Disarmed

Disarmed

March 30, 2016

"Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving."  So starts this section of Colossians, chapter 2. The theme of this section could be, "Live as victors - not as vanquished."  I thought I had a pretty good handle on that concept, that is, until God used a major roadblock to wake me up to the realities of my own heart.  I found that it is easy to become overwhelmed, not by real power, but by perceived power.  In such a time, it is easy to forget that He who is for you, is greater than he who is against you.

The Bible, and the New Testament in particular, reminds us that God is GOD - powerful, mighty, sovereign, victorious, invincible, absolute, full of love, abounding in grace and mercy.  If you are on his team, he is on your team.  It is hard though, accustomed as we are to relying upon our own power, to fully trust that in the midst of tribulation we win through Christ.

Verse 8 follows, "See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ."  I am now convinced that the influences of philosophies motivated by and using the tools of fear and hatred to captivate so much of the evangelical world.  Follow social media posting for a time and it becomes easy to conclude that little of Christ is represented in what is shared.  I refer not to the obvious - as in selfies in underwear - but to "the sky is falling" sort of postings.  For "super conquerors," there is a tremendous amount of fear about being conquered.  For a "kingdom not of this earth," there is a tremendous amount of fear about an earthy nation.  For a people led by an Unconquerable King, there is a tremendous amount of fear about who will lead us.  Furthermore, for a people who are to be known by their love, there is a tremendous amount of fear - even more - outright hatred of others not like us.  For people of salt and light, our talk is salty of another kind, and our light is often eclipsed by darkness.

Perhaps the problem is in ourselves.  I am speaking literally.  Verses 9 and 10 remind us, "For in him (Jesus) the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority."  We are filled, yes, as long as we allow him in.  He is the head of all rule and authority, unless we insist on ruling our own destiny and insisting upon our own authority.  Such was the sin which cast us out of Eden, and which now bars Eden from our hearts.  It is fear that motivates such sin.  The overwhelming desire to control the uncontrollable.  It is fear and hatred which drives that insane passion to fix a world broken by the very people obsessed with controlling that which they are incapable of controlling.

Verse 15 is not just about the Sanhedrin, Rome and the ruling characters of the Passion drama 2,000 years ago.  We forget that we need to come to shame.  We all need to surrender our powerless authority to the real authority.  We all need to disarm - lay down our puny weapons of personal destruction.  It is time to be triumphant - but only through he who conquered the cross.