Be Careful How You Word Your Expectations For Others

Dixit ergo Iesus ad duodecim numquid et vos vultis abire

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

But how often are we tempted to go elsewhere? Peer pressure; cultural expectations; religious dogma; all these things can distract our eyes from Christ Jesus: the Saviour of the world. In Jesus are treasures of knowledge, understanding, wisdom.  Paul felt a struggle in prayer for the believers in Laodicea and Colossae; that they would not be deluded by the persuasive arguments of people that wanted to bring them into bondage. Strangely, the bondage was not into what we would think of as "sin", but rather, a bondage to "not sin" by adopting a certain set of expectations. If they did not cow, they would be told they were sinning. Sinning terribly.

In reality, Christ would save them, yes. But to live all this life in fear and bondage; not knowing if one had met all the legal requirements, or thinking that one had not: that was not the life Christ was calling them into and Paul struggled to set them right.

Christ had come into the world and disarmed the religious bullies that would want to hold over the heads of the common people a list of do's and don'ts that the people were already guilty of breaking.

Now, many years after Christ had disarmed the religious bullies, more of the same had worked their way into leadership in the church and Paul struggled in prayer and in carefully worded epistles so that the people would not be defrauded of the peace that comes in trusting Christ. Paul wanted all believers to know that Christ had accepted them; that God had cancelled out the certificates of guilt that might have been used against them, and to get them to live in fear of rejection. Sadly it is still very often that religious leaders attempt to bring people into submission by guilting their followers into certain practices or codes of conduct. They claim to have a revelation, a word, or some sort of authority and the ability to judge the spirituality of people according to a set of exterior standards. Their desire is not godly. That is, they do not try to get each person to "submit one to another" and "in love prefer one another". Rather, they try to exalt themselves as examples and authorities on holy living and if anyone else falls short of their example of not touching, or not eating, or not drinking, or of worshipping only on a certain day etc..... then those religious bullies try to tell the people that they are not pleasing God.  Whenever we hold up a rule of living (other than to love one another) and infer that anyone not measuring up to that rule is not worthy of our fellowship, we do Christ a sad disservice.

Instead, we as leaders should be turning people's attention to Jesus; encouraging them to hold onto him, as the head of the Church.

Think about it:  Do you do what you do out of love for Christ, or out of fear of being rejected by him?

 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face,  that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself,  in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.  For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.  Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,  having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.  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.  For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,  and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority ;  and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ ;  having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.  When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,  having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.  When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.  Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day-  things which are a mere shadow of what is to come ; but the substance belongs to Christ.  Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,  and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.  If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as,  "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch !"  (which all refer to things destined to perish with use )-in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men ?  These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence. Colossians Chapter Two