Three
Colossal
Warnings

This morning I took you to a little town called Colossae. It sat between Laodicea and Hierapolis on a major trade route, which meant every philosophy and religion in the world came rolling through on a wagon. Paul never started that church and never even visited it. A preacher named Epaphras built it, a Gentile church in a crossroads town, and when the questions got too big for him, he rode all the way to Rome to ask Paul face to face.

Here is what every one of those competing religions and philosophies had in common. They were all trying to answer the same question: what is the meaning of life? Every peddler on that trade route had his own answer for sale.

Paul answers it in one line. God’s mysterious plan is Christ himself, and in him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Not some of the treasures. All of them. You do not need what the wagon is selling. You need the One who holds the whole treasure chest.

The first colossal warning: you must have a good root system. Any rancher can tell you what roots do. They reach. Day and night, out of sight, they reach for water and they reach for feed. The only question about your roots is what they are reaching for. Do yours reach for worldly treasure, or treasure in heaven?

Paul puts it plain: just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Belief is the seed. Following is the fruit. A seed that never grows anything was planted and forgotten, and a faith that never follows is the same sad story.

And hear this part of the warning, because Paul means it. If you do not understand this, if your roots never grow down into Christ, you will be a victim of the next warning. Shallow roots are exactly what the next fellow is counting on.

The second colossal warning is about what I call Christian seasoning: empty philosophies with just enough Jesus sprinkled on top to make them go down easy. Paul says do not let anyone capture you with them, and that word capture is not gentle. It means kidnap and brainwash. Nobody gets captured on purpose. It happens to folks who were not watching.

The bait is usually a “new” revelation. Somebody had a dream, somebody found a secret, somebody knows something the church never knew for two thousand years. Friend, if it’s new, it ain’t true. And if it’s true, it’s not new. God already told us to stop at the crossroads and ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it (Jeremiah 6:16).

Watch out for the “Bible based” outfit that never opens a Bible. Here is the test that never fails: if it is not focused on Jesus, it is not based on the Bible. Jesus says what he means and means what he says, and you can’t change what he plainly says.

The third colossal warning is legalism, and I want you to meet the Jesus “+” crowd. They believe in Jesus, plus their list. Always adding to what Jesus said. “Can’t drink alcohol.” Can’t do this, must do that, and none of it came out of the Lord’s mouth. Paul says do not let anyone condemn you over what you eat or drink or which days you keep.

Right behind them come the “spiritualists.” Every sentence starts with “God told me...” or “God revealed to me...” Paul saw them in Colossae too, insisting on pious self-denial and bragging about visions, proud minds not connected to Christ, the head of the body.

And beware the joy vampires. Their whole gospel is that to be a Christian you must be miserable. Show me that verse. The rule-makers and the vision-peddlers and the misery merchants all have the same job, and it is sucking the joy out of a faith Jesus meant to be living water.

Put the three warnings side by side and you will see what Paul was guarding. Your roots, your mind, and your joy. Grow a good root system so you cannot be captured. Test every new revelation against the old, godly way. And do not let the Jesus “+” crowd condemn you into misery.

Because here is where the whole chapter has been riding: you have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. Set free. So why would a free man keep following the rules of the world? Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch. Paul says those rules may look wise, with all their strong devotion and severe discipline, but they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires. None.

Rules never changed a heart. Christ does. He holds all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and he spent them on setting you free. Sink your roots into him, hold to the old ways, and do not let anybody steal your joy.