroughs that you're looking for. 00:09:07.259 --> 00:09:12.980 And that's when it becomes very similar to what was happening in the Colossian world. 00:09:12.980 --> 00:09:21.200 The thing is, it's very rarely clear whether or not you're dealing with the Colossian heresy. 00:09:21.340 --> 00:09:24.560 It's not like we're just going along and you're immediately spotting it here and there. 00:09:24.659 --> 00:09:29.200 Often, this for Christians requires an enormous amount of careful discernment. 00:09:29.340 --> 00:09:31.360 Because often, it's a matter of degrees. 00:09:32.379 --> 00:09:36.180 Something can be good and fine and acceptable until it's not. 00:09:36.179 --> 00:09:41.239 And so, it requires ongoing discernment by those of us who are Christians. 00:09:41.439 --> 00:09:51.539 As new books, as new movements, as new influential teachers and preachers and gurus and thought leaders come along within the broader Christian world, 00:09:51.620 --> 00:09:54.719 we should constantly be asking ourselves questions like this. 00:09:55.939 --> 00:09:58.939 Does this thing make Christ the center? 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:03.639 Or does it imply that a relationship with Christ is insufficient? 00:10:03.639 --> 00:10:06.960 We should be asking that constantly. 00:10:07.419 --> 00:10:12.539 Does this book or idea or person emphasize long-term transformation? 00:10:14.259 --> 00:10:19.439 Or is this an offer of a quick-fix technique or solution? 00:10:20.100 --> 00:10:22.740 Because in our country, in our culture, we love a silver bullet. 00:10:24.039 --> 00:10:26.559 We love a get shredded in 30 days kind of plan. 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:35.719 We don't necessarily like the idea that change is going to be long and slow and take the rest of our lives. 00:10:36.459 --> 00:10:37.539 So, what are they offering? 00:10:37.839 --> 00:10:40.619 Does it encourage cruciformity? 00:10:41.219 --> 00:10:44.099 Or does it encourage consumerism? 00:10:46.419 --> 00:10:53.500 Cruciformity is the call to self-donation, to lay our lives down in love and service to God and others. 00:10:53.500 --> 00:10:58.840 Consumerism heightens the focus on us. 00:10:58.919 --> 00:11:03.399 It spotlights our needs, our preferences, our experiences, our desires. 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:07.100 So, is this an offer of a spirituality that calls me to cruciformity? 00:11:07.220 --> 00:11:10.440 Or does it stoke the consumerism inside me? 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:14.340 Let's consider some more examples just to sort of flesh this out. 00:11:14.340 --> 00:11:18.280 The prosperity gospel movement, right? 00:11:18.379 --> 00:11:25.379 Teaching that faith guarantees health and wealth and success if you use the right words or the right prayer techniques. 00:11:26.700 --> 00:11:29.540 Now, is it okay to pray to God and ask for the things that we need? 00:11:29.639 --> 00:11:30.060 Absolutely. 00:11:30.259 --> 00:11:35.960 Jesus says in our gospel reading, we should pray and ask our Father for our daily bread. 00:11:36.280 --> 00:11:37.680 Give me what I need for the day. 00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:38.600 Provide for me. 00:11:38.600 --> 00:11:49.000 But the problem here is that instead of union with Christ, the prosperity gospel focuses on using Christ to get what we want. 00:11:50.139 --> 00:11:58.279 Instead of seeing Christ as the blessing, it treats Christ as a tool, as a way to get blessing. 00:11:58.540 --> 00:12:00.899 And often it's financial blessing. 00:12:01.680 --> 00:12:07.120 So, that's a more obvious example of how the Colossian heresy might manifest today. 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:08.200 I'll give you another example. 00:12:09.620 --> 00:12:10.240 Purity culture. 00:12:11.860 --> 00:12:13.919 Purity culture is a very clear example. 00:12:14.840 --> 00:12:18.200 Again, are Christians called to chastity and sexual faithfulness? 00:12:18.279 --> 00:12:18.659 Absolutely. 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:20.080 Of course. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:25.379 But the purity culture movement, at least parts of it for sure, went way too far. 00:12:26.100 --> 00:12:30.659 Instead of seeing Christ as the only way to become holy by grace through faith, 00:12:31.659 --> 00:12:33.360 in a way that deals with all of our sin, 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:38.519 it overemphasized sexual purity as the path to holiness. 00:12:39.560 --> 00:12:39.899 Right? 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:42.960 It overstigmatized sexual sin. 00:12:43.740 --> 00:12:48.820 And because it did that, it did massive harm to a whole generation of people, 00:12:48.919 --> 00:12:49.800 particularly women, 00:12:50.379 --> 00:12:55.139 who felt enormous amounts of shame and self-hatred and guilt, 00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:59.279 which was the legacy of that kind of emphasis. 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:05.720 So, again, you see something that starts out within the Christian world looking like 00:13:05.720 --> 00:13:09.179 we're aiming at something that is Christ-honoring, 00:13:09.319 --> 00:13:11.919 and then slowly but surely Christ slips out of the center, 00:13:12.839 --> 00:13:13.980 and it becomes about something else. 00:13:14.039 --> 00:13:14.740 It becomes about us. 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:15.620 It becomes about works. 00:13:15.699 --> 00:13:16.759 It becomes about behavior. 00:13:17.720 --> 00:13:21.019 It becomes about earning our way into holiness and cleanliness. 00:13:21.980 --> 00:13:26.519 It becomes a way to stigmatize and make certain people feel irreparably harmed or dirty or tainted. 00:13:26.519 --> 00:13:28.539 It does enormous harm. 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:29.439 Right? 00:13:29.579 --> 00:13:35.500 That is an example of how people can so easily slip back into the chains of slavery in their minds and in their hearts, 00:13:35.699 --> 00:13:38.579 and they lose the freedom that the gospel provides. 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:41.899 Now, I want to give a couple of more subtle examples, 00:13:42.199 --> 00:13:43.899 and I think it's important to give lots of examples 00:13:43.899 --> 00:13:47.960 because it's important to see how this shows up in lots of different kinds of ways. 00:13:48.620 --> 00:13:50.939 Now, here's one that hits a little close to home for me. 00:13:52.139 --> 00:13:52.960 The Enneagram. 00:13:54.840 --> 00:13:55.240 Okay? 00:13:55.240 --> 00:13:57.720 Now, I love the Enneagram. 00:13:58.419 --> 00:14:02.460 If you don't know what it is, it's essentially a personality tool, 00:14:02.940 --> 00:14:04.639 kind of like the Myers-Briggs, 00:14:05.159 --> 00:14:07.620 although people who like the Enneagram kind of, you know, 00:14:07.960 --> 00:14:10.019 get tweaked out when you compare it to the Myers-Briggs. 00:14:10.700 --> 00:14:12.080 I've found it very helpful. 00:14:12.680 --> 00:14:14.379 I've incorporated it into counseling. 00:14:14.620 --> 00:14:18.000 I've taught other pastors and people how to use the Enneagram. 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:24.679 At best, the Enneagram, this kind of personality index, can be a helpful tool. 00:14:25.299 --> 00:14:27.200 It can help you understand yourself a little better. 00:14:27.299 --> 00:14:29.559 It can help you understand other people better. 00:14:29.899 --> 00:14:32.500 It can help put language to your differences. 00:14:33.860 --> 00:14:34.000 Right? 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:34.960 So that's very helpful. 00:14:35.179 --> 00:14:36.539 It's extremely helpful in marriage. 00:14:37.179 --> 00:14:41.179 Laura and I have really benefited from the wisdom of the Enneagram. 00:14:41.419 --> 00:14:43.720 So at best, it can be used in that way. 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:47.800 But it's very easy, and we've seen this happen as we kind of hit peak Enneagram 00:14:47.800 --> 00:14:50.519 over the last, you know, five or ten years in our culture. 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:53.320 At some point, it seems everybody was talking about it. 00:14:55.180 --> 00:14:59.660 It's easy in that context to get over-fixated on the Enneagram. 00:14:59.860 --> 00:15:05.560 Because let's be honest, it inflames that part of us that loves to talk about us. 00:15:05.559 --> 00:15:06.759 Right? 00:15:07.579 --> 00:15:13.559 It stokes that thing in me that, if I'm honest, I would say my favorite topic of conversation is me. 00:15:13.739 --> 00:15:13.899 Right? 00:15:14.099 --> 00:15:16.139 It stokes that in us. 00:15:16.379 --> 00:15:21.619 And so it can subtly shift the focus away from Christ onto us. 00:15:22.419 --> 00:15:29.679 And it's easy to start to begin to see our spiritual formation through the lens of the Enneagram 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:35.139 rather than through the Scriptures and through the person of Jesus Christ. 00:15:35.559 --> 00:15:40.439 And so subtly but clearly, the focus shifts. 00:15:40.579 --> 00:15:46.339 Christ is de-centered, and the Enneagram becomes more and more central to our spiritual pilgrimage. 00:15:46.659 --> 00:15:46.739 Right? 00:15:46.859 --> 00:15:48.439 So very close to home for me. 00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:49.279 Let me give you another one. 00:15:49.719 --> 00:15:51.079 Politically aligned churches. 00:15:52.239 --> 00:15:54.259 And we see this on the right and the left. 00:15:54.359 --> 00:15:59.899 Churches whose vision, over time, the vision of that church becomes less and less a reflection of the kingdom. 00:16:00.739 --> 00:16:04.819 Which, by the way, I don't think fits neatly into any political category. 00:16:05.559 --> 00:16:12.579 It sort of crosses a lot of boundaries and ticks a lot of people off in different ways depending on your politics. 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:13.379 Right? 00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:18.120 But more and more and more, you see some churches whose vision is less a reflection of the kingdom, 00:16:18.539 --> 00:16:21.980 and they become more and more a reflection of a certain political ideology. 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:25.820 That's another example of the Colossian heresy at work. 00:16:26.500 --> 00:16:29.820 Another example, emotionally manipulative worship services. 00:16:29.820 --> 00:16:34.200 Now, this is subtle, and it really does require careful discernment. 00:16:34.420 --> 00:16:39.680 Because, again, having great music as a part of your gathered corporate worship is wonderful. 00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:40.320 It's a blessing. 00:16:40.660 --> 00:16:44.140 It's something we should seek after and be thankful for when we have it. 00:16:44.139 --> 00:16:50.960 But in some churches or communities, you find that this particular expression of worship, 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:54.519 and I think this shows up a lot, frankly, within the evangelical world, 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:58.039 goes far beyond just having good music. 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:04.639 And if you talk to people who have been on worship teams or pastors who have come out of churches like this, 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:11.380 you realize that the whole service is sort of, it becomes an exercise in emotional manipulation. 00:17:12.840 --> 00:17:18.980 The goal becomes more and more to curate a certain kind of emotional experience for people, 00:17:19.600 --> 00:17:22.480 where you can almost predict when people are going to start crying. 00:17:23.820 --> 00:17:28.120 The problem with that is that it shifts the focus away from Christ 00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:35.239 and away from the work of God in our lives and onto our own emotional experience. 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:41.179 And what I would say is that over time, that really results in malformation for people. 00:17:42.099 --> 00:17:47.219 Because people begin to confuse the work of the Holy Spirit in them for emotional manipulation. 00:17:48.500 --> 00:17:53.859 And they begin to think, well, if I'm not hitting this spiritual peak, this spiritual high, 00:17:53.979 --> 00:17:57.699 every week, if I'm not weeping, then the Holy Spirit must not be at work. 00:17:58.119 --> 00:18:02.399 And I must not be connected to God. 00:18:03.019 --> 00:18:05.739 And they begin to believe that the only way to truly worship Christ 00:18:05.739 --> 00:18:07.899 is to get whipped up into an emotional frenzy. 00:18:08.859 --> 00:18:14.459 And so the many centuries of tradition we have of quiet, contemplative, reflective, 00:18:14.739 --> 00:18:22.639 relating and opening and listening to God gets replaced by essentially an experience in emotional manipulation. 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:29.280 And so we have to be discerning about this because there's no clear line, right? 00:18:29.520 --> 00:18:32.440 To a certain point, great music is wonderful and it's a blessing, 00:18:32.520 --> 00:18:39.140 but at some point, if it starts to become manipulative, we've got problems, right? 00:18:39.259 --> 00:18:42.840 One more example, self-help Christianity. 00:18:42.839 --> 00:18:48.919 You know, there's a lot of Instagram gurus and self-help influencers who effectively have turned Christianity 00:18:48.919 --> 00:18:52.740 into a tool to help us live our best life now. 00:18:53.139 --> 00:18:59.619 So instead of self-donation, they teach a version of the Christian life that is more about self-optimization. 00:19:01.059 --> 00:19:01.419 Right? 00:19:01.480 --> 00:19:03.839 So there are lots of examples that we could give. 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:10.220 And I'm trying to give a broad array because my sense is that some of these are going to resonate more with us than others. 00:19:11.379 --> 00:19:14.119 But this kind of thinking can show up anywhere. 00:19:14.879 --> 00:19:17.559 It can even show up in the form of relationships that we have. 00:19:17.579 --> 00:19:22.639 If you're dating somebody and that person is really strong in their faith 00:19:22.639 --> 00:19:26.899 and you're sort of coming along in your faith, you know, 00:19:26.959 --> 00:19:32.079 is your relationship with God centered on Christ or is it centered on making it work with the person that you're with? 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:32.740 Right? 00:19:32.740 --> 00:19:35.220 It can be that way with your parents. 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:36.960 It can be that way with your best friend. 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:38.859 So there's all of these. 00:19:39.480 --> 00:19:41.900 The point is we need to constantly be asking ourselves, 00:19:42.180 --> 00:19:43.720 what is at the center of my Christian faith? 00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:46.279 Is it Christ or is it something or someone else? 00:19:46.920 --> 00:19:50.059 Paul is warning us how easy it is to get deceived. 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:52.539 And then he offers the way forward. 00:19:53.779 --> 00:19:59.140 So the way forward we see actually a couple of verses up in the passage starting in verse 6. 00:19:59.140 --> 00:20:05.600 He says, therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. 00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:19.579 And friends, this sums up the entire teaching of Paul's letter to the church in Colossae. 00:20:19.579 --> 00:20:23.299 As you received Christ, so walk in him. 00:20:23.399 --> 00:20:25.059 If you had to summarize it in one sentence, that's what it is. 00:20:25.139 --> 00:20:27.379 As you received Christ, so walk in him. 00:20:27.460 --> 00:20:27.899 Keep going. 00:20:28.099 --> 00:20:29.419 In other words, let's unpack that. 00:20:29.899 --> 00:20:34.819 Live your daily life according to everything that you've been taught and come to believe 00:20:34.819 --> 00:20:38.859 about who Christ is, what he has done, and what he continues to do in the world. 00:20:40.259 --> 00:20:44.859 That's a longer, less elegant way of saying what Paul just said. 00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:46.759 Live your daily life, walk. 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:51.839 That's what in the Jewish context, walking meant ethical living. 00:20:51.939 --> 00:20:53.099 How do you live your daily life? 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:56.539 Live your daily life according to everything you've been taught, 00:20:56.839 --> 00:21:01.559 come to believe about who Christ is, what he has done, and what he continues to do in the world. 00:21:01.559 --> 00:21:04.019 This requires extraordinary intentionality. 00:21:05.779 --> 00:21:08.960 And Paul gives us several images to flesh out what this means. 00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:11.819 So imagine, again, you're a baby Colossian Christian. 00:21:11.940 --> 00:21:12.879 You're like, I've received Christ. 00:21:12.980 --> 00:21:13.460 I've been baptized. 00:21:13.859 --> 00:21:14.619 Now what do I do? 00:21:16.179 --> 00:21:20.119 Paul says, okay, the first thing you need to do, live life starting today. 00:21:20.339 --> 00:21:22.759 Live life as though you are rooted in Christ. 00:21:24.019 --> 00:21:25.879 So the image he gives us is of a tree. 00:21:25.880 --> 00:21:36.760 Imagine a large, old, you know, several hundred-year-old oak tree with its roots sunk deep down into the soil. 00:21:36.820 --> 00:21:40.780 The kind of tree you look at and you're like, you know, if the world ends and everything collapses, 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:47.020 this tree's still going to be standing because it's withstood so much because the roots go so deep. 00:21:47.820 --> 00:21:49.660 You know, the roots are sunk deep into the soil. 00:21:49.880 --> 00:21:52.760 And Paul's saying, when you received Christ, when you put your faith in him, 00:21:52.940 --> 00:21:54.420 maybe you didn't feel anything. 00:21:54.420 --> 00:21:58.060 Maybe it just felt like a normal day, normal Tuesday. 00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:02.740 But when you did that, you were planted in him. 00:22:03.500 --> 00:22:07.700 In other words, your life was joined to his life once and for all. 00:22:08.420 --> 00:22:14.120 And so he's saying, you don't need to uproot yourself and go looking for somewhere else or someone else. 00:22:14.200 --> 00:22:15.539 You don't need anything else. 00:22:17.560 --> 00:22:20.279 You need to focus on growing where you've been planted. 00:22:20.279 --> 00:22:24.480 You need to focus on deepening those roots. 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:29.339 So it's a way of saying, you don't need anything more than Christ. 00:22:29.539 --> 00:22:31.420 You simply need more of Christ. 00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:33.619 That's what you're missing. 00:22:34.740 --> 00:22:36.160 The roots need to go deeper. 00:22:37.420 --> 00:22:39.000 And then he adds a second image to that. 00:22:39.720 --> 00:22:40.799 Being built up. 00:22:40.920 --> 00:22:42.220 Seek to be built up. 00:22:42.220 --> 00:22:44.039 Now, rooted is passive. 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:45.339 That's a past tense. 00:22:45.420 --> 00:22:45.900 It happened. 00:22:46.299 --> 00:22:47.240 It's not going to change. 00:22:47.380 --> 00:22:48.019 You were rooted. 00:22:48.180 --> 00:22:48.779 You are rooted. 00:22:50.259 --> 00:22:52.740 Built up implies ongoing action. 00:22:53.400 --> 00:22:56.059 This verb is, this is the thing that we're focusing on doing. 00:22:56.900 --> 00:23:00.440 So you're rooted, but we also need to seek to be built up. 00:23:02.019 --> 00:23:03.160 He's mixing metaphors. 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:03.680 I know. 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:04.759 But it's his prerogative. 00:23:04.839 --> 00:23:05.360 He's an apostle. 00:23:07.860 --> 00:23:09.079 Seek to be built up. 00:23:09.079 --> 00:23:12.159 We should regularly find ways to grow in our faith. 00:23:12.619 --> 00:23:12.799 Right? 00:23:13.500 --> 00:23:14.539 Now, what does this mean? 00:23:14.679 --> 00:23:25.019 It's the well-worn, well-trodden paths of discipleship and spiritual formation that Christians have been relying on for 2,000 years. 00:23:26.779 --> 00:23:27.379 Right? 00:23:28.119 --> 00:23:29.119 It's prayer. 00:23:31.299 --> 00:23:32.639 It's daily prayer. 00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:39.000 It's the liturgies that we inhabit that shape us. 00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:48.480 It's opening God's word with a group of people and discerning together how God is speaking to you. 00:23:49.540 --> 00:23:51.780 It's joining together for worship. 00:23:51.779 --> 00:23:55.599 Not necessarily getting whipped up into any kind of frenzy. 00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:57.680 Although, when we get emotional, that's beautiful. 00:23:58.319 --> 00:23:59.799 We love when that happens. 00:24:00.980 --> 00:24:05.879 But it's about spending an hour or two in a kind of blessedly self-forgetful state. 00:24:06.740 --> 00:24:12.339 Where for just a little while my focus isn't on me and my insecurities and my grievances and my anxieties. 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:15.859 It's on the people sitting to my right and to my left. 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:18.740 It's on the God who is with us. 00:24:18.740 --> 00:24:21.779 And for just that little while, I'm turned outward. 00:24:22.279 --> 00:24:26.599 And I'm reminded once again how beautiful and magnificent Jesus is. 00:24:28.039 --> 00:24:29.559 And it's doing that regularly. 00:24:29.779 --> 00:24:30.980 It's the spiritual disciplines. 00:24:31.859 --> 00:24:38.799 It's leaning into and resting into the rhythms that have guided and shaped the church for centuries upon centuries upon centuries. 00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:45.299 It's knowing that there are times to fast and focus on our need for Christ. 00:24:46.119 --> 00:24:51.000 And there are times to feast and to celebrate all of God's blessing and goodness in our lives. 00:24:52.299 --> 00:24:55.180 It's knowing that there are times to focus on repentance. 00:24:55.180 --> 00:24:58.480 On our sin. 00:25:00.220 --> 00:25:03.000 Times for memento mori to remember that we're dust. 00:25:03.500 --> 00:25:06.460 And one day we will be dust once more. 00:25:07.160 --> 00:25:10.140 And then there are times to celebrate and focus on the hope of the resurrection. 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:12.860 And that one day death will be eradicated. 00:25:12.980 --> 00:25:14.240 All tears will be wiped away. 00:25:17.220 --> 00:25:18.820 And beauty will come out of ashes. 00:25:18.819 --> 00:25:22.839 This is what he has in mind. 00:25:22.980 --> 00:25:23.939 Seek to be built up. 00:25:25.259 --> 00:25:31.740 Through the quiet, small, often unseen acts of daily obedience. 00:25:32.599 --> 00:25:34.079 Where we are choosing Christ. 00:25:34.779 --> 00:25:35.559 Choosing Christ. 00:25:36.099 --> 00:25:36.819 Choosing Christ. 00:25:37.379 --> 00:25:41.500 And then he says on top of that, seek to be established in the faith. 00:25:41.559 --> 00:25:43.519 Another way to understand that word. 00:25:43.599 --> 00:25:45.879 Be strengthened in the faith. 00:25:45.880 --> 00:25:51.740 And I believe what he's talking about here is all of the truth that they have been taught. 00:25:52.520 --> 00:25:54.180 Regarding who Christ is. 00:25:54.580 --> 00:25:56.700 What he has done and what he continues to do. 00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:00.020 Which is summarized in this passage. 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:05.600 He's saying Jesus isn't just the doorway into salvation. 00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:08.300 Jesus is the whole house. 00:26:09.960 --> 00:26:11.520 Jesus is the whole house. 00:26:11.860 --> 00:26:14.300 If you have him, you have everything. 00:26:14.299 --> 00:26:16.000 And he goes on to describe this. 00:26:16.419 --> 00:26:19.980 In Christ, we have access to God in his entirety. 00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:29.399 If you're in relationship with Christ, the full presence, glory, deity of God is with you in that. 00:26:30.859 --> 00:26:34.259 And then he says, if you have access to Christ in him, you're made alive. 00:26:34.619 --> 00:26:35.359 You're forgiven. 00:26:35.960 --> 00:26:36.919 You are victorious. 00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:39.839 Through his death and resurrection. 00:26:39.839 --> 00:26:45.039 And it's a way of saying the entire Christian life is about union with Christ. 00:26:45.779 --> 00:26:47.740 It's about sharing in his life. 00:26:48.159 --> 00:26:50.740 It's about sharing in his victory over sin and death. 00:26:50.959 --> 00:26:56.099 It's why this act that takes place at this table is the central thing that we do every Sunday when we gather. 00:26:56.619 --> 00:26:59.179 Because this is a picture of the entire Christian life. 00:27:01.179 --> 00:27:04.839 Reenacted every week as we receive his life into ourselves. 00:27:04.839 --> 00:27:09.740 So, then he goes on. 00:27:10.659 --> 00:27:17.359 And his fourth word here, his fourth verb, how do we know that we are walking in Christ as we received him? 00:27:17.379 --> 00:27:21.740 How do we know that we are rooted, being built up, established in our faith? 00:27:22.759 --> 00:27:25.779 The one surefire sign is gratitude. 00:27:25.779 --> 00:27:25.940 Gratitude. 00:27:27.059 --> 00:27:30.099 And this is a theme that we see recur in Colossians. 00:27:31.379 --> 00:27:32.180 It's gratitude. 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:34.799 It is the litmus test. 00:27:35.899 --> 00:27:37.759 And he gives us the image of a church. 00:27:37.819 --> 00:27:38.859 He's talking to the church here. 00:27:39.099 --> 00:27:46.680 So filled with gratitude toward God that they are constantly overflowing like a jug of wine that has been overfilled. 00:27:46.899 --> 00:27:48.920 And the wine is just pouring out of the top. 00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:54.480 He gives us an image of a church that is so filled with gratitude that the wine is just pouring over the edges. 00:27:54.480 --> 00:27:57.360 The thanksgiving is just pouring out spontaneously. 00:27:58.099 --> 00:28:00.620 In his commentary on this verse, N.T. Wright says, 00:28:01.039 --> 00:28:05.180 Gratitude to God is to be the main characteristic of God's people. 00:28:06.019 --> 00:28:09.799 A sign that they are indeed living in the new age. 00:28:12.180 --> 00:28:13.740 Just think about that for a second. 00:28:13.740 --> 00:28:33.960 The single most compelling indicator that you are talking to a person or engaging with a community that is living as a part of the in-breaking new creation inaugurated by Jesus Christ is that they're overflowing with gratitude. 00:28:33.960 --> 00:28:40.100 Now that really struck me when I was studying this passage. 00:28:40.099 --> 00:29:02.279 Because I know that often when we look around, I believe the norm in our culture, the norm in a lot of our social circles, is that there is a kind of continual low-grade hum of complaining, grumbling, and gossiping, and triangulation, and unresolved conflict. 00:29:02.279 --> 00:29:21.920 If we look at our families, if we look at our friend groups, and what Paul is saying sort of indirectly is that when that's the reality, which I think that's the norm in our culture, what you're seeing is that people are being discipled more by the world than they are by apprenticing themselves to Christ. 00:29:21.920 --> 00:29:32.160 So that kind of low-grade hum of negativity is the fruit of the influence of the world, the flesh, and the devil on our hearts. 00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:38.360 And he's saying, by contrast, the surest sign of growth and maturity is that you experience the opposite. 00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:41.480 That there is a low-grade hum of gratitude. 00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:47.039 Where people are spontaneously just giving thanks for ways that God is at work in their life. 00:29:47.680 --> 00:29:51.080 They're spontaneously telling stories about how God is blessing them. 00:29:51.079 --> 00:30:03.799 You know, when people get together and they have coffee, when they get together for lunch or dinner, when they're hanging out with one another in their homes, the normal topics of conversations just naturally center around the goodness and provision of God in their life. 00:30:05.259 --> 00:30:12.279 And they're like, I can't wait to get together tomorrow night, not because I just, I really got to tell you about this thing that happened that really ticked me off, and I got to process it with somebody. 00:30:13.460 --> 00:30:18.960 But you're getting together and you're saying, God did the most amazing thing last week, and I'm dying to tell somebody about it. 00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:23.819 Now, that's not to say that there's not a place for negative emotion. 00:30:24.319 --> 00:30:26.120 That's not to say there's not a time to be angry. 00:30:27.380 --> 00:30:29.220 Paul's concern here is, what is the focus? 00:30:29.539 --> 00:30:30.319 What's at the center? 00:30:30.620 --> 00:30:36.440 If somebody had to sum up in one word, what is the thing that really distinguishes this person's life? 00:30:36.440 --> 00:30:44.539 Or what is the one thing I could say about this kind of how this community feels, how this friend group feels, how this workplace feels? 00:30:45.740 --> 00:30:49.519 He would say, you know, if I could sum it up in one word, it would be that they're thankful. 00:30:51.039 --> 00:30:53.059 And this has really struck me this week. 00:30:53.059 --> 00:30:59.599 Because he's saying that the degree to which that is not true is the degree to which Christ is not the center of my life. 00:31:02.139 --> 00:31:09.039 If we want to grow as individuals, if we want to grow as a community, it requires an intentional commitment to follow Christ together. 00:31:10.519 --> 00:31:18.619 And it requires recognizing that I think the default for most of us is what I would call discipleship by algorithm. 00:31:18.619 --> 00:31:22.039 It's discipleship by algorithm. 00:31:22.939 --> 00:31:37.799 I think in our age, our beliefs, habits, identity, and worldview are shaped more by the curated inputs of digital platforms, such as social media, YouTube, all that, than by intentional apprenticeship to Jesus. 00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:44.639 And the problem is that those algorithms appeal to and stoke the worst tendencies in us. 00:31:44.640 --> 00:31:55.700 So is it any wonder that I naturally gravitate toward complaint and criticism and assuming the worst, rather than toward joy and gratitude? 00:31:56.460 --> 00:32:00.460 What is the primary formative influence on my heart and in my life? 00:32:01.400 --> 00:32:04.759 And Paul is saying nothing in the world compares to the joy of knowing Christ. 00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:10.700 And when Christ is at the center of your life, you're going to overflow like a jug of wine with gratitude. 00:32:10.700 --> 00:32:19.740 Now, there may be times, just to pull all this together, there may be times when you do feel uninspired or stagnant or frustrated in your faith. 00:32:20.440 --> 00:32:22.740 And let me be the first to say that is normal. 00:32:24.640 --> 00:32:28.779 Anybody who's been a Christian for any amount of time will tell you that's normal. 00:32:28.940 --> 00:32:36.779 And you can read extraordinary descriptions of this written by the saints across the centuries who faced the very same thing. 00:32:36.779 --> 00:32:41.460 But that does not mean, and here's the warning, that does not mean that you are missing something. 00:32:42.920 --> 00:32:46.339 If you have Jesus, you have everything. 00:32:47.599 --> 00:32:52.119 And the Christian life is about discovering and experiencing the truth of that. 00:32:52.359 --> 00:32:57.240 It's about learning how to inhabit the new identity and freedom that you gain through Christ. 00:32:57.879 --> 00:33:01.460 It's about learning how to live your daily life in union with Him. 00:33:01.460 --> 00:33:06.380 It's about learning how to participate and share in the life of the Trinity. 00:33:07.319 --> 00:33:08.039 Let's pray. 00:33:11.380 --> 00:33:15.039 Our Father, for this to be true, it must come from you. 00:33:15.880 --> 00:33:23.240 If there's anything we learn here, it's that we cannot engineer a spiritual reality in our lives. 00:33:23.240 --> 00:33:32.000 We are ultimately here at your invitation, hoping, praying, asking for you to do what we cannot do. 00:33:33.440 --> 00:33:39.960 And so I believe the proper response to this truth from the Apostle Paul is simply to cry out to you. 00:33:40.940 --> 00:33:45.740 To ask that you would, in your grace, displace whatever may sit at the center. 00:33:47.059 --> 00:33:49.140 Replace it and fill us with yourself. 00:33:49.140 --> 00:33:56.920 Lord, may we experience and know and feel in our hearts the truth of our union with you. 00:33:58.020 --> 00:34:04.720 Lord, may these become our guiding star, that by which we live. 00:34:06.100 --> 00:34:10.360 And we do pray that we as individuals in our lives and that we as a community, 00:34:10.720 --> 00:34:16.440 that more and more and more that you being at the center would overflow with a spirit of gratitude. 00:34:16.440 --> 00:34:19.420 Lord, I long for that to be true in my life. 00:34:20.079 --> 00:34:22.119 We long for that to be true in our community. 00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:24.720 We pray this in Jesus' holy name. 00:34:24.900 --> 00:34:25.079 Amen.