What Is Really Important

Introduction

Measuring things takes place all the time. If you want to measure the length of this building, you use some standardized instrument which will give you feet and inches. If you want to measure IQ, there are standardized tests to determine one’s ability. If you want to measure ingredients for a recipe, there are standardized measuring instruments to be used. If you want to measure aptitude, there are tests designed to help with those measures.

Measuring things allows us to compare items and people. Measuring is most often a good thing. Without standardized measuring instruments, a recipe which calls for 1 teaspoon of salt may be ruined if a novice cook is allowed to guess about the quantity. Without exact measures, buildings would crumble, airplanes would crash more often, and we would forever be trying on clothes trying to get just the right fit. Measuring allows us to compare items and people. What about spirituality? How do we measure our spiritual maturity? Are there standardized instruments to help us with that? And is there a way to measure our spirituality so that it is a good thing? And if we do measure our level of spiritual maturity what is the standard that we compare ourselves to?

These can be difficult questions to answer. In Colossians 2:16-23, Paul gives us some criteria for how not to measure spirituality. He also gives us some preliminary indication of what it is going to take to determine our spiritual maturity. As you can probably guess, the standard is not in a test or some standardized unit, the standard is in a person. How do you measure up spiritually? Today we’ll examine our hearts and our objectives and see where we lack.

Rules, Rules, Rules

Standards and rules are important. Imagine our world without them. Some have proposed a world with far less rules. But these proposals often fall in on themselves because the importance of rules is firmly established. Without rules chaos would reign. Can you imagine driving without rules? Working without rules? Playing games without rules? If there were not standards which all agreed upon, our world would be chaotic. Paul is writing to a group of folks who are struggling to maintain a proper focus on Christ. False teachers have come in and taught them some things that makes Christ look less than enough. These false teachers have persuaded some that some other things need to be added to Christ in order to complete the picture. Paul has fought against such false teaching by exalting Christ and his work. He has used words to describe the person and work of Christ so that all can be persuaded of his completeness as God’s son.

But these false teachers were making it clear that only certain ones could really claim to be God’s people. Those who kept the rules were spiritually mature. Their chant is given in verse 21: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” These false teachers were calling on everyone to move toward a life which denied the flesh. Nothing wrong with that, except in the process they established some rules which God either did not establish or no longer required to be kept.

In verse 16, Paul says that the Colossians are not to allow another to judge them according to their ability to abstain from certain foods or to keep certain special days. He goes on in verse 18 to warn about those who “delight in false humility.” This is the idea that my view is better than your view. My way is superior to your way. It is a way of describing one who believes that he or she has achieved a spiritual goal which others have fallen short of. This false humility may refer to fasting, but it definitely refers to ascetic living. A person says to others “I’m more spiritual than you because I abstain from foods.” Paul goes on to say don’t let these false teachers disqualify you for the prize. The word “disqualify” means to decide against as an umpire or to deprive. Don’t let these false teachers deprive you of your prize. Furthermore in verse 18 Paul says that these false teachers go into great detail to describe what he has seen. They describe their spiritual experiences and use them as a measuring standard for their spiritual maturity against those who have not had similar experiences.

Measuring Our Spirituality

There are basically two ways which Paul lists for us in which people determine their spiritual maturity. The first is in spiritual experiences—that is, experiences which are emotionally driven. These experiences become the driving force of proof for being spiritual. Sometimes a person will say something like this: “I don’t feel close to God right now. It feels like God has left me.” Or someone may say “I knew that I was close to God. You could just feel the electricity in the air.” I have had emotional experiences. I have had experiences where I stood with tears streaming down my face and pledging anew to be God’s servant. I have had those emotional experiences which generated a lot of excitement. God made us with emotions. But Paul says this is not the measure of spiritual maturity. Those who have emotional experiences at times may use those experiences to determine not only their own level of spirituality but may judge others who haven’t had them. Let me ask you this. If you have an emotional experience which encourages your spirituality does that mean we must all have the same experience in order to be spiritually mature? Must we all feel the same thing to be called spiritual? Is it possible for a person to be spiritually mature and not pursue emotional experiences as verification of God’s presence? Paul says spirituality is not determined by one’s emotional experiences and those who focus on them as a way of determining spiritual levels do so at their own peril.

The second way some wrongly determine spiritual maturity is by keeping rules. Some believe that the more rules he or she keeps the more spiritual they must be. Rules typically tell us what we must not do in order to meet the standard. Take for instance basketball. You must not foul an opponent. You must not take steps without dribbling the ball. You must not spend more than 3 seconds in the lane. You must not impede the progress of an opponent by holding him. You get the idea. Rules basically tell us what we can’t do. Some see their spiritual lives this way and as a result their God is a God of slavery rather than freedom.

Consider verse 21. See the don’ts. See how the rules tell us what we can’t do. Some believe their spirituality is determined by how well they don’t do things. God certainly gives us some rules. He certainly tells us not to do certain things. But God is more than negative rules. God also encourages us to exercise freedom. Love. Forgive. Be patient. Practice gentleness. Not rules, but freedoms to be exercised.

Some want us to talk about what we aren’t supposed to do. Paul says talk about rules means that we are stuck in this world. Rules based on human rules and teachings are bound to perish. Basically Paul says if we make our rules signs of spirituality then we substitute our rules for Christ. Our rules put “self” at the center.

With “self” at the center, then we begin to think about things like self-discipline, self-awareness, self-fulfillment, self-esteem, self-actualization, and self-help. The focus turns to self rather than Christ.

When we set up our rules and our emotional experiences as the signs of spirituality we then lose connection with our head, who is Jesus. The criteria for measuring our spirituality then becomes ourselves. Christ is the head. He is the one who sets the standard. Some will claim that their feelings determine how spiritual they are. Don’t misunderstand what I am getting ready to say. God made us with emotions and emotions are not bad. But faith does not ask us to follow our emotions or to be guided by what we see and feel. Faith calls on us to look beyond ourselves and to focus on things above (3:1) which is where Paul is going with this point.

Rules can make a person appear spiritual. But keeping the rules doesn’t determine one’s spiritual level. Of course, God has rules. But if we insist on our rules being kept in addition to God’s rules we then set aside Christ as the head and place ourselves as the head. Rule keeping doesn’t guarantee spirituality.

It’s like buying a couch. What you see in a couch isn’t really what makes that couch a couch. It is the stuff that is hidden that determines the quality of the couch. A couch can look good and feel comfortable. Some want a couch that looks good and feels comfortable, but if the stuff on the inside is made of poor quality, then the couch will lose its looks and comfort in short order.

Don’t be fooled by the externals. What matters is being connected with Christ—not by your emotions, not by your ability to keep your own rules, but by faith in what he has done through and on the cross.

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