Out of the Shadows

Rules or principles

Throughout this pandemic, we have become used to lots of new restrictions. One thing I’ve found interesting is that there seems to be two approaches that the authorities have taken.

On one hand, there are the very loose principles that have been offered. Practice social distancing. Only go where you need to go. The broad guidelines are based on the basis that people understand what’s at stake… that we’re on the brink of a huge crisis and if we don’t follow the guidelines, then it will end badly.

The reality however is that many people out there don’t get it and so the broad guidelines get ignored. And so the other approach are strict rules that the authorities impose. And what I’ve noticed is that as time goes on, there seems to be a tendency towards moving towards more strict rules.

Take for example the no singing rule. Initially the wording they used allowed a lot of room for interpretation. But as time went on, they got a lot stricter on how it is to be.

Now, before I make the point I’m about to make, it’s perhaps worth addressing one issue. You see, I recognise there is one line of thought out there that doesn’t trust the expert advice on the virus. In which case, all the restrictions are just overkill.

Well, if you hold that view or not, let’s just for a moment assume the rules do serve a purpose, and that is to save lives.

Now, here’s the thing… assuming we agree that the rules serve a purpose, there’s an element to which the clarity they provide is actually really useful.

When rules are clearly stated, you’re not always second guessing whether you’re doing the right thing or not.

When all you are given is broad outlines of what to do, there is this element of wondering: should I be wearing a mask? Should I go to the shopping centre or not?

But, while the clarity can be good, there is also a trap. And that is, that we can become over reliant on the rules.

It can be easy to think, well, as long as I follow everything that I’ve been told, then everything is going to be all right.

But our trust can get misguided. Those rules are actually just designed to put the broader principles into practice. And this is why it is actually important that we understand those general principles that determine those rules that we get.

Christian rules

Now, depending on your personality type, it can be very easy to do a very similar thing with Christianity.

It starts out well. We become a Christian and we begin to understand all that Christ has done for us. It’s an amazing experience and we want to honour him in any way we can.

But because we are sinful people, we often go off track. We enter relationships that are not God-honouring. We say things we regret, and act in ways that are not loving.

And when we recognise that we have done this, we want to change. To help us change, we develop a whole heap of rules to keep us on track.

Don’t date a non-Christian. Don’t gamble. Keep away from pornography. Never tell lies.

Now, don’t get me wrong, they are all fantastic rules. But a problem can arise when we lose sight of how they draw us to Christ.

Let me take an example.

No sex before marriage. Now I’m going to suggest this is a very good rule.

But an interesting observation has been made when this rule loses sight of what it’s trying to do. You see, there have been times when this rule has been really drummed in to children. Unfortunately, it has resulted in some Christians subconsciously thinking that sexual intercourse is actually a dirty thing.

The reality is, that sex is a beautiful thing that God has given us to be enjoyed in the confines of a marriage. With the right boundaries, it is a beautiful thing. But an overemphasis on a rule without the bigger picture, can leave a distorted view.

Rooted in Christ

This morning, as we continue our way through Paul’s letter to the church of Colossae, I’m going to pick up in a similar place to where we finished last week.

If you were listening last week, I suggested that Col 2:6-7 essentially summarise the message that Paul will then flesh out as he continues.

So let me read those verses again:

Colossians 2:6–7 NIV (Anglicised, 2011)

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Paul wants this young church to sink their roots in deep to Christ. He recognises the danger when those roots are shallow because it won’t take much to knock us off track.

And so as chapter 2 continues, he warns us against a danger that we stop the roots sinking deep - that is, the hollow and deceptive philosophies of this world which can so easily hold us captive.

As I explored last week, it is so important that our philosophies are centred around Christ who holds all things together.

But you know what, the Christ-less philosophies can sometimes be easy to pick. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re easy to avoid, but with careful reflection on Christ, we can see them.

But this is where the issue I’ve highlighted in my introduction becomes more difficult to pick.

It’s the good rules out of place that can trap us up.

Shadows

In fact, I’m going to call them what Paul describes them as in verse 17 - the shadow of things to come.

Jewish background

So let’s briefly reflect on this idea of a shadow that Paul has for us here.

Well, his giving a name to the things he listed in the previous verse, that verse 16. In this verse he lists the things you eat or drink, the religious festivals, the New Moon celebration and the Sabbath day.

Now in case you miss the reference, it is quite clear that he is referring to distinctively Jewish customs.

So let’s just think about this a moment. These customs were not just developed over the years as the people thought up new ideas. Rather, they were instituted by God for very specific purposes.

God wanted to put things in place that would set them aside as God’s people. He put markers throughout the year, month and week so that there would be a constant reminder of God.

They were important things… so we need to ask, why does Paul call them a mere shadow?

Old to New Testament

Well, there is a clear answer, but in part, we need to understand how the Old Testament relates to the New Testament.

Now, let’s start with one common misunderstanding about this relationship.

It is sometimes thought that the Old Testament served as some kind of plan A for God. That is, he thought that through a bunch of commands and a sacrificial system, he could redeem his people. And when that didn’t work, he then thought, well, I better try plan B now, and that’s when he sent Jesus.

That theory might sound like it works, but if you spend time studying the Bible, you’ll realise that in fact it is quite wrong.

You see, what becomes clear is that the New Testament is actually the logical conclusion to the Old. The Old Testament sets the stage that the New Testament fills.

And it is in this sense that we see the customs, created by God in the Old Testament, being described as shadows of the things to come.

A shadow

Now, sometimes the concept of a shadow can take on a sinister nature. You know, if you call someone a shadowy figure, that means they are a bit dodgy.

Now there are probably lots of reasons for this association, but I suspect in part, it’s because a shadow is a representation of a real thing, but without the essence of that real thing.

Think of the shadow you create when standing in the sun. It’s an exact representation of your shape, but it’s not you. It indicates that you are there.

If it’s a good shadow, there’s probably even a good chance I could figure out who is creating the shadow. But if we focus on the shadow and not the person creating the shadow then we are going to miss the most important thing.

The body

So let’s come back to verse 17, you see, it says that these Jewish customs were a shadow of the things that were to come - but then tells us what it is creating that shadow - Christ.

What I find interesting, is that the word translated as “the reality” in the NIV, is actually the same Greek word that is often translated as “body”.

And so, we can imagine the body of Christ creating this shadow which takes the shape of the customs of the Jewish people.

If we think of it this way, we can see the very close link between Jesus and the what happened in the Old Testament. In the same way I can look at a shadow and pick you out because of the shape, when I look at the shadow we see in the Old Testament, we can see Christ. It’s not Christ himself, but shows us what is to come.

Now when we understand it in this way, we can see that we shouldn’t just dismiss the Old Testament ways, but also do not look at it without thinking about the one who actually is making this shadow.

The Trap

Now let’s come back to my main idea. You see, we’re trying to see how we can become rooted in Christ. Last week we explored how we can be caught captive in the hollow and deceptive philosophies.

But it is also possible to sink our roots into the shadow and not the real thing.

Now most of us aren’t likely to get caught in the Jewish customs because this isn’t who we are - but in the same way that the Jewish customs are a shadow, I’m going to suggest that we can think of many of the rules we create are also a shadow of Christ. That’s because, our ethics are based on who Christ is.

They are really good rules, but when we sink our roots into this shadow and not the real thing, then we are going to have problems.

And so the big lesson for us today is to be careful to distinguish between the shadow and the real thing, because it is in the real thing that our hope lies.

But we now need to answer - how are we going to do this? How do we avoid accidentally shifting our focus on the shadow rather than the real thing?

Careful who you listen to

Well, based on this passage, I’m going to draw out two ideas that will help us focus on the real thing, not the shadow.

The first of these ideas comes from the first half of this passage and is: be very careful who you listen to.

Have you ever watched a teenager go off the tracks? It often happens when they get caught up in a group of friends with poor values.

I see it often at youth group. You can watch some of the teenagers when they are in one group of friends and they’ll be well mannered and well behaved. But when they start hanging around other friends, it’s like they become different people.

That’s because we are easily influenced. It is one of the reasons I suggest being involved with church is important - because we want to be around fellow believers to be a good influence on us.

But unfortunately, even amongst believers, some voices can be better than others.

Thankfully, this passage gives us a few hints of what to look for in the voices we should avoid.

Judgement

In verse 16, they are described as the one who judges us based on the shadow not the real thing.

You see, we’re describing the voices of the people who will push us towards the shadow rather then the real thing. Because they are more concerned with the shadow, they will naturally be more judgemental.

Now something to be careful, just because you get rebuked by someone, does not necessarily mean they are one of these judgemental people more concerned about the shadow. You might recall, back in chapter 1 verse 28, Paul encouraged the use of admonishing others.

The real difference is when their rebuke does not point you back to Christ.

Too Spiritual

Paul goes on in verse 18 to describe this person as delighting in false humility and the worship of angels.

Now, this is an interesting verse which I don’t have time to explore in detail. Some consider this worship of angels as a specific heresy that was there in Colossae. However, outside this letter, there isn’t a whole heap of evidence for this.

It’s possible that the worship of angels is actually Paul using irony that these people become so focussed on spiritual things, that there focus borders on worship of the things that should actually point us to Christ.

You see, angels are such a thing. They are spiritual being, but it is possible to get so caught up in them that our focus shifts to them rather than Christ.

If you look how verse 18 continues, they go into great detail about what they have seen, and the result is they are puffed up.

There is an irony here - some people who come across as really spiritual and in that sense, you might think they are just the right people to be with - but it is not some pretense of spirituality that we need - it’s Jesus.

And here’s the danger - they can be pushing you into the shadow. The shadow looks just like the real thing, but it lacks the power. We need the reality - the body - not the shadow.

Disconnected from head

If you look at the end of verse 18, Paul clarifies that while they might seem spiritual, in fact they are unspiritual. And that is because, if you are not connecting someone to Christ, then it’s the wrong kind of spiritual.

Verse 19 fleshes this idea out. He describes them as having lost the connection with the head (that is, Christ). And in doing do, they’ve lost the thing that supports and holds us together.

Just think about it. Once Jesus stops being our focus, then we are all on our own little exploration with nothing connecting us. We become just a bunch of random people with very little in common. But in Christ we grow. Just like the ligaments and sinews, we’re knitted together and it is beautiful.

So it is so important that we watch for those who judge us but are disconnected from Christ.

These people

So the first major way that we avoid putting our roots in the shadow is to be careful who we listen to.

But I do want to make a quick clarification. I’ve been describing this sort of person in a very clear way. And occasionally, you’ll meet someone who Paul’s description really fits them well. But often it isn’t that clear.

Sometimes, we can all subconsciously slip into this mode where we become that voice that encourages others to focus on the shadows.

We need to be aware of this, and be quick to distinguish between the shadow and the real thing.

Beware of own tendency

And in some ways, this brings me to the second main idea about how to avoid the shadow, which starts from verse 20.

So the first idea is to be careful of others, but the second is to be careful of your own tendency.

You’ll see Paul asking in verse 20: why, as though you still belong to the world, do you submit to its rules?

I know Paul is asking a rhetorical question, but I’m going to give him an answer never-the-less. And that is, we submit to the rules because it’s easier to understand. It might not be easier to obey, but like I described with the Covid-19 rules, the more clearly spelt out, the less ambiguity, and the easier we understand.

And for this reason, we can have this tendency to go for what we understand.

We need to wake ourselves up to the fact that these rules, as good as they might be, are not intended to bring us life.

They are the shadows of the things to come.

They have the appearance of wisdom. But wisdom without its essence, is not what we need. And that essence is Christ.

The tension

There is a tension we have to observe in all of this.

You see, we struggle to hold two truths together because our natural inclination is to go one way or the other.

On the one hand, we submit to the rules, which this passage shows us the clear danger in.

On the other, we submit to the freedom and claim anything goes.

But our submission should not be to the rules or to freedom.

As we submit to Christ we’ll find the tension is set right. We’ll see the shape these rules give us and how this will make us like Christ, but we will also see the freedom that Christ provides. The freedom where we no that nothing condems. Nothing can separate us because Christ has done the work.

The end

Our submission in Christ then has an end point. It leads us to the glorious future that we have in him.

And this is what the shadow was always there for. As he described in verse 17, it is the shadow of the things to come.

The thing to come is ultimately eternity with God. It is being reconciled with the creator of this universe.

Conclusion

I know the rules have an attraction. They are clear and take away ambiguity. We can get our heads around them.

But there intention is not to save. The intention was always to point us to Christ.

So as we consider putting our roots into Christ, we need to ask, are our roots in the shadows or the real thing?

So be careful of who you listen to. Careful of those that are judging you based on the shadows. Those who have become disconnected from the head.

But also be careful of your own tendencies.

There is freedom in Christ - but always keep the focus on “in Christ”, because it is in him that all things hold together.

Let me pray...