The Phil Files

Last Updated 10.21.2008

For 11/2 “Substance and Shadow” (Colossians 2:16-23)

We find it so much easier to construct a religious system rather than live by faith, empowered by the living presence of Christ within us. I’m not sure exactly why this is so. I could point to all sorts of base motives behind this problem, all of which are probably in play, but the sad reality is that we often create our own religion with its rules and guidelines. Yet no matter how well intentioned these efforts are, they were not given to us by Jesus.

Way too frequently, these often unwritten guidelines about “really being spiritual” become ways for us to feel superior to others in our faith walk. Yet Paul, along with the rest of the New Testament, is emphatic: rather than these rules actually making us more spiritual, they are instead fueled by the flesh — our sense of pride, exclusivity, or our need to identify ourselves as a group around something other than our passion for Christ.

While some wanted to add religious experiences, Jewish traditions, or pagan practices in Colossae, Paul wouldn’t back down. The last part of Colossians 2 focuses on two primary concerns with the “super religionists”:

1.    Their wanting to add rigorous self-denial (asceticism) or the rituals of Judaism. Very similar to Galatians 1:3-9 (which we looked at last week) and the book of Hebrews 6:18-10:39, Paul is adamant that adding rules to protect the righteousness of God doesn’t empower us to holiness (2:23). Even the best of these things were only shadows and what we have in Jesus is reality.
2.    Their reliance on spiritual experiences that allows one to boast in being spiritual (2:18) or having a special kind of knowledge that no one else has. This spiritual “one-upmanship” is not only unfair and unkind, but to exalt ourselves because of a spiritual experience over someone else is not of Christ.

Paul is adamant; these are all only a shadow, a mere illusion, of what is really found in Christ alone. There is no substitute and no addition. In Jesus is fullness and substance: the source of life while all the other stuff is “pretentious and infantile religion” (notice these terms in The Message in 2:16-20).

The reality is this: these two “spiritual add ons” from the super religionists don’t have the power to change us, but only put us in a deeper hole (2:23). They all rely on us earning our way to God’s grace or become ways we can have bragging rights in the religious pecking order. They are a backdoor for Satan to steal away Christ as the source of our salvation and for us to rely on ourselves, which ends up causing us to fail again and again, rather than developing a relationship with Jesus where he grows and comes alive in us our behaviors and attitudes. (Remember the letter to the Galatians and Romans 7!)

The focus here is to combat the 2 false notions:

1. That we need to “build a hedge around” the Gospel of grace to make sure we are and stay holy or we suddenly become more spiritual because we have “rituals of rigor” or rules of self-denial. That we need some kind of special spiritual experience to really reach a higher plain of spirituality than everyone else and understand God’s mysterious grace for us.
2. To add anything to Christ as the source of salvation is to lose Christ.

The simple illustration that comes to my mind is the street we lived on for many years in Austin (Salton). On some of the maps, it looked like it went through and provided a short cut to major roads and key places in Northwest Austin. Instead, you came down a major road, then turned off or our short little street, and without warning, you came to a dead end: a huge barrier. It wasn’t a cul de sac so you could turn around, you were simply stuck and had to back up until you could find a driveway to turn around in and try to find your way out to a road that actually went through and connected you to another neighborhood. It was like the person given directions who said, “You can’t get there from here!” While in the hills of west Austin and having lots of trees and decent homes, this was a road to nowhere, a dead end. Something you never expected from the maps when you set out to take your shortcut!

This is comparable to the religious solutions that are often offered us – especially those offered us by those who want to help us become as spiritual as they are! The new Christians in Colossae faced the same kind of challenges and Paul was warning them about these dead end solutions!

Daybreak

We may have a video that gets us into focus first. I will the simple illustration above and then come back to the text of Colossians 2:16-23.
Paul mentions two things that super religionists, aka those of us “churchified” folks, often use:

1. Rules that limit our opportunity to sin – self-denial and special days
2. Visions and special religious experiences that set us above others (or seminars, or books, or worship styles or whatever)

Bottom line, churchified doesn’t mean sanctified or empowered. We come back to one clear message: Jesus and a relationship with Him as Lord and His personal presence in us through the Holy Spirit is the only thing that will give us victory. I may also use a [Rick Reynolds quote about sexual addiction in this context]

Refresh

I will track very closely with Daybreak, maybe changing an illustration or two, but the messages will be very very similar.

Sundown

Jesus challenged and caused problems almost every time he was around the “super-spiritual” of his era, the Pharisees. Whether it was healing someone in the synagogue on the Sabbath (Luke 6:1-11), pointing to the sinner whose prayer was heard above the “superior righteous” guy (Luke 18:9-14), or a direct confrontation of them like he does in Luke 11:37-54 (cf. Matthew 23). Jesus confronted them on making their faith in God into a religion that allowed them to be superior. To me, a huge challenge for us would be to read these passages in the context of us being the ones addressed by Jesus as the “super religionist.” This is not because we are those folks, but because it is so easy for us to slip into that mode and then never have our position challenged.

LIFE Questions

Why are we so tempted to turn our faith into a religious club?

Why are we tempted to make rules and bind interpretations that are not clearly spelled out in Scripture?

Why are we drawn to special activities and spiritual exercises to define our spirituality — keeping special days, having special diets, avoiding certain activities, and adding guidelines to help us keep from violating the will of God? (For example, the slippery slope argument that if we allow this even though it isn’t wrong, pretty soon we will be doing something that is. Or living by the slogan, “better safe than sorry” suggesting that we’ve got to protect something in ways that God does not demand.

Go back and read Matthew 23 and put each of Jesus’ main points into a personal application for the way we often catch ourselves living our our religion today.

How do Colossians 2:16-23 and Matthew 23 parallel each other?

How does the book of Galatians fit into this discussion?

How would you connect 2 Corinthians 3 and the points Paul makes in Colossians 2:16-23?

How does the book of Hebrews complement what Paul says in Colossians 2:16-23?

What makes it hard to discuss your faith with someone who sees their own visions, dreams, or experiences as more important that Scripture?

In areas of struggle with temptation, how do we understand Colossians 2:23?

Will self-denial help us overcome the problem?

Don’t we have to have a real commitment to overcome the desires of fleshly side?

How does God help us in our weakness to overcome these situations?

Jesus uses a story to remind us that getting rid of things in our lives or denying ourselves certain things in our lives, will not benefit us without putting the right things in our lives (Matthew 12:43-45).

So what is it that we must have in us that helps us overcome?

Last Update 10.21.2008

“In Christ Alone” Colossians 2:6-15 for 10/26

Simple and well known songs and hymns about Jesus would be great for this day!
The formula for this Sunday is simple:  X + n < X  [How many good in Algebra? Math majors?]

Adding other religions or other religious agendas to Jesus only dilutes, poisons, or pollutes the simple message of Jesus. Anything added to Christ is really less than Christ! [Kinda like seeing a car with a dream catcher on the rear view mirror and an “in case of rapture” bumper sticker] But it isn’t just other religions that can pollute the pure message of Christ, it’s also making a religion out of following Jesus – loading it down with all sorts of stuff that Jesus never established! {We’re talking about syncretism and legalism as two different ditches we’re prone to fall into.}

Jesus Christ must be at the core of who we are so we will keep reminding folks to be in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus is our basis of salvation and our lives must be rooted in him. Call for us to keep our focus in the story of Jesus. Nothing can be added to this simple message – Galatians 1:3-9. If we add things, then the Gospel is less than the Gospel we substitute our “man made up” philosophies for God’s grace and what saves us.

While there is an element of exclusiveness that we need to emphasize here (remember the goal is for “everyone” used 3x in 1:28 and cf. Acts 4:12; John 14:6), there is also an element of liberation – we don’t need a bunch of other stuff, or teaching, or religion, just Christ.

We don’t have to be constantly looking to add some new religious practice or rite to the list of things to make us righteous, holy, and acceptable to God (we will cover more on this next week). Instead, we need to settle ourselves down into Christ and be rooted and connected to him – remember the Vine and the Branches in John 15 where Jesus says things like: “remain in me and I will remain in you” (v. 4) … “apart from me you can do nothing” (v. 5). Also see John 14:15-23, where Jesus promises to come and live inside us through the Comforter, make His home with us, and reveal Himself to us. This is where fullness of life (cf. John 10:10 and Colossians 2:9-10) will be found!

I would love to have a video of one of our math professors/teachers doing algebraic equations and then they come up with the formula X + n < X

Preaching Ideas

Why isn’t Jesus enough? What makes us want to add more?

Peter said, “There is no other name given unto us by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
Paul said, “I preach Christ and Him crucified …” (1 Corinthians 1)
Paul emphasized that the Gospel by which we are saved is simply this: Jesus who was died according to the Scriptures, buried and raised from the dead (1 Corinthians 15; cf. Romans 6:1-6)
Paul strongly warned against any other gospel or adding to the Gospel (Galatians 1:5-9).
Paul declared Christ in us to be God’s mystery, our hope of glory (Colossians 1:27-2:3).
Hebrews insisted that Jesus is God’s fullest and clearest message (Hebrews 1:1-3).
John reminded us that no one as ever seen God, but that Jesus has made him known (John 1:1-18).

So Jesus must be our focus, our salvation, our message, and our hope. So we need to live with Jesus as our Lord and not add anything to that simple message. Jesus is more than enough!

Daybreak

The focus will be on why Jesus isn’t enough. This Heartlight.org article summarizes is very well, Isn’t Jesus Enough? There will be a chorus or repeated phrase, “Jesus is enough” as we try to go over and over again the central core message, Jesus plus anything is less than Jesus!
The three points or commands that come out of Colossians 2:6-11 will be given as the final call of the message:

1. Sink the roots of our hearts down deep into Jesus as Lord! Are you reading the Gospels?
2. Let our hearts overflow with thanksgiving for what the Lord has done for us! [Offering]
3. Let’s not let anyone take us captive by their newfangled religious experiences or their old demands of traditions and rules.  [Video on X + n < X – Christ plus anything is less than Christ!]

Refresh

We will be doing cardboard testimonies at Refresh, so we will focus on the same message as Daybreak, but make it a bit more succinct and emphasize that the change, the transformation, the redemption we need in our lives is not going to come from religion, but from Jesus and our whole worship experience that follows, Cardboard Testimonies, Communion, Commitment to serve others, is a celebration and reminder of that. Point 1 will be driven home. Then we will respond to point 2 with the offerings. Point 3 will be driven home by the video which will lead us into the rest of the Refresh time.

Sundown

What I was hoping we could cover would be the exclusive claim of Jesus on our lives as Lord. It comes, of course, out of Colossians 2:6-10.
I believe going to Galatians 1:5-9 and emphasizing that we can’t add stuff to that Gospel or leave that Gospel is crucial. Paul describes that Gospel in clear and dramatic forms in 1 Corinthians 15:1-6 and I always love to emphasize how this is directly reflected in Romans 6:1-14, esp. vs. 3-7. Paul says pretty much the same thing in Galatians 2:20 & 6:14.

LIFE Questions

Why is it so hard to believe that Jesus is not only enough for us, but that all fullness in life is found in Him?

What are the key points of Colossians 2:6 that you think could bless you most in your walk with Christ?

How can we live our lives in Christ, rooted and built up in Him?

Notice that we are commanded to “continue” (or “walk”) in Christ, but that as we do, our faith strengthened. How are we strengthened? (cf. 1:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18)

Why is thankfulness so important to us in this context?

How do we avoid what Paul warns us about in Colossians 2:7?

In my Heartlight.org article this week, “More than a Fork in the Road,” I talk about the term used widely in the by Jesus and the rest of the New Testament to describe leaders — the word is diakonos (and related forms) and it simply means “table servant.” For a chart giving an overview of the use of this term for servant, follow this link: http://www.heartlight.org/handouts/serving.pdf

Jesus demonstrated it in the washing of his closest followers feet on the night he was betrayed (John 13:1-17) and then told them what the event meant so they would get over having to try to be “first” among his followers:

A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest.  Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. (Luke 22:24-27 TNIV)

Why is it so hard for us to see the essence of church leadership as simply serving each other?

What makes it easier for us to view church as a service for us rather than a community where we are to serve others?

In Jesus’ day, a table servant was a low paid family servant, a woman or a child. Why do you think Jesus, and the early church after him, chose this term to describe its leaders?

Do you believe the following?

No matter how true the message and no matter how powerful the messenger, both messenger and message will not produce the results intended if the people who share it, receive it, and believe it won’t serve others like Jesus.

Last updated: 10.17.08

Colossians #9: Leading Others to Jesus (1:28-29) – 10/19

In many ways, this passage is Paul’s mission statement that reflects his internalization of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Several key elements stand out in this presentation:

•    Jesus is the goal – leading everyone to complete perfection in Jesus (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:18).
•    This goal, bringing others to Jesus, is for everyone – emphasized three times in verse 28.
•    The power for Paul to meet this goal is not his own strength or efforts, although he clearly has given everything to make every effort as his imprisonment reference reminds us, but instead he relies on the power of that only God can give him

This will be our accompanying video — thanks Corbett!:

In a world of pluralism where every voice is given equal weight, Paul steps forward and reminds us that Jesus is the goal for everyone. His grace, His character, His compassion, and His holiness must be the goal of everyone! Jesus suggested this about Himself in several ways:
•    His “I am” sayings, especially the “I am the way the truth and life, no one comes to the Father except by me” (John 14:6)
•    “You have heard it said … but I say unto you …” (Sermon on the Mount)
•    “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth …” (Matthew 28:18-20)

But more than knowledge about Jesus, Paul’s goal is our “perfection” to Christ. The word is translated mature, complete and in other ways, but its core meaning is the “perfection.” What Paul wants to do is to take the “Christ in you the hope of glory” (1:27) and see Him come to full form in each disciple.

Our focus will be on sharing this simple message of Jesus and working to bring others to complete maturity in Jesus. This would be tied back into our own church vision statement about the front porch – INVITING people to know Jesus; INCLUDING people in the life of Jesus in our church family; and INVOLVING people in the mission of Jesus. Of course this fits in well with our Harvest Mission focus of sharing the message of Jesus.

Special Late Developing Note

I am looking at the possibility at one of the services of exploring what I would call “The Jesus Seed.” The goal is to have Jesus who is in us and is our assured “hope of glory” fully coming to maturity so that Jesus is seen in us. This organic way of viewing the message fits right along with other metaphors that Paul and Jesus use about spiritual growth — “I planted, Apollos watered, God gave the increase” and the parables in Matthew 13 and Mark 4.

Clearly, there are several crucial messages in these few short verses:

• Jesus the only true Savior
• Internalization of a mission statement (paraphrasing the Great Commission for our lives)
• The Jesus Seed
• The great mystery

Final update follows:

Christ in us is the assurance of our sharing in glory (1:27). But, the goal is for that “seed” to fully blossom till Christ comes alive in us (1:28-29). So helping Christ come alive in others must be our mission and our vision – “I [Paul] planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow” (1 Cor. 3:6) and “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you … (Gal 4:19). This process is not immediate or automatic, but is a product on our focusing and reflecting Jesus in our lives as the Holy Spirit transforms us to be more like Jesus day by day (2 Cor 3:17-18). We must be willing to be used up to display and share Christ with others, trusting Jesus to be present and to empower us to do that. This is not just the goal for us, for believers, but the goal for “everyone” (3x in Colossians 1:28; cf. Matthew 28:18-20). But this planting of the seed doesn’t happen without our willingness to personally sacrifice to see it that it happens (Col 1:24-25; cf. John 12:23-24)

This is the Sunday to really focus on the call of God and the Great Commission of Jesus to reach all nations with the Gospel. A reminder of … “global economic crisis” and the “global conflict against terrorism” and the “global impact of oil prices” and the “flat world” reality that we live in because of satellites and the Internet – examples of prayer lists for folks like Robert Reagan. In times of crisis and fear and uncertainty, folks are most often open to God’s call in their lives and we can’t let this opportunity pass us by.

The key is to really tie the message of Colossians to our Harvest Mission campaign this week and emphasize the importance of living out the vision.

Ultimately, the issue is how do come to perfection in Christ – having Jesus fully alive in us and seen in all of our activities? That is the issue, Jesus coming alive in us fully so that we can fully come alive?

Daybreak

Focus on Jesus call to take His message to all of the world. The focus would be on this one message as the saving message the world needs. But the goal isn’t just baptisms, but the maturity of people to be the presence of Jesus in their every day worlds. As Jesus says it, “all who are fully trained will be like their teacher” (Luke 6:40).

Use the Great Commission as a Scripture read in the service as a point of emphasis – while we know the normal translations, The Message would be great here as a corporate reading – maybe do it the first time with TNIV, then with The Message, and have us all say it together at the end from The Message. Tie this also to any Harvest Missions announcement and reminders.

Emphasize the “global” term that used is over and over again in media – the global impact of … economy, gas prices, warming in the atmosphere, terrorism, outsourcing of jobs, food shortages …

And those “global” issues have an impact in our houses and apartments and dorm rooms. What we pay at the pump or have in our retirement or what we pay for our utility bills or how far we can stretch our fixed income …

But as things are tough and challenging, one of the interesting ironies is that folks have been historically more open to God during these times. Our own history the great burst of growth during the depression and post depression years (the Stamps Baxter songs that buoyed people’s spirits during these times).

So our faith in Jesus must have global implications as well!

One of the powerful things that Paul reminds us in Colossians is that hard times (1:24) are not a time to back off the commission (1:25) that Jesus gave us in Matthew 28:18-20, but to personalize that commission and live it with passion and power, power he will supply (1:29) because the grace of Jesus and Jesus coming alive in each of us is what is needed for everyone (1:28 everyone is used 3x).

So where do we start? What is our focus?
1.    Letting the Christ seed come alive in us! (Rob Video) Our focus on the Gospel of Luke and sharing the story of Jesus we learn for ourselves (Last week!)
2.    Personalizing the Great Commission for our own lives – what is God calling me to do, what is spiritual life job description? In other words, how do we let the “Hallelujah” come out in us?
3.    Encourage, sacrifice, and support the work of getting the good news to as many as possible (Harvest Missions)

Refresh

Focus on Jesus as the only hope for all of the world. Emphasize the exclusivity of Jesus versus all other faiths and how that is more than just believing a message about Jesus, but Jesus coming to life in each of us.

Sundown

Focus on exclusive claims about Jesus in other parts of the New Testament and how they fit with Jesus claims about himself, especially in the “I am” statements in the Gospel of John – cf. Acts 4:12; Revelation 1.

LIFE Questions

Is it close-minded to say that Jesus is the goal of everyone?

Why do you think it is so hard for folks to say that Jesus is the only way to God?

What are some passages of Scripture or stories that emphasize that Jesus is the only way?

Read Matthew 28:18-20 and then take the basic gist of that and use your own words to write a life’s mission statement for your life in Christ.

What is the difference between “perfection in Christ” in terms of our daily lives and just having lots of knowledge about what Jesus did?

Last Updated 10.05.08

Colossians #8: Sharing the Mystery – Colossians 1:24-2:5 – for 10.12.08

We all love to have a secret no one else knows. And if we gently taunt them, we can drive them crazy trying to figure out what that mystery, that special secret, really is. That’s the power of Christmas gifts sitting under the tree and us not knowing what that is. There is a curiosity about them that is nearly an addiction for kids trying to wait to find out what the gift is.

The Christian community Paul is writing faced a problem. People were claiming they knew secrets about the mysterious things of faith that they were lacking. They felt “less than” or deficient in their faith and were looking for someone to teach this “mystery.” The fear is about what they lacked. After all, it was “only” Epaphras who had taught them the good news message of Jesus. They knew him. He wasn’t a special apostle, like Peter or even Paul, so what if he missed something. Plus, their neighbors had all these special religious rituals. What were they missing? These fears made them easily manipulated by those pushing for special extra things that needed to be added in to the simple message about Jesus and how we respond to Him.

Paul writes, reminding them of his suffering for sharing his ministry, to say, “Look folks, here is the mystery. It’s been hidden for ages, but it’s been revealed to all of us who follow Jesus. In fact, it’s God’s will that it be revealed to all nations. I’m willing to suffer for it, and for you, because this simple message is the true message — it doesn’t need to be layered on with special practices or extra rules.

So what is this mystery? Surely it had to be more than the simple message Epaphras shared with them?

But Paul is emphatic. The message is Christ! He is the one where fullness is found! This is the message for which Paul suffers, serves, and strives to share (1:24-25; 2:1-2).

This is the message that serves and forms the people of God, hidden for ages, but now fully revealed to all of God’s people and not just in the hands of a select few (1:25-26).

This message is all about Christ coming alive in us (1:27):
Christ is our hope of glory! (1:27)
Christ is our message! (1:28)
Christ is our goal! (1:29)
Christ is our power! (1:29)
Christ is our treasure, wisdom, and knowledge! (2:3)
Christ is the focus of our faith! (2:5)

And what does this mean?

Our message is not complicated, esoteric, or difficult to understand. We don’t need some secret knowledge, some new and astounding author, or some deep and mystical wisdom. Our message is Jesus.

As we focus on this at our different assemblies, we need to go back to simple songs and remind each other of the simple message of Jesus. “Jesus Loves Me” sung by and for adults, “O How I Love Jesus,” “Why Did My Savior Come to Earth,” “Victory in Jesus,” “It is Well with My Soul” fit alongside “In Christ Alone” and other simple songs that focus on Jesus. 1 Corinthians 15 coupled with the Lord’s Supper becomes crucial to reminding us of that simple message – Jesus died for my sins, he was buried, and he was raised on the third day so my life would not be lived in vain and I can share in his victory. In addition, I believe we have a real invitation song and tie Romans 6 (or Colossians 2:12) in with Romans 15 right after The Lord’s Supper to give folks an opportunity to respond to Jesus.

Daybreak

Coordinate each of the elements above into the flow of the service in our usual order.

Refresh

Put our Time in the Word early in the assembly, use 1 Corinthians 15 as our focus for The Supper, and actually have an invitation later in the assembly.

Sundown

Focus on how and why the Gospel is simple and it’s about Jesus: it mustn’t be made complicated! Maybe compare the key parts of 1 Corinthians 15 (died, buried, raised) with the key parts of Romans 6 (died with Christ, buried, raised) and how the latter helps us experience the Gospel.

LIFE Questions

What makes so vulnerable to latest religious fad?

Do you feel pressure to know the latest Christian book or sing the latest great Christian song?

Do you ever worry that you don’t know all you need to know about the message of Jesus?

What are some things that you will not compromise on in your Christian faith?

If everything is up for grabs, that what solid ground do you stand on for your faith?

When we declare that “Jesus is the message” (something John 1:1-18 beautifully says as well), why is it so hard to limit our message to just Jesus?

What are some things you catch yourself wanting to add to the message of Jesus?

What are some of the most dangerous things you worry about that are being added to the message of Jesus?

What does Jesus really mean to you — describe how the Lord impacts you in different areas of life?

In my Heartllight.org post this week, called “Godly Organic,” I share the “Spirit-natural” principle that we are made to live and grow. It is who and how God made us to be. When we don’t grow, we know that something is wrong. Yet so often, we settle for just treading water spiritually. The power behind this growth, however, can be found in the prayer we offer for each other and the power of God released to empower us toward this growth:

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God … so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,  being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might (Colossians 1:9-11).

So I want to challenge you to ask yourself a few questions about your own personal growth in the Lord and commit yourself to praying for your brothers and sisters in Christ and releasing the power of God into their lives.

How has God continued to fashion you to be more like Jesus?

Can you say that God is re-creating life in you out of the barrenness and scars of your past life?

What is a sign of growth, God’s power, at work in you?

I’d love to hear your response to these questions!