Paul tells us not to let others judge us by their traditions, their expectations
Vs 18-19 tell us to stay connected to God/Jesus and not fall into the trap of false humility or mysticism.
“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 is supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.”
Here I think it is worthy to mentions the fact that he says “don’t let anyone who delights in false humility or the worship of angels disqualify you”. The fact that he puts someone with false humility and angel worshipers in the same category suggest they both suffer from idolatry. The NASB uses the term Self Abasement in place of false humility. In psychology, abasement is associated with shame (rather than guilt) and it is said to involve the reduction of the subject's self-esteem. I have found much of my Christian life has been kept in check by shame rather than guilt. Not feelings as though God is convicting me but feeling the shame the culture put on the issues that I have faced. It has also been my experience that many Christians with false humility have tried to disqualify me for the prize based on their own pretense of sinlessness. Earlier I asked how many of us have sinned this week/ or today… How many of you raised your hands because that is what Christians are supposed to do? I imagine some of you cannot identify a “sin” that you have committed? This week? Today? You do not have to raise your hand but I know you are out there; probably many of you. How do I know this? I used to be sinless…. in my own mind. Oh sure I knew I was a “sinner”…. but by the Grace of God I was no longer sinning. I went weeks/ months/ years without sinning and feeling more self righteous by the second. And, I told many sinners they were going to hell for their sins if they did not stop right now! I was one of the people Paul is warning you about in this passage. Oh yes there are many of us out there. And the longer you stay in that position the harder you fall; at least in the eyes of yourself and the people around you. God already knew you were still sinning and he loved you anyway. Many of the people around you see your self- righteousness as well. Sometimes that keeps them away from God and the church instead of drawing them closer. They think things like…. If that is Christianity I don’t want any part of it. Who died and made her God? Who does she think she is talking to me like that? She is too “Godly” for me to be around/ pray with/ study with, etc. False humility = idolatry. We worship ourselves… the created rather than the creator.
Again Paul warns us against legalism. V20-23
“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 things 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.”
Paul’s words are harsh here he says, they have an appearance of wisdom but lack value. Legalism, false humility, following all the rules definitely has the appearance of wisdom. People can see what good Christians we are when we follow all the rules. I am not saying that rules are bad. What I am saying and what I believe Paul is tryting to get across is this: following the rules for the sake of saving face does nothing for the heart. He also wants us to be aware that mans laws are perishable. That they change with the times, that even sometimes our interpretation of the Bible changes over time. He wants us to keep our eyes focused on Christ who is as it says in vs. 17, the true reality. Christ changes our hearts, not laws and behavior and that is what He wants, our heart, our true self.
When we think of rebellion we don't usually associate it with being Godly or not. But here I believe that Paul is telling us to rebel, rebel against anything except Jesus and the message of the Gospel. We are to have faith-filled rebellion against legalism, worldly philosophies, and false humility. We are to question the things we are being taught and test them through Jesus not through the basic principles of this world. Faith-filled rebellion means being real, it means rebelling against the idea that the church is to be filled with perfect, non-sinning people. It means rebelling against satan and the idea that we are unworthy to work for God based on our perceived sin status. God can work through everyone and does. Remember the man in the video? He broke free, took off his mask. He was considered a rebel, the faceless people ran after him trying to bring him back in alignment, to put his mask back on. He knew he was on the right path so he continued through the pain of rejection, through the persistent taunting, pleading, and condemnation of the people around him. At first he forced people to take their masks off too, but in the end people saw his freedom and wanted it for themselves…. His rebellion started a revolution. Faith- filled rebellion will bring about a revolution for Christ. It will bring us back to the truth of the Gospel…
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It is my hopes that reading this will give you one of two things...
Understanding that you are living a faceless and false life and it is time to take off your mask and get real
The knowledge that the faceless people who have been chasing you or who have abandoned you because you don't fit in are indeed in the same boat you are... they have something in their life that they are covering with their mask and they are under the false impression that they can discard it by pretending.
Either way the search for happiness ends when you can accept who you are and not be ashamed of it based on other peoples views and philosophies....
I am not saying you have to shout it to the world no matter which you suffer from because we always want to be considerate of others but I believe inner peace is what everyone is striving for in life; When we are pretending that is something we do not have.... That is the alarm system that has been installed in us from birth
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