Spiritual misstep with Pastor Nicole Barnett

In this episode, Pastor Nicole dives into Colossians chapter 2, exploring Paul's guidance to the early church in Colossae and its relevance to our lives today. Reflecting on personal childhood experiences of faith, we discuss how early misconceptions about God can shape our spiritual journey and the importance of sound teaching.

Join us as we unpack Paul's admonishments against deceitful philosophies and his call to remain rooted and built up in Christ. Discover how the early believers in Colossae, influenced by a mix of cultural philosophies and religious traditions, faced confusion and the risk of Gnosticism, much like how our own beliefs can become muddled without proper guidance.

We'll delve into Paul's powerful reminder that in Christ, all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form and that we, too, are filled in Him. Learn about the significance of spiritual circumcision, the triumph of Christ over rulers and authorities, and the dangers of legalism and false humility.

Enjoy this message? Consider visiting Ravenna Church of the Nazarene where Pastor Jason is the Senior Pastor. Have a prayer need? Want to share something with Pastor Jason?

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Chapters

• 0:00 Trailer
• 0:18 Theme song--"The Dirt Path" by Jeremy Edwards
• 1:21 Introduction--Childhood faith
• 10:13 Reading of the text: Colossians 2:6-23
• 12:58 v6-7 Speaking to the saved
• 15:29 v8-10 Stick to the truth
• 20:09 v11-15 Spiritual circumcision
• 33:32 v20-23 Focus matters
• 38:12 What does this teach us?
• 43:29 How to respond: What does not line up?
• 44:30 Outro

Transcript

If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Colossians chapter 2
I accepted Jesus into my heart when I was five years old. I had attended church with a girl who lived across the street from me at the time and the Sunday School lesson that day drew me in—and I asked Jesus into my life. But my biological family was what I would call spiritual, not religious. My birth mom believed in God and angels, but she did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. In her understanding, God was a distant being in the sky and all good things that happened on Earth was a result of angelic activity.
At five years old, my only understanding of God was based on what my mom taught me and the few interactions I had with church the few times I was allowed to attend with my friend. Therefore, at the time, I believed that God was a distant being who might hear prayers occasionally, and that angels did all the good work on earth—but I believed one other very important detail. I believed that Jesus loved me, and that He loved others too.
Because I believed that so strongly, I used to tell all my friends about Jesus and his bearded dad in the sky and about all these angels who did good things in the world—and because my mom had all these angel pictures and statues all over the house, I used to describe what angels looked like based on those images.
My understanding of God was warped largely due to my lack of Christian education. We all have to start somewhere, but at the time I couldn’t read well enough to read the Bible for myself plus I did not have a Christian home environment where I could ask questions and gain understanding—and my interaction with the Church was limited to the few times my mother allowed me to attend. None of that stopped me from trying to share my new-found faith though.

But without proper guidance and instruction, it is easy to develop misconceptions about God and our faith. This is exactly why Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians. The city of Colossae was a bustling, diverse city in the first century. The Church in Colossae was relatively young and faced various challenges. Specifically, the believers there were influenced by a mix of cultural philosophies, Jewish traditions, and emerging Christian teachings. This mix of varying beliefs led to confusion and the risk of Gnosticism, where elements of different religions and philosophies could merge into a diluted form of Christianity.
Just as my early understanding of God was limited and influenced by my circumstances, the Colossians needed guidance to navigate the complex spiritual landscape they faced—and although Paul had never actually been to Colossae, he wrote to provide some of that much-needed guidance. So, let’s go ahead and dive in: starting in verse 6:
6 Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and firm in your faith just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 8 Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you through an empty, deceitful philosophy that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head over every ruler and authority. 11 In him you also were circumcised—not, however, with a circumcision performed by human hands, but by the removal of the fleshly body, that is, through the circumcision done by Christ. 12 Having been buried with him in baptism, you also have been raised with him through your faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead. 13 And even though you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions. 14 He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 Disarming the rulers and authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days— 17 these are only the shadow of the things to come, but the reality is Christ! 18 Let no one who delights in false humility and the worship of angels pass judgment on you. That person goes on at great lengths about what he has supposedly seen, but he is puffed up with empty notions by his fleshly mind. 19 He has not held fast to the head from whom the whole body, supported and knit together through its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.
20 If you have died with Christ to the elemental spirits of the world, why do you submit to them as though you lived in the world? 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” 22 These are all destined to perish with use, founded as they are on human commands and teachings. 23 Even though they have the appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship and humility achieved by an unsparing treatment of the body—a wisdom with no true value—they in reality result in fleshly indulgence.
This is the Word of God for the People of God—
Thanks Be to God!

6-7 Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as LORD, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and firm in your faith just as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness.
Now, although this is not the beginning of the book or of the chapter, this is the beginning of Paul’s admonishment regarding these false philosophies—and I want to point out something important. Paul, who is about to scold the Church of Colossae, reminds them of their salvation—these are all born-again people he is speaking to—they are not people of “the world” or unsaved, they are Christians—Paul reminds them of that fact and encourages them to be assured in that fact AND thankful for that fact. Remember that you have received Christ as Lord—that has not changed—stand firm in that knowledge and be assured of your salvation!
8 Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you through an empty, deceitful philosophy that is according to human traditions and elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
Paul is warning the Church to not be deceived by any false teachings—even if they are founded on old comfortable traditions. Colossae had many cultural influences between Judaism and the surround middle eastern cultures. There was polytheistic beliefs, pagan and nature worship, Judisim, and now Christianity—and the church was attempting to blend it all together. Paul was warning the church to stick with the truth and not be led astray. One of the false philosophies that was going around and was being adopted by many within the Church was the idea that Jesus was not actually God and that, instead, Jesus was merely the first of many future mediators between God and man. In response to this Paul says,
9-10 For in him all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form, and you have been filled in him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
Paul is obviously refuting this idea stating very clearly that the Jesus is the fullness of God in bodily form and, not only that, but that Jesus and God are one!
11-13 In him you also were circumcised—not, however, with a circumcision performed by human hands, but by the removal of the fleshly body, that is, through the circumcision done by Christ. Having been buried with him in baptism, you also have been raised with him through your faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead. And even though you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions.
Now, the image of circumcision is actually a very apt description. When I was a CNA, I trained in the Maternity ward of a hospital. I was kind of spoiled during my training that day, though, because there were no other CNAs for me to train under—so I was actually training under nurses. Because I was training with a nurse, I had to participate in the responsibility of the nursing staff—this included assisting in circumcisions. We had three circumcision scheduled for that day. I was responsible for setting up the sterile field, preparing the baby for the procedure, and then cleaning him up afterward—but I was also tasked with assisting in the actual procedure. During one of the procedures, the doctor actually walked me through the entire process—how to do each step as well as the reason why every step must be done a specific way. At the end of it all, he shared with me the reason why a lot of people still opt for their children to be circumcised even if they are not Jewish.

The reason is that the procedure has been known to decrease risk of bacterial infections, Urinary tract infections, lowers risk of contracting future STDs, and it can even decrease the chances of cervical cancer for their future partners.

In thinking about these medical benefits, I think about how they apply to the imagery used for salvation. Jesus has cut away this flesh—flesh that if it remained, we would run the risk of infecting our walk with extra diseased riddled philosophies, spreading them and affecting and destroying the lives of other people to whom we are called to minister.
We may have initially come to know Christ prior to his cutting away of that flesh—but now that it is gone, why are we continuing to hold on to these philosophies like they’re something we should honor? After all,
14-15 He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. Disarming the rulers and authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

16-19 Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days—these are only the shadow of the things to come, but the reality is Christ! Let no one who delights in false humility and the worship of angels pass judgment on you. That person goes on at great lengths about what he has supposedly seen, but he is puffed up with empty notions by his fleshly mind. He had not held fast to the head from whom the whole body, supported and knit together through its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.
In Colossae, congregants were passing judgements on one another based what celebrations the other people participated in. Some would judge if they didn’t participate in one of the feasts honoring a locally revered deity. Some would judge if they didn’t participate in a new moon celebration or a solstice event. A lot of people were judging other who were not adhering to the sabbath day requirements---and Paul was telling the Church members to no let anyone judge them for any of that. Not that people would stop judging them, but to disregard said judgements. Who cares if someone thinks you’re wrong for eating or drinking a specific things as long as you’re doing so with intent to honor God. Who cares if you’re not celebrating a specific day? As long as you’re follow Christ, that is what matters. Don’t even acknowledge the judgement of people who operate in false ideologies--- They’re not focusing on Christ, they’re focused on their own flesh. Flesh that Christ has cut away, and yet they still want it to be honored. But that is not of God. And to those people, Paul says,
20-23 If you have died with Christ to the elemental spirits of the world, why do you submit to them as though you lived in the world? “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” These are all destined to parish with use, founded as they are on human commands and teachings. Even though they have the appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship and humility achieved by an unsparing treatment of the body—and wisdom with no true value—they in reality result in fleshly indulgence.
Why continue focusing on the things that have been removed? Why do we continue to submit to these ideologies? These “Do nots…”? We have a list a mile long of things we “must not do” to be good and holy Christians and we tend to focus on these things.
Don’t wear that! Don’t say that! Don’t drink that! Don’t do that! Don’t go there! Don’t hang around them! Don’t, don’t don’t!
And you know what? Sometimes that may seem like the wise thing—I mean, there are a lot of things out there that are not honoring to God—but the issue that we have is that in focusing so much on abstaining from all of these things we must never do, we take our focus off of the one we must focus on!
Actually, I don’t know if anyone remembers taking Driver’s Ed—but, one thing that my instructor said repeatedly and has stuck with me is that when you are driving, where your eyes are fixed is where you will end up going. If you are looking ahead and are focusing on where you want your car to be in the immediate future, that is where you’ll end up. However, if you are looking off to the left, you will naturally begin to steer your vehicle to the left—or if you are looking off to the right, you might find your vehicle gradually veering off onto the shoulder and hitting that rumble strip. By focusing on where you don’t want to go, you end up exactly where you don’t want to go.
It is the same way with our walk with God. In focusing on what we think makes us unholy, we become unholy—because we start to behave as though our behaviors—not God—are what make us holy. We being to act in pride and self-righteousness. We begin to look to ourselves, not God, for right morality, right theology, right doctrine, and in the process we become the very thing we ridicule in others—only, because their unholiness looks different than mine, I will never acknowledge that fact.

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But let’s actually think about this:
Are we sometimes more concerned with how others perceive our spirituality than with our actual relationship with God?
Do we sometimes judge others based on their adherence to certain practices rather than their faith in Christ?
How can we ensure that our faith community remains rooted in the teachings of Christ rather than drifting into legalism?

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As a young, newly saved child, I held to some pretty weird beliefs—but when I was adopted, my parents bought me a Bible and I learned to read it. I also attended Sunday School, Sunday service, and youth group when I was old enough. When I began attending a Church that had a mid-week service, I attended that service as well. Through these means, I learned more about God, his character, and what it really means to follow him. I did not remain hooked on the faulty beliefs of my childhood. I gradually let those things go as I fixed my focus on God and he faithfully revealed his nature to me.
But it is not uncommon for those of us within the church to hold tightly to beliefs and practices of our youth. They’re comfortable! They’re part of our culture! They’re the way we were raised, and if we start questioning that then we will question everything! But, they’re not the Gospel! These false philosophies—these “do nots…” they do more harm than good as they create barriers where God built a bridge—and I, for one, do not want to be responsible for putting up a barrier.

let's take Paul's words to heart. He calls us to stand firm in our faith, rooted and built up in Christ, and to be cautious of deceitful philosophies that stray from the truth of the Gospel. Our focus should be on Christ, who embodies the fullness of God and offers us new life through His sacrifice. As we go forth, let us grow in our faith, support one another in love, and remain steadfast in our commitment to Christ.

*Prayer*


“Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Keep thinking about the things above, not things on the earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Grace and peace be with you.