Now I am not interested in being caught up in an argument for the legality of asceticism, but when I see a society immersed in all the pleasure of the world, I often wonder why there is still depression, sorrow and loss. And I'm fully aware that there are some people who have very little and cannot experience all that most of us "suburbanites" can experience. But then what do we make of depression anxiety and sorrow? Are they then functions of how much pleasure one can purchase? Certainly not! For some who have nothing find great joy in their simple life, while some who have great fortunes are constantly depressed. Solomon writes of this sadness in Ecclesiastes when he speaks of how he had very much, yet all was "vanity":
"So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun."
(Ecclesiastes 2:9-11 ESV)But again does this point to some form of religious asceticism? The austere have often felt that the best way to live religiously is through "rigorous self-denial [and] extreme abstinence"(1). I do not doubt that such a lifestyle can cause someone greater care for the simpler things in life, certainly a more righteous way of living is to most anyones benefit. But does this solve the problem? Unfortunately even the extremely religious find that their desire for asceticism is often based on a greater desire for austerity or abstinence.
A pastor in Uganda once told me that he loved fasting to the point where it was addicting. I don't believe this pastor realized that he wasn't worshiping God through the fasting, but he was worshiping the fasting! And yet Jesus gives us specific ways in which we are to fast: “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." (Matthew 6:16-18 ESV) The point is not that my friend was in sin for fasting, it is that while he felt he was being good, he was relying on his religious practice to bring him closer to God rather than fasting out of a response of love towards God.
So I say these things to present the passage that I would like to discuss in some detail. It is a passage I have taught on once to the college group "Pursuit" that I attend, and i believe it has much to say regarding the issue of satisfaction, particularly where we need to find our satisfaction.
"Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 'Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch' (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
(Colossians 2:16-23 ESV)In the interest of not pulling the text all the way out of context I will explain the "Therefore..." from vv 16 if you studious ones have not already read the previous verses for proper context. Firstly this is a letter from Paul "To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae" (ch 1:2), and we have to understand from reading the entire letter that one of the main themes in this book is showing how Christ has secured redemption for his people by his death and resurrection. Now Paul becomes very specific throughout the book, but especially in chapter one, on exactly what the work of Christ looked like. He paints this very theological picture because he recognizes that there is some sort of false teaching in the church and Paul addresses a good bulk of that false teaching in this passage. So the "Therefore..." is pointing directly to a type of causality that Paul often uses where he says because of "this," you should do "this." So as we read this passage, we must recognize that the false teaching he starts describing here is contrary to the teachings of the work of Christ. This seems an almost elementary observation, however I would like to make the point that the main reason that Paul addressed the issue here was to make it obvious that Christ has indeed triumphed greatly over these false teachings.
So Paul starts the rebuke with the command that one should not allow another to judge them in certain areas of the law. Specifically he speaks of food, drink, Jewish festivals, and Sabbaths, and I believe this tells us a bit of what the false teachers were emphasizing; most likely some form of religious asceticism. I find it amazing in todays culture how many people will seek to live their life with some sort of religious control. It is insane to me how many diet trends and fads there are in this world that focus on vanity and outward beauty. I always see about five or six signs per day just for the "Lap-band," which apparently is a "get-thin-quick" scheme. Now being someone who could stand to lose a few pounds, I won't lie that such an ad has stood out to me. However I'm reminded of this passage and I realize that I'm letting a billboard judge me!
See, the world says: "You need to be thin, you need a new diet, you need nicer clothes, you need to smell better, you need to be married. Do you have that great job yet? Are you making enough money? Don't you know that it's important to look good, fit in, and look as good as your favorite celebrity? If you don't then how will you be able to commit yourself to gossiping about others who are fatter than you, dumber than you, less successful than you?"
See Paul understands that when you let someone else judge you, your general response is to judge others accordingly. We mirror what we see in others as our examples for how we should live. If we look up to celebrities, we will model celebrities, if we look up to religion, we will model religiosity, if we look up to our parents, we will model our parents. So when we become judgmental, it's usually because we've allowed something "important" to enter into our minds and hearts that is judging us. Then in our despair to try to match the culture so that we are viewed by our "mentors" in a good light (though failing miserably at doing so) we turn on our fellow man and choose to judge him with the same severity with which we were judged. This becomes a vicious cycle whose utter end is despair and misery.
Judging others aside for a moment, Paul claims that these rules are "...a shadow of things to come..." and I believe that he is inferring what John will write in Revelation 21:4-5, which has the Lamb of God saying "behold I will make all things new." The idea here being that God will make everything perfect one day; hence, the whole of the law will be fulfilled. But how? And the answer is in the second half of ch. 2:17: "...but the substance belongs to Christ."
See doing these things is not bad. Far from it, otherwise the law and the prophets would not have been so strict about following very precisely God's perfect law. But if you follow God's law out of selfish ambition, you aren't following God's law! And this is what Paul is saying: Jesus is the substance of the law! And this changes everything. Suddenly we are no longer under condemnation as before (Rom. 8:1). And it's not that we should stop seeking righteousness, but we need to realize something: we cannot be righteous! "None is righteous, no not one!" (Romans 3:10). We are utterly, totally, and completely depraved, yet for some reason man has taken to the belief that he can earn his own salvation. THIS is a false gospel.
This is why Paul writes "Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God" (Col. 2:18-19). Paul insists that when you put something else above Christ, even if it is seemingly a good thing, that it is sin. The bottom line is that when you hold on to the world's ideas about what is the best way to fit in, or the best way to be good, you are essentially cutting Christ off at the head. Suddenly we are doing something that isn't just wrong, but it is endangering the very faith that we hold on to.
Now some of you may think that this is not that big of a deal. And perhaps not if you are doing this alone and outside of the body of Christ. But for those who are actively involved in the church, this form of false teaching, this "leaven of the pharisees" as Jesus puts it, is pervasive to the point of destroying not just your own relationship with Jesus, but others as well. What we have today is a Christian culture where after going into the church, we tend to look around and wonder what others think of us. Our hearts are so used to the way the world judges us that we view the church judging us in the same way.
At Pursuit recently Dave has been going over the concept of what people often call "being single for Christ." I suppose there is some good in that, but Dave was good to caution us that it's not about being married or single per-say, but that our hearts be devoted to Christ. See our culture can so worship the concept of marriage, that it has utterly raped its meaning. Why Christians will be so strongly polarized in opposition to just gay marriage is beyond me. I SAY BE OPPOSED TO MARRIAGE WITHOUT JESUS!!! There is enough pain, hurt, divorce, strife, and ruin on this earth built around a worldly view of love and marriage, that the same concepts as before concerning asceticism become exponential when talking about marriage: "Is she cute enough? Will it last? Can he provide? Where's his degree? Will she satisfy me? Will he hurt me? How many children should we have? Won't it be perfect when it finally happens?"
NO!!!
There is one question you should ask yourself before you get married, (or before you do anything really): "Is Jesus the center of everything in my life?" We have this fascination with finding something in this world to satisfy our woes, to make right our wrongs, to fill fully our despairs, to charge our passions, to change our situations so that we can be more satisfied in those things. But what happens? NOTHING SATISFIES!!! Solomon likens it to eating ash. It will give you no joy, it will not make right all the evil you've done, it will not fill you life with meaning of any substance, it will fail to inspire, and it will only change your situation enough so that you can wish that it was different again. Paul puts it this way (and I'll paraphrase) "[Why, if you're a Christian saved by the blood of Christ, do you still seek earthly things? Why are human teachings so important to you? Don't you know that all these things will perish? These things can have the appearance of making you look very attractive and very "righteous"] but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh."
So then, what gives satisfaction? What gives joy? What makes the mortal sinner right before a holy God? What fills the soul of despair? What gives us passion? How do we change?
"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."
(Colossians 3:1-4 ESV)Paul tells us to set our minds on the things that are above, particularly Jesus Christ. This is a call to action! For us to set aside our earthly desires and seek Christ above all things requires that we do not endure the judgmental ways of the world, but to look instead to Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith so that we can run the race with endurance looking to the prize as Christ.
So then we do not live for ourselves, but we live for Christ, to do His will so that He might be glorified in His bride the church! Is it bad to be married? Is it bad to be single? Is it bad to eat? Is it bad to not eat? Is it bad to honor the Sabbath, to not murder, to listen to your parents? No, on none of these things is it bad as long as everything we do is done with Christ in mind as the one who strengthens us to do them so that we do not receive the glory for our accomplishments, but when they are done for Christ, then it is Him who receives the glory.
The answer is that Christ is the only one that man can be eternally satisfied in. Christ will give you joy, and true joy at that. Christ died for you, so you now are dead to the world and your righteousness is hidden with Christ in God. He fills your dead soul with His Holy Spirit and gives you everlasting life. It is the Word of God on the life and work of Jesus that gives us the inspiration to live a life according to His grace, mercy and peace. Christ is the one who changes the heart, so that no matter what our circumstance, no matter how much doubt, no matter how long we are single, no matter how much we wish we could have it our way, the only way we are satisfied eternally is in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen, Amen, Amen!!!
(1) http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/asceticism
