Why Church? pt.3

Bad Ideas and Good News

Often we get it backwards and Good ideas end with Bad news

Good News: You baptized seven people today in the river. Bad News: You lost two of them in the swift current.

Good News: The youth in your church come to your house for a surprise visit. Bad News: It's in the middle of the night and they are armed with toilet paper and shaving cream to "decorate" your house.

Tonight Our Response we must recieve Christ as we had learned and continue to root and build up in him.

How do we address when church what is meant by God for our own building up.

Intro (The problem)

As believers we have two things that try to pull us away from the foundation of our faith?

Philosophy - philosophy says the gospel and the bible are not enough

Legalism - says faith is not enough we must follow the rules to the letter

This is where hypocrisy comes from

Now hear what I am saying, we study philosophy and it is helpful, but we must not become captive to it .v8, we have a religion or faith that teaches us that not all things are helpful

Philosophy- “the love of wisdom” - defined as the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline.

4 Areas or Pillars of Philosophy

Theoretical (Metaphysical (How do I know I am real), Epistemology (Where do we come from?) God is often placed in

Practical (Ethics, Social, Political)

Logic (reason)

Historical

Area that I spent time studying - Psychology is meant to be a science but it is now days more of a philosophy, as it does not even take biology into account for half of the modern claims that it makes.

Colossians

Empty deceipt v.8

elements of the world v.8

Legalism - defined as the excessive adherence to law or formula.

Legalism - “ i do not smoke or have tattoos, I attend church 52 weeks a year, I donate or tithe, i serve with our church reaching the community”

Appears as wise especially as it attempts to control the messiness of the Chruch

Why it fails

Colossians

Human Tradition v.8

elements of the world v.8

Self-made religion

false humility

harsh treatment of the body that does not work (The purity movement this is behavior modification, a philosphy that became legalism.

There is an inverse to legalism that I see occuring recently is the Purity movement and deconstructionism. This is has started as a good Idea…

purity movement this is behavior modification, a philosphy that became legalism.

Deconstructionism - Paul David Tripp spoke of this movement early on…

“We should all be deconstructing our faith, we better do it. Because our faith becomes a culture, a culture so webbed into the purity of truth that it’s hard to separate the two. I celebrate the church of Jesus Christ…but I’m sad for the church.”

“I’m sad we’ve become so loyal to [evangelical] culture, we’re afraid to deconstruct in places where it’s lost its way, it’s harmful, it’s producing things that allow the world to mock & cause young people to walk away.”

The efforts of deconstructionism started to untangle the legalism that became a culture… then it became its own legalism… even causing many to walk away from Christ and his church altogether.

As Dustin Messer noted about ex-evangelicals in a:

“What they’ve deconstructed is the faith, what they’ve kept is the ethos [Spirit or character] of the subculture that weaned them on emotional appeals, swallowing goldfish for entertainment, & an obsession with who’s “in” & who’s “out.”

All I Have is Christ and He is all I Need

Now are knowledge and systems(law) helpful? Absolutely but they should not take us captive, but rather they should flow from the freedom granted us in Christ. Verse 19 Do not hold on to the head v.19, cuts itself off from the nourishment that flows from God

All we need is found in Christ!

Colossians 2:6–7 CSB

So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude.

Christ overcomes all

Colossians 2:15 CSB

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.

Dead in trespasses and sin v.14 - Made Alive and Forgiven By Christ on the Cross.

We were circumcised in Christ - Change of Heart

put off the body of flesh (the desires)

Buried in Baptism and Raised in Faith -

Our Response we must recieve Christ as we had learned and continue to root and build up in him.