I used to live in the house across the street from the church where I now minister. When I look out the windows in the back of the church, I can still see our old home and the huge trees towering above it in the backyard. During stormy nights I would lay awake in bed, anxious that these trees would topple onto the roof and crush our family.

In June of 2012 we experienced a kind of storm that I had never heard of before: a derecho. A derecho is a massive thunderstorm system with damaging straight line winds, which in this case reached up to 85 mph. After the storm passed our backyard looked like a jungle. There were tree branches everywhere. Our trampoline was crushed under a massive branch that had fallen at least 30 feet. It was nearly impossible to walk from the back door to the fence at the end of our property. Fortunately, the trees themselves were all still standing. But there sure was a lot of cleanup to do.

Though parts of these massive trees came crashing to the ground, the trees themselves remained deeply and firmly rooted in the soil. For me, this became a picture of the strength we receive when we remain rooted in Christ. Little did we know at the time, but a terrible and deadly storm was looming on the horizon of our family’s life, and we would need those deep roots in Christ to keep us strong and steadfast.

It is vital for believers to be, as Paul said in Colossians 2:7, “rooted and built up in Christ.” This means that we need to have a nourishing, life-giving relationship with Christ, while also being deeply connected to others within our churches. Your root system is your personal relationship with God and your relationships with others. It is crucial for you to invest in these relationships so that your roots will be deep in Christ. When the trials and tragedies of life come, it will be too late to give attention to the relationships that are meant to sustain and nourish you.

One of the most important ways that you can deepen your relationship with God is through prayer. Jesus taught us to pray relationally, addressing God not by his proper name, but with the word Father. Prayer is relational, not transactional. It is not an opportunity to present your grocery list to the heavenly farmer; it is your opportunity to have a heart-level conversation with your heavenly Father. Being rooted in Christ means having a deep and vibrant relationship with God through prayer. Do not wait for life’s derechos to pray. Begin today.

Rooted in Christ – 2:6-8

---

⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. 

These three verses offer, first, an encouragement to continue to live faithfully for Christ, and second, a warning against being taken in by false teaching. It is never enough that someone simply “prayer the prayer of salvation” and then go on about their business as though nothing significant had actually happened. Embracing Christ is a cosmic event with eternal ramifications. It is not simply a one-time transaction, but rather the beginning of an eternal relationship with one’s Creator and Redeemer.

As we have received Christ Jesus as Lord, so should we continue to live in him. He is not an object that we might purchase and then discard after we grow bored with it. No, he is a person – The Person – that has been received as Lord and King. This One, whom Paul has already named The Image of the Invisible God (1:15) and The Mystery of God (1:27, 2:2), is the world’s rightful Ruler. The essence of faith is to recognize the Crucified Messiah as the Risen Lord, and the practice of faith is to continue to live in such a way as to be “in him.”

Paul is fond of using variations of the phrase “in Christ.” To be in Christ means to be intimately connected to Christ. The larger idea is familial. To be in Christ means to be a member of his family. No doubt this phrase, for Paul at least, carries with it intonations of God’s covenant with Abraham. When someone receives Jesus as Lord, they enter into a long-standing covenant family, borne out of God’s promise to Abraham, consummated by Christ Jesus at the cross, and extended by the Church to all peoples as an offer of grace through faith.

Continue reading

I love movies about con men. Two of my favorites are Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Matchstick Men. There’s something fascinating about watching a character try to pull off an ever-increasing ruse on his unsuspecting victim. More often than not, in the movies the con man reaps what he sows, and himself becomes the victim of a con, often with hilarious results. But there is nothing hilarious about being deceived in the real world.

In Colossians 2:4, Paul tells the believers that the reason he works so hard in the ministry is “so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.” There are con men at work, he warns, and what they say might sound very reasonable, but it isn’t true. Paul is focused on pouring wisdom and understanding into the believers so that they won’t be taken in by these charlatans.

What about you? Are you able to discern between “fine sounding arguments” and orthodox belief? Have you tapped into the riches of complete understanding in Christ, so that you are able to judge between truth and error?

The devil’s cons always have the ring of truth. The best liars know how to make their lies sound true, and the devil is the world’s greatest liar. You need to be wise to his game, which means that you must be grounded in Christ. The truth is always centered around Christ.

Is what you believe about God centered on Christ?

Is what you believe about yourself centered on Christ?

Is what you believe about history centered on Christ?

Is what you believe about politics centered on Christ?

Satan’s long con is to move Christ, inch by inch, away from the center of your belief and actions. He wants nothing more than to make you Christ-askew. It’s okay by him if Jesus is a part of your life, so long as he’s not the center, the source and driving force, of your life. So beware of his fine sounding arguments and anything that removes Jesus from the center of your faith.

Money is useful, if you have it. You’ve probably noticed how quickly it disappears, though. Riches don’t last because the more money you have, the more expensive life seems to get. But what if there was a wealth that never ran out? What if there were riches that only increased the more you used them? This is the kind of money that truly matters.

Paul never set out to make people financially rich. Instead, he worked hard every day to help his churches become rich with understanding. Paul had discovered the wealth of knowledge in Christ, who he calls the “mystery of God.” He knew that nobody could steal this money, and that the more he gave it away, the more he received in return.

Do you treasure wisdom?

Is knowledge as valuable to you as money?

Or are you broke when it comes to the riches of understanding?

Too many Christians are settling for an elementary level understanding of God. Whether it’s because we’re distracted, lazy, or simply don’t know how to think well, we are impoverished in wisdom and knowledge. We don’t have the capital to purchase discernment on the difficult issues of life and faith. We stagger through life, wrought with inconsistency, burdened with foolishness, yet all the while the full riches of complete understanding are available to us.

God never asks his children to check their brains at the door. Jesus has not come so that we will close our minds, but so that they will be opened wide to the wonders of wisdom and understanding. In Christ, Paul says, are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. There is no excuse for a Christian to be ignorant, foolish, or stupid.

It’s time for you to get to work making money, and I’m not talking about fat stacks. It’s time for you to engage your mind in the person of Christ. It’s time for you to make massive withdrawals from the Bank of the Church, which is rich beyond measure with the wisdom of books and the beauty of art. It’s time for you to discover the treasures of Christ, to unleash the power of your mind, and to bring your wisdom and discernment to bear in a world rife with idiocy. We cannot afford to raise another impoverished Christian. Instead, be rich. And in your wealth, make the world rich.

Struggling for the Saints – 2:1-5

---

¹ I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. ² My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴ I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. ⁵ For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.

Paul continues his use of the athletic metaphor from the end of chapter one by using the word “contending” to describe his work for the churches. He is not simply putting in his hours; he is actively engaged in a competition, of sorts, on behalf of the Gentile churches. As he says in Ephesians 6, Paul recognizes that he is not contending against other human beings (as tempting as it may be, at times, to think of it that way), but against the cosmic forces of darkness that are manifest in temptation to sin and heretical teaching.

As Paul uses the metaphor of athletic competition, it is important to ask what winning looks like for him. When Paul envisions a victorious church, he sees three elements, each building upon the previous:

1. Unity in agape love and encouragement in heart;
2. Possession of the full riches of complete understanding;
3. Knowledge of the mystery of God, who is Christ.

A unified and encouraged church is a victorious church that is capable of possessing, together, the vast wealth of complete understanding and knowing, in a full and radical way, the mystery of God, who is Christ our Lord. In contrast, a divided and discouraged church cannot access the glorious storehouses of knowledge available in Christ Jesus. Paul’s hope for the church in Colossae (and the church in Laodicea, and elsewhere), was that the congregation would be united in the self-giving love of Jesus, and through this love, mutually enacted every day by and to each member, to come to the full, lived knowledge of Christ. This is a high calling, and not one that can be accomplished by any single member. “Christ’s love for them provided a basis for unity and formed a common bond between them. Christian growth is a group task! The individuals of the church needed each other.”^[i]

Continue reading