If you want to learn a language you have to start with the basics. I’ve been watching a friend’s grandchild lately; he’s 20 months old and is learning to talk. The interesting thing is that you can watch him slowly learn to associate sounds with words, and associate words with ideas. At this point he often seems to talk in a version of sentences, and based on his actions and gestures you can get an idea of what he’s saying. He pronounces some words close to the way they should be pronounced, and other words are pronounced in a way that only he understands. It won’t be long before he begins to learn how written words can express spoken words. That’s an amazing thing isn’t it? Written words provide a way in which ideas can be expressed more consistently. Spoken language is much more fluid; but a written language is something that can be referred to in more concrete terms. Both can change over time, but the written form can be more easily studied and evaluated. This was demonstrated to me in a movie I once saw in which a Catholic monk sought to bring the Christian faith to native tribes living in the interior of Canada. He was provided with a native guide who had a limited understanding of European culture. These natives had no written language and when the monk demonstrated how written language worked, the native thought it was the product of magic and was fearful of its power. Such is the power of the written word, and such is the power of the “Good News” perpetuated in written form.

What follows from this is the amazing capacity for our written Bible to convey ideas that provide an understanding of human existence…if we let it. Most people learn about themselves and their world through a form of osmosis. We absorb ideas from our surroundings—both within and outside the home of our upbringing. We learn the ABCs of our existence and those ABCs change over time such that the basic ideas that inform us are, to some degree, the product of interaction with our environment—and here I’m referring to the environment of ideas. We’re taught how to understand our world and ourselves through the influence of our surroundings. The Bible, for its part, has the capacity to impact our environment, introducing ideas that either supplement or contradict the influence of our surroundings. The extent to which the surrounding culture has absorbed the ideas of Scripture will determine to what extent each person within that culture can receive the ideas presented in the Bible through this process of osmosis. In consideration of this it must be said that no culture has ever absorbed the fundamental ideas of Scripture to the extent that it was no longer necessary for the Lord to supplement the influence of that culture with the influence of His spoken, and written, Word.

Now that’s a mouthful, but there’s a reason why I’m starting this discussion in this manner. The question is: where does that leave us? And the answer is; we need to learn our ABCs: the ABCs of our current existence, and determine how those fundamental ideas square with what we’re presented with in Scripture. We need to scrutinize those fundamental ideas absorbed from our environment and compare them with those that are derived exclusively from the Bible. If we don’t we’re liable to be misled. Paul’s letter to the Colossians provides us with an explicit example of this effort when he stated:

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

Two terms are significant in this verse: “tradition” and “elementary principles.” The first suggests the influence of what might be termed “common knowledge,” those ideas that everybody has come to agree upon. It’s that body of ideas that “everybody knows,” as in everybody knows that what goes up must come down because of the influence of gravity. Certain ideas become taken for granted. The ideas are considered obvious; there’s no argument about them. But what Paul is saying in the above passage is that “common knowledge” for the Colossians needed to be reevaluated in light of the true Gospel, which is the “Good News’ concerning the Christ. And he goes on to suggest that the ABCs of the culture—the fundamental ideas embraced by the culture—need to be carefully considered as well. The word used there is stoicheia in Greek which is translated as “elementary principles.” This term originally indicated the letters of the alphabet—the ABCs—and later elemental spirits that were probably being worshipped by the wayward Colossians.

What does this do for us? The first point is obvious because the apostle is explicit in emphasizing the supremacy of our Savior. In our Messiah “all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” and “He is the head over all rule and authority.” There’s no room for the worship of any other spirit; the Christ “is all and in all.” (Colossians 2:9-10; 3:11) Our faith emphasizes One God in three persons; and while we acknowledge the existence of other spiritual beings, good and evil, our Gospel doesn’t endorse their worship. This is in sharp contrast to the “traditions” of the Colossians. And it is likewise the case that the “traditions” of the modern world—specifically those embraced by American, western culture need to be assessed as well. Modern “traditions” don’t focus on the supernatural as they did in the apostolic era. Instead our traditions are derived from investigations of a “scientific” nature. Much has been discovered about the natural world since the end of the first century. Principles and phenomena that were once considered supernatural in nature are now understood in scientific terms. Many of the ideas derived from these modern “traditions” can be coordinated with our understanding of God and His “Good News.” However, our understanding of ourselves, as human beings, is also being evaluated in scientific terms and this has caused much confusion.

It might be said that modern, western, views of humanity combine features of science and philosophy and it’s the philosophical element that can confuse and deceive us. This brings us back to Paul’s address to the Colossians in which he warns against the influence of “philosophy and empty deception,” and its capacity to take us captive. The modern deception involves a process that combines a developing tradition with an accepted understanding of how that development takes place. Science has discovered a great deal about how the natural world functions. Things like lightning, rain, earthquakes and fire are understood in terms of scientific principles that can be studied and evaluated. And what has been discovered has altered modern “traditions” of understanding with regard to who we are and why we are the way we are. People get sick due to things of a biological nature. If we can manipulate the biology we can often overcome the sickness. People can fly through the air today because they’ve learned to apply the same principles to a machine that allow a bird to fly. The problem is that we’ve become so successful at applying our scientific understanding to every feature of our lives, that we’ve come to think that it can also provide the reason for our existence. By answering the questions concerning how we are here, we have become convinced that we can answer, in a similar manner, the questions concerning why we are here. These are the “elementary principles,” the stoicheia, of our modern world. God is left out of the equation; we no longer need God to explain it to us, we’ve figured it out for ourselves. And the influence of this environment must be recognized intentionally by Christians so that it doesn’t unduly affect us.

The ancient Colossians had embraced the Gospel! They wouldn’t have gotten Paul’s letter if that wasn’t the case. What they did was combine those things that informed the Colossian culture with the “Good News” concerning the Christ, and in the process adulterated the Gospel. Paul understood that and sought to address that adulteration by pointing out the profound nature of the news regarding our Savior. He insisted that the ABCs of our existence have been redefined by the Gospel and that redefinition needed to be understood and accepted by the Colossians. And it needs to be embraced by modern Americans as well. That’s not easy to do. Such a posture involves a recognition that what is familiar is not adequate in itself, new categories of understanding need to be employed. We have to let go of what is familiar and let the Lord inform us anew. Short of that, the tendency is to combine the old with the new, adulterating, or even obliterating, the essence of the Gospel message. In Colossae that involved the use of ideas derived from their local Spiritism, in our modern culture it involves the misuse of science in a manner that obscures and corrupts the Gospel and diminishes its impact. What we learn from the Bible is that we are primarily spiritual beings who are capable of engaging an environment that reflects the ingenuity of a spiritual reality. As image bearers of creator God we can engage the ingenious nature of the creation. However, because our relationship with God is compromised due to sin, we are susceptible to deception and misunderstanding in our use of the creation and our understanding of ourselves. Paul’s challenge to the Colossians is also a challenge to us. We need to examine our current circumstances and be on guard against the influences of a “philosophy and empty deception” that surrounds us. One that is informed by what is recognized as “common knowledge” and the stoicheia: the ABCs of our existence embraced by our culture. We need to prayerfully examine ourselves and ask the Lord to inform our circumstances in a new light so that we can hear and receive all that God has provided for us through our Messiah. In so doing, we need to remember that we have a common enemy who exploits our environment in order to mislead and deceive us. Remember the admonition of the Apostle John that was in the last post:

We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.Little children, guard yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:18-21)

Go with God!

Seek the Lord! Halleluiah! Happy New Year!