With all the confusion in the world, people are looking for something … anything really … that seems sane and stable. Politically, the left has shown their certifiable insanity by not only having economic policies that destroy but doubling down on them every chance they get. “Gender dysphoria” is accepted as someone’s personal journey and not something to be corrected by confrontation with absolutes such as, “No, son, you are not a girl. You are a boy, and you will act like one.” Our government acknowledges Pride Month, recognizing deviant sexual lifestyles as praiseworthy.
Amid all this chaos, there are political conservatives, masculine and feminine online influencers, and fundamentalist non-Christian religions that seem to acknowledge realities that the woke left rejects: the absolute distinctions between the sexes and masculine and feminine roles. People hungry for sanity will eat from Christless garbage cans because they see that the only alternative is the sewage of the left. Not much of a choice. As good as some conservatism and fundamentalism may be in some respects, if they are Christless, then they don’t deal with the real problem of mankind.
Writing to the Colossians, Paul must deal with some pretty impressive practices of the Jews that are enticing to a newborn church. The Jews have history. They not only have good worship disciplines, but they have the commandments of God along with a visible, glorious Temple in Jerusalem. (Jesus’ disciples were quite impressed with the Temple according to Mark 13:1.) Jews are using all these things to persuade the Colossians that their Christian faith is either not enough or completely invalid. Inclusion in God’s people means adherence to circumcision, the calendar, and cleanness laws. There were certain foods and drinks that could be eaten and drunk, and others must be avoided to remain worship-worthy and not cut off from God’s people. The same was true for the weekly, monthly, and yearly feast days. These were God’s prescribed times for worship. Then, to prepare for worship, you must engage in all the prescribed fasts, which Paul describes as “humility” and “harsh treatment of the body” (Col 2:18, 23).
The disciplined rituals were impressive. They had history and had the appearance of wisdom, looking very religious. They were much more impressive than a once-for-all-time baptism (as opposed to all the baptisms prescribed by the Law of Moses) and a simple meal of bread and wine (and not all the feast days).
The pull is understandable. We want to be connected to something greater than ourselves. And if someone says, “These are the commandments of God,” well, that gives them final authority, binding my conscience to obedience.
There is only one problem with the Jewish argument: they were making it all up. All the disciplines related to their Temple worship were “self-made religion” and the “commandments and teachings of men” (Col 2:22, 23). That’s a bold claim made by Paul, but he has backed it up already. He has proven that Christ is the fulfillment of all that the Law of Moses and the Temple anticipated. He is the body that cast the shadows that were the food, drink, festivals, new moons, Sabbaths, and circumcision. Once a person is incorporated into his body through baptism (Col 2:11-12), the shadows are irrelevant. Therefore, no matter how impressive the old worship styles and disciplines may be, they can’t be used to judge whether or not you are a part of God’s people. Christless disciplines can’t do what baptism into Christ does: strip off the old Adamic body of flesh and clothe you with the resurrected body of Christ (see Gal 3:27).
If the shadowy commandments of God are powerless against the Adamic flesh that is corrupted in mind and body, how much less is any other Christless discipline able to kill the old flesh and give us the life we need?
In the non-Christian world, there are movements in response to Feminism’s insanity. The soy-boy culture to which Feminism gave birth is slowly being rejected. Masculine online influencers talk about developing a mission, making money, getting into good physical condition, stopping watching porn, and rejecting the belief that masculinity is toxic are extremely popular. They say many good things about disciplines, many of the same things I tell young men. But they believe that they can kill all the bad stuff in their life apart from Christ. These men have money, are chased by women, are in tremendous physical condition, and are highly influential. It all looks like wisdom. However, as good as these disciplines are in themselves, they don’t solve man’s fundamental problem of killing the flesh and having true life.
Women, rejecting Feminism, have adopted the tradwife movement. These women reject the girlboss, strong, independent, “I don’t need no man” spirit created by Feminism and seek to return to “traditional gender roles,” becoming wives and mothers and learning to make sourdough bread. Much of what they say is good, but adopting forms of femininity and what they deem “traditional roles” is adopting a form of godliness but denying its power. Tradwife-ism doesn’t kill the flesh.
Christless conservatism is reflected in much of the GOP, the old Fox News, much of the Daily Wire, and many outlets on X divorce political philosophies and strategies from the gospel. No Christless system of government—democracy!–will deal with the problem of the flesh, no matter how much better it is than the body-mutilating, economy-destroying, warmongering left.
Non-Christian religions can also be impressive with their disciplines and look like they have it all together. Muslims, Hindus, Tibetan monks, Mormons, and others engage in severe treatment of the body, but they are all useless against the problem of the corrupt flesh that is solved only in Christ.
And, yes, Christian churches can be guilty of setting up wrong standards of judgment for who’s in and who’s out as well. It’s not submitting to baptism, continuing at the Table, and being loyal to Jesus; you must be anointed and confirmed to be “in.” You must practice Lent this way and celebrate Easter in that way. We are scandalized by simple baptism and a bread-and-wine meal as the only disciplines God requires for us to be included in his people. All these other accouterments look impressive and must be the commandments of God.
Many disciplines may be beneficial but not essential. What distinguishes the two are the commandments of God revealed in Christ and through the Scriptures. Don’t accept the disqualification of men who use extra- and non-biblical standards to judge whether or not you are a Christian.
