June 9 - Colossians 2:18-19
“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.”
Alright, I just LOVE digging into a verse and discovering this phrase “This is one of the most hotly contested verses in the New Testament.” That tells me a couple of things. First, wow, if they haven’t figured it out by now, I’m certainly not going to make a lot of headway in one evening. Secondly, how in the WORLD am I going to make sense of it to anyone reading this blog. Doggone it!!!
Here’s the deal. False humility – this could be a source of deprivation, fasting, etc., meant to bring on visions. Worship of angels – there are two ideas on this phrase. The first is that Paul is speaking about an angelic worship cult, which had existed for a very long time and about which there are passages in the Old Testament regarding it. But, there was also a group of people who tried to access, through hallucinations, visions, etc., angelic worship in heaven using passages from Isaiah (Isa 7:37; 8:17; 9:28, 31, 33).
Whatever Paul is saying here comes to its conclusion, though, in Colossians 2:19, “He has lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.”
Whether we are worshipping angels or any other being, whether or not we are trying to somehow join the angelic worship in heaven; if we aren’t centering our faith and worship on Jesus, we fail to be part of the body that grows with God.
I’ve worked in churches that worship the building they built, a pastor that used to serve there, the missionaries they sent out, the music – on and on. In fact, in one church, Dad had an argument with the United Methodist Women who locked the kitchen and refused to allow anyone but the president of the group to hold a key. They worshipped their kitchen and by golly, no one else was going to sully that room. (Dad won and opened the kitchen to the church).
Whatever it is that occupies our hearts outside of Jesus separates us from the body. Just because it looks, sounds, feels and maybe even smells spiritual does not mean that it will grow as God causes the body to grow.
The focus always has to be on Jesus Christ … always.
“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.”
Alright, I just LOVE digging into a verse and discovering this phrase “This is one of the most hotly contested verses in the New Testament.” That tells me a couple of things. First, wow, if they haven’t figured it out by now, I’m certainly not going to make a lot of headway in one evening. Secondly, how in the WORLD am I going to make sense of it to anyone reading this blog. Doggone it!!!
Here’s the deal. False humility – this could be a source of deprivation, fasting, etc., meant to bring on visions. Worship of angels – there are two ideas on this phrase. The first is that Paul is speaking about an angelic worship cult, which had existed for a very long time and about which there are passages in the Old Testament regarding it. But, there was also a group of people who tried to access, through hallucinations, visions, etc., angelic worship in heaven using passages from Isaiah (Isa 7:37; 8:17; 9:28, 31, 33).
Whatever Paul is saying here comes to its conclusion, though, in Colossians 2:19, “He has lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.”
Whether we are worshipping angels or any other being, whether or not we are trying to somehow join the angelic worship in heaven; if we aren’t centering our faith and worship on Jesus, we fail to be part of the body that grows with God.
I’ve worked in churches that worship the building they built, a pastor that used to serve there, the missionaries they sent out, the music – on and on. In fact, in one church, Dad had an argument with the United Methodist Women who locked the kitchen and refused to allow anyone but the president of the group to hold a key. They worshipped their kitchen and by golly, no one else was going to sully that room. (Dad won and opened the kitchen to the church).
Whatever it is that occupies our hearts outside of Jesus separates us from the body. Just because it looks, sounds, feels and maybe even smells spiritual does not mean that it will grow as God causes the body to grow.
The focus always has to be on Jesus Christ … always.
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