Before I get into profound, life-changing biblical commentary (ok, thats a little dramatic) let me tell you that I am addressing parents of teenagers. This blog post is clearly an attempt to persuade you to consider prioritizing the upcoming Worldview Academy conference coming up on November 10-11. Worldview Academy is committed to equipping students to defend Christian truth against competing worldviews. You can purchase tickets at the Worldview Academy website. The early bird deadline is October 20 when you can get tickets for $35/individual, $55/couple, $75/family.
Now for the commentary...
God’s Word commands us in
Colossians 2:8 to “See to it that no one
takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition,
according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”
First of all, this is indeed a
command. What is being commanded is for believers to see to it or to make sure this happens. The question this raises
and then answered is this: what is it exactly that believers are responsible to
make happen? The answer of course is that no one takes you captive. Let’s hit
pause for a moment and add some earth-shattering insight. Again, that is hyperbolic, but it is good to slow down and wrestle with this.
Believers are commanded to make
sure no one takes you captive. There are not one, not two, but at least three
implications at this point:
It is the believer’s responsibility to make sure this doesn’t happen.
Just like Adam wasn’t let off the
hook when he passed the blame on to God and onto his wife (Genesis 3:12), so
believers aren’t afforded the comforts victimization. No believer can make any
claim in the vein of passivity that will be validated by God. Yes, life in this
world is difficult and sin is pervasive in a million different ways. Yet, it is
the responsibility of the one who claims to have faith in God to keep his or
her own garden clean. God will help, but you must put the gloves on and grab
the weed by the root…and pull.
See to it that no one takes you
captive implies that it is indeed very possible to be taken captive.
Ideas, which are our subject,
come from people and they are promoted by people and people either agree to
them or reject them. And this isn’t an impersonal force, it is personalized in
Scripture when it says that no one
should take you captive. See to it that you do not agree with ideas or
teachings that are generated from men rather than divinely revealed by God. In other
words, this passage sternly warns us that one, it is a believers responsibility
to make sure this doesn’t happen and two, that agreement with wisdom not from
God happens with alarming ease, easy as slipping on ice with dress shoes on
your feet. Believer beware!
Captivity refers to slavery, being under the influence of or under the
control of another.
In other words, if you breath air
in any given culture, you are also taking in the pervading ideas. By the way, the pervading ideas of any given culture, of which ours is not exception, are not dominated by biblical wisdom. Just inhale,
take a deep breath and at best you just took in a smattering of Christianized
secular humanism mixed with a self-centered follow-your-heart and
live-for-your-dreams version of your existence. Exhale and this worldview
manifests itself through your hands and feet, through your ears, eyeballs and
mouth.
What Scripture says about this is striking. It commands the avoidance of
these things not because it is the requirement for entrance into the "Christian club." Too often it is treated as such. “This is what Christian’s do and how we think because we are Christian” is sometimes the basis upon which various thinking is accepted or rejected. This isn't wrong, per se.
However, this isn’t a robust enough basis to resist the onslaught of pervading
man-centered wisdom, especially when it forces compliance as it increasingly does so. Something infinitely more sturdy must drive the conviction
to resist and it is this: that any other system of thought besides God’s
divinely revealed truth is false and enslaving unto death. In brief review, the
conviction to weed the garden of our hearts is because we believe the weeds of
worldly worldview are lies that lead us down a road of destruction and
disaster. Not to mention isolation from true fellowship with God. Perhaps the more flowery the idea the more dangerous it is, because
at first it will seem agreeable and prove to be a dead end.
This is an understatement but here it goes: the most crucial stewardship of the Christian church is the stewardship of truth (God's Word). This involves its protection and its promotion in purity. I could say more, but this is getting long. For further study, start with 1 Timothy 3:15 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
With this said, let me encourage you to consider the small financial investment of the upcoming Worldview Academy on the weekend of November 10-11 at Nowthen Alliance church. Here are a few points to consider about the conference in specific:
They are Christians who are devoted to clarity on this issue
As already pointed out, the slope
of worldview captivity gets super slippery when a Christian isn’t able to
identify truth from error. Worldview Academy is a ministry devoted
to keeping up with identifying the ideas that need addressing. They will serve
us well by pointing out things that maybe most Christians wouldn’t even
identify as issues in the first place.
Parents are encouraged to attend this together with their son/daughter
and they will be better equipped
By going to this with your son or
daughter a discussion will open up for which you will find yourself more
equipped to engage in. Surely, this conference will raise areas of discussion
that may otherwise be forgotten or avoided. You may be surprised to find the ideas that you and your son/daughter are biting on a lure with a hook on it. In this way, it has the potential to be revealing as much as it is informative.
Worldview Academy is trained to address students
Talking about high level
philosophical ideas with simplicity that a teenager can understand is nothing
to sneeze at. That is a major gift to the church. These speakers are skilled and they have proven their ability to
connect with teens. Let’s face it, most parents don’t mind the engaging nature
of this kind of speaking either. More adults are closer to their students than
they are to Socrates in their capacity to process philosophy. Simplicity with
depth is much appreciated at all levels.
Yes, this will be an investment
of time and an investment of money. Our mission is to make disciples. I
bring this before you not to guilt you into going. I understand that many of
you have various ways you are accomplishing this already. I applaud you and give thanks to God for this. However,
my role as a pastor and shepherd is to make sure you are fed with biblical
truth. When an opportunity comes our way that nails the bulls eye of our
mission, it is on me to promote it with all my heart. If the only reason you
are not going are for reasons unsubstantial, I encourage you to be honest with
yourself and make this the priority it should be. If finances are the driving issue, please let me know and I am confident that our God, the great provider, will
make a way if we trust him in faith.
I hope to see you there,
Pastor Kevin
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