This is week 2 of our sermon series, “Christ above all.” It’s our attempt to address the “state of things” in our world today. The hate, the tribalism, the violence, and the disturbing way that these forces have begun to creep into the American Church.

To do this, we’re exploring the book of Colossians. So today we’re going to pick up where we left off and talk more about the world behind the text. Who were the Colossians and why did Paul write this letter?

Colossae is in what is today Western Türkiye. [images: Colossae 1-2] I got to visit the site of the city last month and there’s not much to see. It hasn’t yet been excavated by archeologists.

So we don’t know a lot of details, but we do this: the city was deeply influenced by the world around it.

[image: map] Colossae was in the Lycus River valley which connected East and West, so there was a lot of trade and cultural movement through the region.

It had been a part of the kingdom of Phrygia, and then Lydia, and then the Persians took over, and then the Greeks did, and then finally the Romans moved in.

As each empire washed over Colossae, so did different religious traditions, and customs, and cultures. It was a melting pot.

Well, one of those traditions was Christianity. A friend of the Apostle Paul named Epaphras brought the gospel there and a church began.

But there was a problem. It seems the Colossians Church was mixing their faith in Jesus with some of these other religions and influences.

The Colossians believed in Jesus, no doubt, but they also practiced very un-Christlike legalism borrowed from Judaism and pagan religions.

They worshipped Christ, no doubt, but they also worshipped angels and supernatural powers and elemental spirits.

Their religion had become what’s technically called Syncretism - the merging and mixing of different religions

And this is where the Apostle Paul comes in. He was in prison, probably in Ephesus, about 5 days’ journey down the road, when Epaphras told him what was going on in Colossae.

Paul was really concerned. To Paul, this mixing of their devotion - devotion to Christ and to the powers of this world - wasn’t just some innocent misunderstanding. It was threatening the very basis of their faith.

Remember, Paul wants the church in Colossae to know Christ, to live like Christ, and to love like Christ.

So he writes them this letter. Because he believes their growth in Jesus will be stunted - their witness will be corrupted - if they don’t understand the supremacy of Christ. As he says in the letter,

Colossians 2:20

You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world?

This mixing of your faith - this syncretism - has to stop.

SYNCRETISM

So that’s what the letter of Colossians is all about. The reason we’re talking about this now is because like Paul, we as pastors of Grace are concerned about the state of the American Church.

Just like the Colossians, we’ve had waves upon waves of different traditions, religions, and empires washing over our culture. They had a busy river valley, we have the internet. Our world is a melting pot.

And unfortunately, just like the Colossians, there is a new kind of syncretism happening in our churches today. A mixing that is is hindering our growth and corrupting our witness. So we’re talking about it.

Last week I introduced the two “gods” that I believe are receiving the devotion of so many of us these days, just like the powers & elemental spirits did in Colossae:

The god of Self - whom we worship through selfishness, by acting like the ultimate good for me is whatever I say it is, instead of surrendering to God’s vision for my life. The god of Self reigns when I refuse to sacrifice my comfort, my money, my identity, my freedom for the sake of others.

“It’s all about me. And you can’t tell me what to do.” It’s all over the American Church.

And then there’s The god of Domination. This god is worshipped through hate. As we saw with that Phil Visher quote that got a lot of comments, that hate looks different depending on which tribe you belong to.

To paraphrase, Christians on the right hate evil. Which turns into hating people they believe are evil. Christians on the left hate hate. Which turns into hating those they see as hateful. In both cases, we give ourselves permission to hate those whom God loves.

As I said last week, we are terrified of living in a world in which our enemies win. Which is why they can’t be coexisted with. They must be outcast, humiliated, and destroyed. Why even friends and family must be cut out of our life if they post something online that we don’t agree with.

The god of Self and the god of Domination have us in their grip. We say we believe in Jesus, and we do. But look at the behavior of our lives. That is our religion. And it is a religion of mixed allegiances. Allegiance to Christ, but also to the powers of this world.

So what do we do about this?

Well, if we want to free ourselves from syncretism, we need to get to work on both our devotion and our behavior to get back to a religion that is single-minded and pure.

Last week we focused on our devotion. We read Paul’s profound words in chapter 1, where he puts the powers in their place.

Colossians 1:15

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation…

Christ is supreme over the powers of this world. He’s supreme over elemental spirits. Why worship them when it is Christ above all?

To help us engage with this idea we used a piece of devotional imagery - [image: Anastasis] a Byzantine fresco from the 1300s which depicts the resurrection of Christ in powerful, transcendent terms.

Put very simply, Christ is emerging victorious from the shattered gates of Hades - the realm of the dead, and he is ripping Adam and Eve - humanity - out of the grave along with him.

Their wrists are limp. This has nothing to do with them and everything to do with him. All we can do is fix our eyes on Christ as he pulls us from the grave.

That’s our devotion. But today and next week, we’re going to talk about our behavior.

So, grab a Bible and turn with me to Colossians 2:6, Page ________.

ROOTED IN HIM

So, Paul has laid out beautiful hymn about the supremacy of Christ. Now he starts getting practical.

Colossians 2:6-10

And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. 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. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

Again, Paul’s objective with this letter is to help the Colossian church grow. To follow Christ (literally to “walk” in him). To build their lives on him.

And I love the image of verse 7. “Let your roots grow down into him.” The Greek word here is:

ῥιζόω - rhizoō - to root, to be strengthened with roots

It’s such a powerful image because the roots of a tree are where that tree gets its stability, its nutrients, its water, its life. If a tree is rooted in healthy soil, the fruit that it bears is good.

If we root ourselves in Christ above all, that’s when we start to know Christ, to live like Christ, and to love like Christ. That’s when we bear the fruit of transformed lives that heal this broken world.

This is exactly what Paul prays for in the beginning of his letter:

Colossians 1:9-10

We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit.

Root yourselves in Christ. Again, this sounds obvious. Of course we’re rooting ourselves in him. We’re Christians.

But are we? Because according to Paul there are other things we can root ourselves into. Look at verse 8.

“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.”

It’s like he’s saying, “Colossians, you think you can win spiritual points by getting your new moon festivals exactly right? You think God will be impressed if you fast a really long time? That’s empty philosophy. Other religions may think that way, but Christ has set you free from those rules.”

“You think worshipping angels or elemental spirits will give you power? It’s high-sounding nonsense! It’s the Spirit of Christ that will give you true power.

“Look at your behavior. You’re putting your roots into the spiritual powers of this world” - the “rulers and authorities” as Paul often calls them. “And their fruit is rotten.”

[image: fruit] Here’s an illustration of the choice before each of us (thanks, Chat GPT). Each of these trees is bearing fruit, but the kind of fruit they bear has everything to do with their roots. What’s going on beneath the surface.

The bottom line question, for the Colossians and for us – in this melting pot of a world, is this: Where is your life rooted?

EMPTY PHILOSOPHIES

So let’s talk about us.

With the god of Self and the god of Domination reigning in our culture, with our mixed allegiances, we are being presented with a lot of “empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense” of our own. And we’re buying their lies.

Far too often, we’re putting our roots into the powers of our world instead of Christ and just look at what’s going around us: it is bearing some really rotten fruit.

I want to talk about three examples of the “high-sounding nonsense” of our day. Things that sound true, but they’re garbage. We’ll start with this one:

“I know what’s best for me.”

It sounds true. It feels true. Because who else knows me better? But this is a lie directly from the god of Self. It’s an empty philosophy.

And it’s an old one. All the way back in the book of Judges we read that,

Judges 17:6

All the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.

And the result was violence, injustice, and death. Why is the world broken? Because we think we know what’s best. It’s the entire story of Scripture… and we still haven’t learned our lesson.

This is why it feels so right to you when you pop off on someone in an angry social media tirade. “I know what’s best! The truth must be spoken.” Yeah? Well then why doesn’t the world get any better when you do?

This is why you ghost people when there’s even a hint of awkwardness or disagreement. “I need to cut negativity out of my life. That’s what’s best.” Yeah? And how is being completely isolated and alone working out for your mental health?

It is time for us to reject the lie that we know best and begin submitting ourselves to what God says is best. And what he says is best is peace, grace, love, mercy, community… even if it is the last thing that we want to do.

Are you rooting yourself in Self? Or in Christ? Because he knows what’s really best for you.

Colossians 2:7

Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

And who doesn’t want to overflow with thankfulness in a time like this?

The second bit of modern “high-sounding nonsense” that I want to point out is this:

“I do my own research.”

How many times have you said this, when what you really mean is, “I read a blog post. I watched something on YouTube. Some influencer on TikTok has convinced me of this.”

Don’t get me wrong. Doing your own research is very important if it’s actually doing research. If you’re actually wading into the facts, reading books and articles, including ones you don’t agree with so you can understand all the nuances at play.

Far more often, though, what’s really going on, is that we are falling prey to one of the most insidious new tools used by the gods of our age: algorithms.

Let me explain. Since the advent of smartphones, our digital lives have been increasingly dominated by algorithms - lines of code - which choose what we’re going to see next. What video will show up next in our feed, which Facebook post shows up when we open the app, what notifications we see…

That’s not necessarily a problem, except for how these companies are incentivized. They make money by showing you ads. And they know you’ll see more ads if you stay engaged.

So, they’ve instructed these algorithms to figure out what will keep you watching and clicking and commenting the longest.

And what have they found is most engaging to us? Outrage. Disgust. Fear. Conflict. Seeing our enemies humiliated. Seeing ourselves as victims. Primal emotions. That’s what engages us.

As the Center for Humane Technology puts it, these companies are in

“A race to the bottom of the brainstem.” -The Center for Humane Technology

As a result, in 2025 we each inhabit a completely different digital universe. With our own facts. Our own worldviews. Our own exposure to current events. We are each in a bubble of our own reality.

In an environment like that, “I do my own research” usually just means “I’ve dug deeper into the world the algorithms have created for me.”

No wonder the god of Self and the god of Domination are so powerful right now. We have no idea what’s true anymore. Our reality has been tailored to our animal instincts.

So if “I do my own research” is the lie, what’s the truth? The truth is, We learn best together. In community. Face to face. In relationship with people who don’t always agree.

The strongest trees are rooted together in a forest. That’s what the Church was always meant to be: a community of difference which is unified into one. Paul puts it perfectly in chapter 3:

Colossians 3:11

In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.

It is high-sounding nonsense to believe that we’re going to find the truth on our own. Let’s put our roots into the Savior who made this diverse community one, not into the powers which seek to keep us apart. We learn best together.

The good news is this. Grace Church is a big tent. We have people all over the map politically, culturally, economically… We’re the modern version of Jews, barbarians, and slaves worshiping together.

We’re never going to agree on everything, and that’s great! As long as we agree on this: Jesus Christ is Lord, and he - not a political party, not a social movement, not a cultural tribe - he is the hope of our world. There is no power more supreme.

How sweet the fruit of unity would be if we were a forest rooted together in Him?

There is one final bit of “empty philosophy” in the air we must address is this:

“Christianity must win.”

Again, this sounds true. This feels true. But this is high-sounding nonsense. It’s an insidious lie by the god of Domination.

Christianity must win. How is that a lie? It’s a lie because Christ has already won. He defeated the power of death and set humanity free. [image: Anastasis]. This is what is true. It’s done. Christ is already victorious.

Do you know what the word “gospel” meant originally in the Greek? It was a declaration of good news about something that had already occurred. That’s the message we proclaim.

It’s done. The powers of our world have been defeated. In verse 15 Paul says,

Colossians 2:15

[Christ] disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

And we see this in the Anastasis image. I got to visit Chora Church on my recent trip to Türkiye and got a closer look. It was so powerful for me.

[image: Hades] While I was there, I took a closer picture of Hades, the god of death at the bottom of the painting: He’s bound and helpless, surrounded by the shattered locks and keys of his domain.

He represents the powers of this world (like the god of Self and the god Domination) who have already been defeated. Death has been chained and we go free. That’s the message we proclaim. That’s the gospel.

We don’t achieve the good news of Jesus by winning. We declare it by losing. By giving up our selfish lives and dying to the frantic quest to make ourselves the king.

We declare the gospel by showing our hurting, selfish, dominance-obsessed world that there is another way to live. The way of Christ. The way of self-giving love.

Christ is already victorious, which is why, as Pastor Milton said a few Sundays ago, “Love can afford to lose.”

Our witness sputters and chokes whenever Christians pick up the sword. When we put the cross on our shields to try and dominate our enemies into belief.

But when we willingly sacrifice our lives, as Christ did - when the church is persecuted - that’s when the gospel spreads like wildfire.

This is why Jesus describes his kingdom as a tiny mustard seed that grows into a giant plant. As yeast that works its way through a large batch of dough.

Rooted deeply in him, we declare Christ’s victory, but we do it from below. We spread and we influence and we love, and we watch as the Spirit of God works through us to give hope to a broken world. A hope that attracts, not a hope that conquers.

“Christianity must win” is a lie, and so is any movement that seeks to grasp dominance for our cause when our Savior was victorious through self-sacrifice. In the words of the songwriter Jon Guerra,

“Love has a million disguises, but winning is simply not one.” -Jon Guerra

FRUIT TASTING

Alright, I just threw a lot of ideas at you. But they all come down to just one question: Where is your life rooted?

[image: fruit] In the powers of this world? Or in Christ? Because only one of them leads to life.

For the next few moments I want to give you space to reflect. I want you to do a little mental fruit tasting.

I’m going to put up on the screen two lists to help you think through some of this. Examples of bad fruit, and examples of good fruit.

Bad Fruit

Hate

Selfishness

Cruelty

Judgementalism

Impatience

Injustice

Greed

Self-indulgence Good Fruit

Peace

Kindness

Joy

Love

Patience

Self-Control

Gentleness

Goodness

Faithfulness

• Think about the influencers or politicians or leaders you follow. What fruit do you see in them?

• How about the media or news you consume?

• What about the people you spend your time with?

What kind of fruit is on display in them and what kind of fruit do they generate in you? Where is your life rooted?

[Reflection Moment]

[PRAY]