Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.

Colossians 2:8

I like the phrase “high-sounding nonsense” used by the New Living Translation above because it describes some of the spiritual thinking that has crept into many of today’s churches. Just as empty philosophies, rationalization, and general false teachings were a reality for the Colossians just as they are for us today. The goal is the same: to undermine the authority of Christ and Scripture and then to weaken and destroy the individual and the Church.

In the second chapter of Colossians, Paul discusses several areas of false teaching. We’ll follow his example for confronting this kind of teaching and thinking that leads people away from faith in Christ alone. No matter how reasonable and “fine-sounding” the arguments are to our ears, we must keep our focus on the “…mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2: 2,3

When the serpent approached Eve in the garden, he began with a question that worked to undermine God’s authority in her life (and ours) – Did God really say…?(Genesis 3:1). Theologian, philosopher, and pastor, Francis Schaeffer, stressed the importance of insisting on the message of Christ as communicated in the Bible.

As we think about a new direction, give that quote some thought today. Is there any place in my life where I might be captured by “empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense?”