Colossians 2:16-23
Humans are naturally religious. Look across time and cultures and you will always find religion. Ancient Egyptians worshipped the sun god Ra of many and at the same time several ancient middle eastern communities worshipped Baal. Mongolian shamanism may be quite different than the Buddhism found in Cambodia, but you will find devout followers of each respectively. Religion appeals to us at a primal level. Religion is proposed as an answer to those innate spiritual questions we all share and is peddled as the solution to meet those fundamental spiritual needs that we all instinctually feel. Religion is always the human answer to this spiritual problem.
The irony is that while religion is our go to move, religion is never the solution. Somebody might be quick to say, “no you just need the right religion.” My answer to that is, it depends on what you mean by religion.
Christ didn’t come to earth to bring the “right religion.” God’s people already had religion given to them by God. If religion was the answer to our problems, then mankind would be fine with the religion God gave us. Instead, God gave mankind the law because he wanted us to see that religion isn’t the answer. Why isn’t it the answer? Because our keeping of some religious activity does not fix our actual problem. Our actual problem being that we are separated from the life-giving God because we don’t meet his standards of righteousness and holiness. This is where Jesus comes in, he is the one who qualifies you to meet God’s standard. Therefore, following Jesus is our “religion.”
This is why Paul tells the Colossians to not let others pass judgement on them or try to disqualify them in the name of religion. Whether it be Jewish festivals, untethered spirituality, or strict restrictions that go beyond what God has asked from us, there is no power in those things. The power and the substance belong to Christ. Extra religiosity may make you feel like you are accomplishing something, but you shouldn’t try to accomplish anything other than honoring God, our source of life. It is Christ’s role to save and qualify us, it is our role to be loyal and faithful to him.
From Your Fellow Servant,
Steven McFadden
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