Clearing Out Distractions

This is the second message in a series of keeping Christ in focus. I began last week be talking about what it looks like to find a focus in our faith which centers upon Christ. Today we are picking up in Colossians right where we left off last week. The apostle Paul takes us to the nest step in considering a faith that focuses on Christ.

Colossians 2:6–23 (NIV)

Colossians 2:6–23 NIV

6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. 16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. 19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. 20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

fullness of faith — rooted in Christ, built up in Christ, strengthened in Christ, and overflowing with gratitude in Christ

Let’s figure out what this passage has to do with a faith that focuses on Christ. It might be helpful to identify a few of the key terms that we see repeated in this passage. The first is a continuation of something we saw last week in chapter 1—fullness. In verses 9-10 we see this this fullness of our faith pointed to Christ. Verses 6-7 give some imagery around this idea. Look at the four results in those verses that go along with fullness in Christ: rooted in Christ, built up in Christ, strengthened in Christ, and overflowing with gratitude in Christ.

Christ is entirely sufficient for our spiritual needs

The point that Paul is making here is that Christ is entirely sufficient for our spiritual needs. This is something the Colossian church needed to be reminded of because apparently there was a belief being spread among them that faith in Christ was not sufficient by itself—that faith in Christ alone was not enough. And this is where Paul gives his attention for the rest of this passage.

vs 8 — see to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy vs 16 — do not let anyone judge you vs 18 — do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you

Look at the three warnings (or admonitions / corrections) that show up in the following verses. Verse 8 – “see to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy.” Verse 16 – “do not let anyone judge you.” And verse 18 – “do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you.” There is a particular phrase that Paul uses in this passage as bookends to these warnings. In verse 8 and 20 Paul refers to this thing called “the elemental spiritual forces of this world.” And these elemental spiritual forces of this world seem to be something that Paul frames as a distraction pulling people away from a faith that is fully centered exclusively upon Christ.

elemental spiritual forces of this world — religion itself can be a distraction from faith in Christ

It is worth me saying that several of the biblical commentaries I looked at for this passage do not have an agreement among scholars on what exactly Paul means by “elemental spiritual forces of this world.” And since scholars cannot agree on the meaning of this term, I don’t want us to get sidetracked by it either—it doesn’t affect or change the overall meaning of this passage. We can still figure out what the Bible is telling us here without having to know exactly what Paul means by this obscure term. Context of the passage itself allows us to figure out a one thing for sure. The distraction threatening to pull the church’s faith away is religious in nature. See how that takes shape in this passage.

Look again at verse 16.

Colossians 2:16 (NIV)

Colossians 2:16 NIV

16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.

These things are all references to certain routines and habits of the Jewish religion which can be found in the Old Testament. And about these things Paul concludes here in verse 17

Colossians 2:17 (NIV)

Colossians 2:17 NIV

17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

religious observances were being enforced as necessities in addition to Christ

It is not that all the religious observances of the Old Testament are bad; they are just meant to point forward to something else—namely, Christ. But instead of that happening, here is what we see going on in the Colossian church: these religious observances were being enforced as necessities in addition to Christ. The result that Paul is seeing in Colossae is that they are being taught faith in Christ is not enough. They are being taught that holding to the standards of religious tradition is also necessary.

blurred lines — religious distractions don’t reject Christ, just push Christ away from the center

That is the point behind Paul’s three warnings: don’t be taken captive by this hollow practice, don’t let anyone judge you by what traditions you fail to observe, and don’t let anyone disqualify or invalidate your faith in Jesus just because you don’t hold to all the same religious standards. I can sort of understand how the lines get a little blurry here. It is not as though faith in Jesus is being rejected. It is not as though the people in Colossae are saying they want nothing to do with Jesus. And at the same time, it is not that the distractions Paul is talking about are completely secular. They are not distractions like wealth or pleasure. It becomes a bit fuzzy when we consider from a passage like this the ways that religion itself may become a distraction in our own life of faith.

some examples — focus on worship style more than worship focused on Christ | focus on keeping certain sabbath rules more than keeping sabbath focused on Christ | focus on theology/doctrine being correct more than focus on theology/doctrine being about Christ

The question almost sounds a little silly; how is it that Christianity can keep us from having faith that is focused on Christ? There are a few ways in which we might find ourselves caught in this distraction away from Christ. When religious observance becomes the thing that we love more than we love Christ, then religious observance itself can be a distraction. Something of this became evident in 2020 when the pandemic pressed upon us. We faced a prolonged period of time in which our normal way of gathering together for worship was disrupted. There were several months in which we used video to bring our worship services into each individual home. It was different to worship as a church isolated and separated from one another. It felt good, like something had been restored again, when we were able to come back and begin worshipping together in this space. But we also figured out that our faith did not have to depend completely upon having a certain format and setting for worship. It is not physically sitting in this room for an hour every Sunday that makes us Christian. Christ is the focus of our faith, not the way in which we worship.

The list can go on from there. It can sometimes be a bit amusing when we start sharing stories about all the little ways that many among us had rules for things we could or could not do on Sundays when we were younger. Christ is the focus of our faith, not the rules that go around the observance of a sabbath day. I remember having a discussion while a student at seminary with some of my fellow classmate about how much we loved being able to spend time studying the Bible and learning so much. But we also noted in our discussion that there was a danger in having our love for correct theology being more important than our love for Christ. Christ is the focus of our faith, not the correctness of our doctrine.

religious activity is not what brings you into fullness with God — it is Christ who has brought you into fullness with God

Now then, let’s keep some perspective here as well. If worshipping in certain ways truly helps to keep Christ as the focus of your faith, then that is a good thing, but that is not what makes you a Christian. If having certain routines to keep that sabbath day holy truly helps to keep Christ as the focus of your faith, then that is a good thing, but that is not what makes you a Christian. If learning precise theology from the Bible truly helps to keep Christ as the focus of your faith, then that is a good thing, but that is not what makes you a Christian. There are, in fact, many religious things we may do that are truly helpful in keep Christ as the focus of faith, but being a religious person is not what makes you a Christian.

Look again at what Paul says in this passage.

Colossians 2:9–10 (NIV)

Colossians 2:9–10 NIV

9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.

all that we hope to attain has already been accomplished for us by Christ

Our religious activity is not what brings us into fullness with God. It is Christ who has brought us into fullness with God. This is the good news of the gospel that we need to hear every week and should never forget. All that we hope to attain has already been accomplished for us by Christ.

faith should always be focused on what Christ has already done for you

Maybe you have been away from church for a long time. Maybe you feel like you are far away from God. But faith is not focused upon all the weeks and months and years you may have been away from church; faith should always be focused on what Christ has already done for you. Maybe you feel like the mistakes you have made in the past keep holding onto you. But faith is not focused upon mistakes you have made in your life; faith should always be focused on what Christ has already done for you. Maybe some of you have a past that struggles with some kind of addiction, or maybe you still struggle with an addiction. But faith is not focused upon struggles that trip up your steps towards Christ; faith should always be focused on what Christ has already done for you.

two takeaways never judge other people by unrealistic standards & expectations stop focusing your faith on how well you live up to the standards and expectations of others

I think there are two takeaways we can find here to bring into the week ahead. First, it is a good reminder that none of us should ever judge the faith of another person based on who they are or what they do. And as people of faith in Christ, that means we should not judge other people at all. But let’s be honest for a moment; we have all had instances of unfairly judging other people because we hold unrealistic expectations for others to conform to exactly what we might desire for them to be. Whether it is people we work with, or other students in the classroom, we all have instances in which we can catch ourselves passing unfair judgement on others. Catch yourself this week in those moments and remember that other people’s value and worth does not depend on them living up to and meeting my standards of expectation. Instead, we are people called to unconditionally love others as Christ unconditionally loves them, and unconditionally loves you.

Second, remember this week that the faith you have in God does not depend on how well you live up to anyone else’s religious standards and expectations. Jesus invites you into a faith which only depends on one thing—what Christ has already done for you on the cross. Hold onto that; it is the very center focus of your faith. If you have moments of doubt, or moments of feeling like your faith doesn’t measure up, remember that you already have the complete fullness of Christ in you, and it is all because of what Christ has already done for you, and that is the only thing that matters in your faith.