While I was in Seminary, I became enamored with the field of philosophy. Thankfully, the Seminary I attended offered that degree and had several talented professors in the program. I was thrilled. However, not every minister I knew was as excited as I was. Another pastor once asked me what I had chosen as a major. When I told him, he responded with a half-hearted joke, “Are you still saved?”
Philosophy degrees at evangelical seminaries may be rare, but I received an outstanding education. From the history of ideas to formal training on critical thinking to learning about Christians who shaped Western philosophy, I gained an appreciation for the depths and riches of the faith. In the years since, my commitment to the “faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3) has only grown stronger, and my love of truth has become unshakeable.
I bring up my Seminary degree to dive into what Paul says in Colossians 2:4 when he writes, “so that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.” He later says, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8).
Christian pastors and leaders must remain faithful to Christ and not be duped by false ideas. This is at least as pressing now as when Paul penned those words. The landscape of worldviews and ideas has not grown less complex over time, and it may have grown more difficult to tell the false from the true. Part of the shepherd’s calling is to protect the truth of the Gospel while warning the flock about the schemes of the enemy that would separate us from the riches in Christ.
Here are three questions we can ask to avoid deception.
In the same passage where Paul warns us against the delusions of empty philosophies, he also emphasizes the centrality of knowledge and wisdom in Christ. He wants us to “have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that [we] may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2-3).
When measuring a worldview, political philosophy, or popular idea, a great first question is, “What does it make of Christ?” In many ways, this is the bottom line. If a popular worldview has nothing to do with Christ, or if it downplays the uniqueness of Christ or changes biblical teaching, it is the pastor’s job to make that clear to people. We must steer people away from ideologies that do not get Christ right and back to where the “treasures of wisdom and knowledge” are kept.
Part of the theological tradition of the Protestant church is the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture. In a nutshell, the Bible is sufficient for what we believe and how we live as Christians, and all other authority is subservient to Scripture. Do I believe that deeply enough to use it to measure all other worldviews and cultural trends?
The power of the Christian doctrine of sin may surprise us. Scripture teaches that humanity fell into sin, and God expelled us from the garden. From then on, all of us have inherited a sinful nature (Romans 3:10, 5:12). Because we are all sinners, our baseline explanation for what is wrong with the world is, “I am!” And when we point to the sins of others, we recognize that what is in them is also in us. We believe, then, that the root of our larger problems is the sin problem in each of us.
If an attractive and powerful ideology does not recognize universal sin, it will begin to carve people into groups. Some of them will be the oppressed, and others will be the oppressors. As a result, only some are seen as sinners. This view of the problem only creates more problems.
The pastor who understands the biblical doctrine of universal sin recognizes where it goes wrong in understanding the human condition. We do not need to understand all of the details of a philosophy to see that if it has a radically different diagnosis of our problem than Christian theology, it will fail to provide a true solution.
God hardwired human beings to long for justice. As a result, it genuinely bothers us when we witness injustice, and we want someone to find a solution or bring justice to the wrongdoers.
Human history is littered with powerful individuals who have promised solutions to our problems but who have wreaked havoc instead. When humans try to solve human sin with merely human solutions, we should remember Christ’s words: “And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into a pit” (Matthew 15:14). Sometimes those pits are a historical aggravation; sometimes they are bloodbaths. But in every instance, merely human solutions to our problems reject Christ and thus get it wrong.
The tendency in our culture has been to place our problems at the feet of specific groups of people, thus offering a solution that vilifies, victimizes, cancels, and censors people. All of this is contrary to the virtues of Christ and our commitment to things like forgiveness and restoration. The Christian cannot accept a solution that silences a swath of society. We aim at other things like civil debate and grace (Proverbs 18:13, 17).
Christian theology has always recognized the power of God as the only power that can transform the human heart and bring God’s solution to humanity’s problems. Here, again, the doctrine of sin keeps us from being deceived. As Adam and Eve were being expelled from the garden, God clothed them with animal skins, showing us that only through the shedding of blood would we be covered (Genesis 3:21). Our trust in human power should be tempered, as Psalm 20:7 says, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”
Additionally, Jesus and the New Testament clearly state that we find our salvation only by trusting in Christ (John 1:12, 5:24, Romans 10:9-10). Jesus even goes so far as to say that he offers both eternal life and abundant life now (John 10:10). If any worldview ignores the salvation in Christ, we know that its power to handle the human condition will be limited at best.
In the end, pastors can lead the way by asking essential questions about popular worldviews and ensuring these empty philosophies do not deceive us. And then, as Paul admonished us, we help others find a wealth of knowledge and wisdom in Christ.
The post Do Not Be Deceived by Vain Philosophies appeared first on Focus on the Family.
Continue reading...
Philosophy degrees at evangelical seminaries may be rare, but I received an outstanding education. From the history of ideas to formal training on critical thinking to learning about Christians who shaped Western philosophy, I gained an appreciation for the depths and riches of the faith. In the years since, my commitment to the “faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3) has only grown stronger, and my love of truth has become unshakeable.
I bring up my Seminary degree to dive into what Paul says in Colossians 2:4 when he writes, “so that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.” He later says, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8).
Christian pastors and leaders must remain faithful to Christ and not be duped by false ideas. This is at least as pressing now as when Paul penned those words. The landscape of worldviews and ideas has not grown less complex over time, and it may have grown more difficult to tell the false from the true. Part of the shepherd’s calling is to protect the truth of the Gospel while warning the flock about the schemes of the enemy that would separate us from the riches in Christ.
Here are three questions we can ask to avoid deception.
What about Christ?
In the same passage where Paul warns us against the delusions of empty philosophies, he also emphasizes the centrality of knowledge and wisdom in Christ. He wants us to “have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that [we] may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2-3).
When measuring a worldview, political philosophy, or popular idea, a great first question is, “What does it make of Christ?” In many ways, this is the bottom line. If a popular worldview has nothing to do with Christ, or if it downplays the uniqueness of Christ or changes biblical teaching, it is the pastor’s job to make that clear to people. We must steer people away from ideologies that do not get Christ right and back to where the “treasures of wisdom and knowledge” are kept.
Part of the theological tradition of the Protestant church is the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture. In a nutshell, the Bible is sufficient for what we believe and how we live as Christians, and all other authority is subservient to Scripture. Do I believe that deeply enough to use it to measure all other worldviews and cultural trends?
What is the problem?
The power of the Christian doctrine of sin may surprise us. Scripture teaches that humanity fell into sin, and God expelled us from the garden. From then on, all of us have inherited a sinful nature (Romans 3:10, 5:12). Because we are all sinners, our baseline explanation for what is wrong with the world is, “I am!” And when we point to the sins of others, we recognize that what is in them is also in us. We believe, then, that the root of our larger problems is the sin problem in each of us.
If an attractive and powerful ideology does not recognize universal sin, it will begin to carve people into groups. Some of them will be the oppressed, and others will be the oppressors. As a result, only some are seen as sinners. This view of the problem only creates more problems.
The pastor who understands the biblical doctrine of universal sin recognizes where it goes wrong in understanding the human condition. We do not need to understand all of the details of a philosophy to see that if it has a radically different diagnosis of our problem than Christian theology, it will fail to provide a true solution.
What is the solution?
God hardwired human beings to long for justice. As a result, it genuinely bothers us when we witness injustice, and we want someone to find a solution or bring justice to the wrongdoers.
Human history is littered with powerful individuals who have promised solutions to our problems but who have wreaked havoc instead. When humans try to solve human sin with merely human solutions, we should remember Christ’s words: “And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into a pit” (Matthew 15:14). Sometimes those pits are a historical aggravation; sometimes they are bloodbaths. But in every instance, merely human solutions to our problems reject Christ and thus get it wrong.
The tendency in our culture has been to place our problems at the feet of specific groups of people, thus offering a solution that vilifies, victimizes, cancels, and censors people. All of this is contrary to the virtues of Christ and our commitment to things like forgiveness and restoration. The Christian cannot accept a solution that silences a swath of society. We aim at other things like civil debate and grace (Proverbs 18:13, 17).
Christian theology has always recognized the power of God as the only power that can transform the human heart and bring God’s solution to humanity’s problems. Here, again, the doctrine of sin keeps us from being deceived. As Adam and Eve were being expelled from the garden, God clothed them with animal skins, showing us that only through the shedding of blood would we be covered (Genesis 3:21). Our trust in human power should be tempered, as Psalm 20:7 says, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”
Additionally, Jesus and the New Testament clearly state that we find our salvation only by trusting in Christ (John 1:12, 5:24, Romans 10:9-10). Jesus even goes so far as to say that he offers both eternal life and abundant life now (John 10:10). If any worldview ignores the salvation in Christ, we know that its power to handle the human condition will be limited at best.
In the end, pastors can lead the way by asking essential questions about popular worldviews and ensuring these empty philosophies do not deceive us. And then, as Paul admonished us, we help others find a wealth of knowledge and wisdom in Christ.
The post Do Not Be Deceived by Vain Philosophies appeared first on Focus on the Family.
Continue reading...