"Spiritual
Doubt"
A
student at Johnson recently made the trip to Johnson, toured the
campus and fell in love with its beauty and serene quiet. He
instantly knew that he would attend this institution. His love for
God, and his love for serving had all come together in what seemed
like a definite call from God. So they filled out the paperwork, got
everything going, when the receptionist helping with asked him if he
had attended any prior colleges. He replied that he had indeed
attended ISU for a few semesters. She informed him that Johnson
would require his ISU transcripts before they could proceed. This
presented a very large problem for this student, as he owed 3000
dollars to ISU, and they would not release his transcripts until the
balance was settled. Immediately his heart sunk. He even recollects
the room spinning when she said it, his grief was so much. For him,
this 3000 dollar bill was going to be the end of it all, the
beautiful campus, the call from God, the exciting new direction his
life was turning, the pride his parents felt towards him for his
decision, everything.
I
am confident that in our lives we have all experienced, in some
varying degree, this moment in life. That moment when it all comes
crashing down: Our plans, our comfort, our money, our cars, our
friends, our health, our relationships, whatever it may be. How did
you react in that moment? How will you react when it inevitably
happens again?
Our
text today is in Colossians Chapter 2, verses 16-23. “Therefore do
not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to
a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These
are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however,
is found in Christ. 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. Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this
world, why as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its
rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” These are
all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human
commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance
of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and
their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in
restraining sensual indulgence.”
Verse
20 implies a deep sense of trust in Christ when it talks about dying
with him to the principles of this world. What is even more
interesting is that he already assumes this about the listeners!
Paul is asking the question here, 'since you are already saved with
Christ, why are you trusting in worldly things?' We have always had
problems with trust has a human species all the way back to Adam and
Eve. Their distrust and disobedience caused sin to run rampant in
this world. The example that really gets me the most though, is in
Exodus. God gives his people the Book of the Covenant. Chapter 24
Verse 7: “Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the
people. They responded, “We will do everything the LORD has said;
we will obey”. That sounds like conviction to me! Long term
Christians and new Christians, ask yourself this question, when did
you make that statement to God? I WILL OBEY! If any of you have had
a dramatic conversion experience, you have experienced this. It's
very satisfying but yet very easy to make that commitment. I WILL
OBEY!
Reading
on in chapter 32, not even 40 days later, they fall short in a big
way. Chapter 32 verse 1: “When the people saw that Moses was so
long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and
said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this
fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has
happened to him.” Christians, how long did it take you to fall
short? Was it a slow drift, or did your heart turn away quick and
suddenly? And why does this happen? Have you really died to this
world? When Christ called you personally into service and life with
Him, you followed Him into death. Death away from this world and to
your sins. Have you really died? It's a spiritual trust issue.
The
student that wanted to go to Johnson steadied himself and sat in the
suddenly small seeming car on the way back to Indiana. As he stared
out the window, ignoring the comforting words of his father, he
doubted. He thought that God obviously didn't want him at Johnson,
and that he should quit his ministry ambitions. He got home and was
offered the money up front with no interest, and is now attending
Johnson by the grace of God. He questioned God's plan so quickly,
and so do we all. It's a trust issue. So we immediately turn to our
own plans, our own power, our own decisions for guidance.
Another
Johnson student, when he was a recent Christian, was working at a
youth summer camp. He was still fresh in the excitement of his call
to ministry and his new life in Christ, and seeing it happen with
youth was his passion. His girlfriend was working there with him at
the time. “Decision Day” came, when all the kids make a decision
to follow Christ publicly, and in many cases get baptized. He was so
excited that 2 of the students that he was leading came to him and
asked to get baptized, that he told his girlfriend. None of her
youth wanted to be baptized, and she immediately and persistently
reacted with jealousy and anger. She thought that she was a better
evangelizer and overall Christian than her new Christian boyfriend.
Leaders
in the Church, have you ever slipped into such a mentality?
Christians young and old, have you ever unconsciously stepped into
viewing your faith as a status icon? We sometimes become what Paul
describes in our text as people with “Unspiritual minds” that are
“puffed up with idle notions”. You can see this often with
people that are too much about tradition and not enough about Jesus.
And they don't trust in Christ, they trust in what they know, have
seen, have already experienced. People that “know” that it is a
life and death matter that the hymns at church must be sung with an
organ, because that's what we have always done, and that is what is
important is that we don't change what we're doing! People that do
this, knowingly or not, put distance between themselves and Christ,
and they will take anyone near them down as well.
Verse
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.” I recently learned that there is a
molecule that is vital to our very existence that we have, which
holds our bodies, molecules, and everything about us together. It's
called Laminin, and it bridges everything together and is the fabric
of our being. It looks something like this: (Show picture)
What
is your role in the Church? Have you tried to cross over your role
and into Christ's? Churches, have you trusted Christ to be the true
leader and direction giver at your Church, or do you have a spiritual
doubt problem? There is no in between. Christ is the head, and he
supports and directs the entire body. Without him, we as the Church
just look foolish like a chicken with its head cut off.
So
the question is, how do we know if we're keeping Christ as the head
of our body? Are you growing? Death with Christ, is Growth in
Christ. If you have truly died with him, then you trust him to guide
you and control every aspect of your life on earth, and if you do
this you are connected to the head, and you will grow! Are you
following self-imposed worship standards, are you putting on
appearances, are you keeping Jesus at the center of your message?
The answer shows in your growth. Colossians 1:17: “He is before
all things, and in Him all things hold together.” If you died with
Him, then you will be connected to him and grow in Him.
