Spiritual Fraud | Kylen Perry

Porch, how are we doing? Are we doing okay tonight? Great to see you guys. It's so good to be with you this evening. Special shout-out to Porch.Live Nation. So glad you guys are tuning in from wherever it is you are. Special shout-out to Porch.Live Tulsa, Porch.Live Scottsdale, and Porch.Live Fresno.

It's going to be an amazing night. We are back in our series in the book of Colossians. To get things started, I just wanted to share a quick story, an opening illustration, with you. How many of you in here have ever been whitewater rafting? Show of hands. Okay, some of us. A fair number. Well, if you've ever been whitewater rafting, there's probably a lot about the experience you still remember to this day. I know that's true for me.

When I went, I can still remember in vivid detail the anticipation of that first rapid. "Oh my gosh! There it is. Over it we go." I remember the intensity of our team, like, "Pull!" We were all rowing in one direction, aiming according to the course of whatever our guide was giving us. I remember the canyon walls soaring up around us. We felt so small at the base of that canyon.

I remember the intensity of trying to navigate all of the different areas of this rapid. This river was wide, and then it was narrow. It was smooth, and then it was rushing. I remember all of the strategy that went into it. I remember the coldness of the water. I remember everything about the experience, but do you want to know what I remember most clearly of all? The safety talk our tour guide gave us before we ever even stepped foot in the boat. Why? Why did I pay so much attention to the safety talk? It seems kind of odd.

Well, what you need to know is, in my background, the closest thing to a whitewater rapid I'd ever gotten was floating down the lazy river at the local water park. I had not had any experience or exposure to the great outdoors and to what awaited me in that Colorado river in specific. So, when he went into a full dissertation of the dangers we could expect, I paid attention. I leaned in, and I learned as much as I could, because I wanted to make sure I was well prepared for what was out ahead of us.

So, as he walked through it all, I knew, "If the boat is about to capsize, I'm supposed to throw my body weight that direction so we can re-level this thing out. Or if I find myself, for some reason, outside of the boat…" Which is really not recommended. You should never find yourself outside of the boat. You should make sure you stay in the boat at all costs, if at all possible, but if you are outside of the boat, what you should do is make like Michael Phelps and swim to whatever shore is closest to you.

If you can't do that, if you're in the middle of it all and things are getting dicey out there, you assume the proper position. You get on your back and you float with your legs pointed downstream and your knees slightly bent. That way, you can push off of any rocks you may find yourself bumping up against. But you don't just sit like this; you spread your arms out wide, because this is how you navigate and maneuver through the water.

I remember all of it. Still to this day, I have such clarity of what that moment felt like. Why? Because I was afraid, but I was also excited. I knew I was setting out into something that was so meaningful. Like, "This is going to be amazing!" But I also knew, because of that safety talk, I was stepping out into something that was dangerous too. My guide said it best. "If you want to enjoy life inside the boat, then you need to prepare for dangers outside the boat."

Why do I tell you that? Because the same thing is true in the Christian life. As we walk with Jesus, if we want to enjoy life in Christ, then we need to prepare for dangers outside of Christ. The experience is going to be amazing. It's going to be exhilarating. It's going to be so memorable. You're going to have stories the likes of which you tell for decades to come, but you will also encounter certain things, certain threats, certain hazards along the way in the wild river and rapids of the Christian life that you need to be prepared for.

That's where we are in the book of Colossians tonight. That's what Paul is going to talk to us about this evening as we turn to Colossians, chapter 2. What Paul is doing as he's writing to the church at Colossae is he's engaging a young group of believers, a group of people that, if you follow Jesus, honestly look a lot like you. They have heard the invitation that they can be forgiven of all of their sins should they just place their faith in Jesus, so they've raised their hands and said, "Hey, take me. I'm in. I want to be a part of the family of God."

Once they've entered in, now they are suitably asking the next question. "What am I supposed to do? How do I grow and move on from here? What does it look like to not just have an identity in Christ but to grow in that identity, to look more like my Jesus? How am I supposed to advance as an individual, to mature as a human? What does it look like to increase in my spiritual sensitivity and deepen in my intimacy with the deity? How do I do these things?"

It's to these questions, in their context, that a variety of voices and influences have begun to look at them and say, "Hey, here are a couple of things you should do. Here are a couple of rules or rhythms you should adopt, some things you should pay attention to so you can grow and mature and elevate your personal experience."

Paul is looking at them and saying, "Hey, do not listen to any of them. Do not pay attention to the things they say. Instead, if you want maturity in life, then you need clarity of Christ." That's the main topic. That's the drum Paul has been beating over and over and over and over again. You want maturity? Then you need clarity. It's by beholding Jesus that you become like Jesus. That's the way it happens. That's how you become more like him. You get your eyes fully and finally and forever fixed on him.

That's the point Paul is getting at, yet what Paul is going to say as he addresses the swirling commotion of influence and surrounding voices for these young believers… He's going to look at them and say, "Hey, there are some threats, some dangers, some rapids you need to be aware of. There are some hazards you need to prepare for." So, Paul is going to unpack three threats to our growth in Christ, the first of which we find in Colossians 2:16-17. We're just going to take it bit by bit.

It says, "Therefore…" "Therefore, in light of the fact that you are complete in Christ…" You don't need to add anything. You don't need to change anything. You don't need to supplement anything. You are complete in Christ. "Therefore [in light of that reality] let no one [absolutely 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."

The first threat Paul mentions is beware of seeking moral activity instead of Christ. Beware of seeking moral activity… "You do good to get good. Hey, there are some things out there you should live for." Beware of seeking those things instead of Christ. Now, I'll admit when I first read this it felt pretty clunky. I did not necessarily understand. "What do food and drink and new moons and Sabbaths and festivals have to do with me? That feels a million miles away. It feels like thousands of years ago. What possible relatability can I have with this?"

Though it may feel somewhat obscure, somewhat abstract to us, it would have felt incredibly relevant for the crowd Paul is writing to. Here's why. In the Old Testament, God gave his people, the nation of Israel, those people whom he had selected for himself, a list of religious observances, rules and regulations, things they were supposed to follow that would keep them in close proximity and deep relationship with him.

Now, some of you hear "Rules and regulations," and you're like, "Here we go. Religion. Christianity. This is why I don't come to The Porch, man. This is why I don't choose to follow Jesus, because rules and regulations… That's what it's all about." But here's what you need to know about the rules and regulations Paul is referencing here.

When he talks about food and drink, he's referencing dietary laws. In the Old Testament, God gave the people of Israel dietary laws to set them apart, to distinguish them as his people. He wanted to identify with them. That's an honorable thing. When he talks about festivals, these are a series of annual festivals, celebrations, where the people of God would gather together and throw a party. Like, they would have a barbecue. They would celebrate the goodness of God, the goodness of things he had done in times past as well as the anticipation of the good he was going to do in the future.

New moon? That feels weird. That's actually a declaration for a new month for the people of God. What's significant about these new moon offerings is it was here, at a new moon offering, at the beginning of a brand-new month, they would offer sacrifices and receive forgiveness. God didn't want to waste a day without forgiving his people.

Sabbath? Does anybody need a break in here? God instituted it as a part of people's weekly rhythm. "Hey, I don't want you to work all week long, because I want you to know that you don't work for my acceptance; you work from it. I love you not because you earned it but because I choose to freely give it." This is what all of these religious observances are. They're really good. They're really beautiful.

So, what does Paul mean when he says they're a shadow of the things to come? Well, think about a shadow. What's a shadow? A shadow is an immaterial shape of a material subject. In my green room just a minute ago, I was kind of working through the rhythm of this thing, and as I was doing it, I looked to my left, and my shadow was dancing along with me. I can see it right now. It's right here in front of me.

This shadow has no substance in and of itself, but it points to that which does have substance. That's what he's saying here. He's saying, "All of these Old Testament religious observances, every rule and every regulation God gave, were never the point, but they were pointing to the point." It's like this.

In the Old Testament, they would sacrifice a perfect, spotless lamb, because it was through the sacrifice of that lamb that they would receive forgiveness for their sins. That was a shadow of the substance, which is Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who has come to take away all of the sins of the world. We don't have to repeatedly sacrifice any longer, because his sacrifice was enough, fully and finally sufficient forever.

Sabbath. God instituted a day where we would take time and rest in his goodness, we would rest from any work we would do. In Christ, we see the fullness of that. He has become our rest. We don't have to earn and work and strive and strain and sweat by the toil of our brow any longer. We can rest in the fact that everything he has done, all of the work he has performed, is enough. We don't have to strive any longer.

Do you see it? All of these things are shadows of the substance. Jesus is the one all of it is pointing to. He has come, and he has fulfilled every letter of the law. So guess what? We don't need to pay attention to them; we need to pay attention to him. That's what Paul is pointing to. That's what he's saying.

He's looking at them and saying, "There are a bunch of people around you who are saying there are a bunch of things you should do. Don't do those things, because Christ already did them. He already completed them. He already accomplished them. You don't need to pay attention to them any longer. You need to pay attention to him." That's why he's saying. "Don't indulge the shadow and miss the substance."

It would kind of be like this. Say it's date night at the Perry house and your boy has plans. Like, I've decided to work up a three-course menu. I've been working in the kitchen all day. I bought fresh flowers. I lit some candles. I made sure the place was picked up and cleaned for my bride. Then she walks in the door and sits down to dine in delight, and I look at her and say, "What are you doing? That seat is not for you." I go and grab a picture of her and set it across from me. "This is what it's about."

That would be crazy. That would feel so ludicrous, yet that's the point Paul is making. That's the kind of thinking he's exposing. He's looking at them and saying, "Do not let anyone illegitimize your faith because you're not following a bunch of unnecessary regulations." You don't value the picture; you value the subject. Right? It's not about what's in the frame; it's about the one the frame depicts.

He says it like this in a different verse. He says in Galatians 3:3, "Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" What's he getting at? It is impossible to perfect yourself by your own strength. It's impossible. Do you get it? It is impossible to perfect yourself by your own strength.

We don't deepen our spirituality with a can-do attitude and by giving it the good college try. That's not how you grow. You grow by loving him. That's how it happens. All of the religious observance he's speaking to here and any obedience you feel the need to adhere to is a response from your love for God, not an action you're working up to earn his favor, to merit his approval.

Here's what's so fascinating. This is such a prevalent issue in the church today, and well beyond the walls of this place; it's a prevalent issue in the world today. What I think is crazy is the fact that if you look around and observe what ministers are saying, this is nothing new. People today are prescribing a variety of steps you should take or peddling some solution you should adopt so you can become like Jesus.

They look at you and say things like, "Hey, here's how to kill porn. Here's how to overcome your laziness. Here's how to live a stress-free life. Here are six steps to make sure you're never lazy again." They start prescribing all of these steps, all of these how-tos, all of these lists of to-dos, so you'll adhere to them and buy into the promise, "This is going to make me like Jesus." Yet what happens is you've only signed up for another religious observance. Your effort doesn't make you like him; your love for him and desire to walk with him and be with him will make you like him in due time.

Here's what's fascinating about this idea that we can merit our Christlikeness, that we can kind of grit and bear our way into becoming like him. The interesting thing about it is it ultimately just leaves us with something to brag about. That's all it does. Like, "I've never missed a Sunday service. I'm always the one who speaks up in Community Group. Every time we go around and confess sin, I confess three."

We think doing all of these things makes us more like Jesus, yet here is the issue: if it all depends upon you, what ends up happening is it either leads to your pride because, boy, you did it; you kept all six steps, or it leads to your despair because you can't do it. Jesus is trying to free us from that, and that's what Paul is advocating for in this section.

He's saying, "Don't subscribe to a self-help gospel, that God helps those who help themselves." That sounds right. Like, "Yeah, I think God is going to help me if I do help myself." But here's the thing, Porch: God does not help those who help themselves; he helps those who cannot help themselves. That's the nature of the gospel.

God looks upon people and says, "No, you can't do it, but I can do it. So you cling fast to me. You stay connected to me, and as we walk together, do you know what's going to happen? You're going to become like me. But you stay close. You hold fast." Now, am I looking at you and saying, "So you should just indulge in revelry and be completely disobedient. You should never try a day in your life"? No. That's not the point of all of this.

Again, I just said it a minute ago. Obedience is a response to the one we love. "I love you, God, so let me live my life. My identity is in Christ. Now look at my activity, which reflects his own." I don't obey so I can become like him. That's not how this thing works. Paul says it like this in Philippians 2:12-13: "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…"

Do you feel the sense of responsibility on your life with that? Like, "Work it out, baby. Get after it." You have a sense of duty here, yet catch what it says in verse 13. You can never divorce these verses from each other. "…for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure."

We have a role to play, no doubt, but here's the point I need you to take away. If the influential voices in your life, whoever it is you listen to… If all they ever do is prescribe behavior and they never provoke the heart, stop listening to them. That is not the gospel. The gospel is not "Hey, he needs your help." The gospel is "You couldn't help yourself, so he stepped down from heaven to help you in every way you did not deserve."

This is the first threat Paul is warning us away from. He wants us to know it doesn't matter how good, wise, or well meaning the advice is. It doesn't matter how much you love that pastor or what specific rhythms that podcast is recommending. You become like Christ by beholding Christ. But that's not the only thing. It's not only that we don't grow through religious observances. As Paul keeps going, he's going to tell us we also do not grow by way of mystical experiences. Read this with me. It's in verse 18.

"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."

As Paul keeps going and we get to verse 18, he shifts his warning away from focusing on religious activity to focusing very specifically on mystical sensitivity, which actually reflects the spiritual spectrum of our current context. I did a lot of research. I actually had it all built out in here. We just don't have time to walk all the way through it.

If you go and look at the national surveys, who do you think composes the group that is most predominately considered spiritual but not religious? Who do you think it is? I'll give you one guess. It's you. It's the 20- and 30-somethings of our world. It's those who are your age. It's those who are here in this room…you. You are the ones who would say, "I'm spiritual. I have an interest in spirituality. Sure, I have a decreasing interest in religiosity, but I am very open to spirituality."

That gives a lot of explanation for the eruption of things like crystals, angel numbers, manifestation, and the law of self-attraction; the rebirth of Ouija boards, tarot cards, and horoscopes; and the rise of seances and spiritualism. These things are making their way back to the center of society, into the mainstream of our world.

I was reading a national publication that is revered for representing the interests of young adults, and it was saying young adults today, the young people of America, have a belief in a higher power, a stronger desire to be engaged with the supernatural, and an interest in personal spiritual experience that transcends decades in times past.

So, Paul is looking at you and saying the issues of this room look a lot like the issues of this room. The things we feel, the pressures we face, the desires we have… "Man, I want to be a part of something transcendent." It's really not all that different from what the believers in Colossae were confronted with.

It's interesting. As you read through this (just to add to the similarities between what they were facing and what we're facing), there is this idea of syncretism, where I take a blend of all of the different religious influences, spiritual influences that I like, that I admire, that I prefer, and I kind of mix them together and accept them as my own. That's what's weird about this passage.

When you read through it, it's like, "Paul, what are you talking about? You're talking about legalism. You're talking about asceticism. You're talking about spiritualism and moralism. Where does it end? There are so many different philosophies." That's the point. They are looking at a massive spiritual interest the likes of which we can relate to. So, Paul looks at them and says, "You need to beware of seeking a spiritual feeling instead of Christ."

He tells these Colossian Christians to be careful of people who delight in asceticism and the worship of angels. What does that even mean? Well, asceticism is the idea that I attain spirituality by way of self-denial. The worship of angels is on the other end of the spectrum from that. It's not an issue of self-denial but a desire for self-enlightenment.

"There are a series of inferior spiritual beings that all descend from God above, and if I worship them, if I engage with them, if I interact with them, what happens is I get the chance to spiritually enlighten myself. I get to reach and touch something that is supernatural and otherworldly to my regular experience." That's why Paul is confronting it.

You see, these people are looking at Jesus and saying to this young group of people, "He's fine. Jesus is great, but we're a syncretistic bunch. You should add some things on to him. He's not sufficient in and of himself. You probably need to mix and match a couple of other philosophies that'll help you to actually feel everything you are wanting for, because we know sometimes he kind of lets you down.

Like, sometimes the day is really good, and sometimes the day is really hard. Sometimes he feels really close, and sometimes he feels really far. So, what you should do is you should just add some stuff. You should pile on some more spirituality. What's going to happen is you're going to feel more transcendent, more spiritually enlightened, more inclined to the godheads."

They're promoting an idea that I remember facing when I went to buy my wife's and my new car recently. I showed up, and I knew exactly what I wanted. I knew what I needed to take me from point A to point B. Whenever I get my eyes set on something and I have a job to do, I'm pretty obsessive. I do a ton of research. So, I made sure I looked at all of the comps in the surrounding area. I made sure I had checked the make and the model. I knew the styles and trims I wanted in specific. I understood the gas mileage and knew, "Man, this is the right car for me."

So, I showed up, and after test driving it and visiting with the salesman a little bit and feeling like the guy was on my side, because that's just his job, I ended up sitting down and saying, "Let's do it, man. Let's close the deal." I knew exactly the price I had walked into, yet he slides across the vehicle invoice, and that price does not match at all what I'd shown up for. Why? Because he put a bunch of add-ons to the thing.

He looked at my car and said, "Man, it's great, but it's just not enough. You know what you need? You need a windshield repair kit. That's what you need. Because you're going to catch a rock on the way home, and you're going to be so upset you didn't get this. I already put it on there for you, brother. I took care of it. You also are going to want that primo wax that I love to put on all of my clients' cars. I added that in there for you. Just common courtesy."

He walked through these, and I was like, "Man, I don't need any of this stuff. This stuff does not enrich my experience of the car. It's just an add-on. It's just a supplemental improvement that does not improve anything at all." In the same way, Paul is saying to these young believers in Colossae… Amidst all of the add-ons everybody wants to add on to Jesus, he's saying, "He's sufficient. He's enough. You don't need to add anything to him."

You don't need to supersize your spirituality through a bunch of spiritual experiences. That's not what you need to do to feel intensely connected to God. There's no secret knowledge you need to learn, no mystery you need to uncover to find a deeper intimacy with God. Listen to me. Do you want intimacy with God? It's not hard to find. It's so much simpler than we think.

I remember, a couple of years ago, I preached a message similar to this. I came down front. The joy of preaching up here is I get to visit with you down there. So, I was standing on the floor following service, and a young lady came up to me. I was anticipating what her question might be. I'm very comfortable with the fact that most people come down and have a circumstantial issue, so they just want biblical guidance on how to navigate through that.

"Man, what's God's will for my job?" or "How do I navigate this struggling relationship?" or "How do I overcome this sin (whatever it may be)?" So, I'm standing there, and I'm totally expecting that that's what she's going to do. She's going to come up and ask me one of those questions. That's not at all what she did. She just came up to me, and she was like, "How do I get what you have? You love God. I can see it. How do I get that? I want that."

Now, I don't normally make myself the point or topic of any example. I get far more unimpressive with time. Just stick around long enough and you'll see it. But I point to it tonight because she didn't come to me asking for some formula she needed to complete to find intimacy with Jesus. That's not what she was doing. She came asking what simple steps she needed to take, and what I was delighted to tell her was, "It's rather underwhelming. You pray."

You pray, not to get things from God but because you get God when you do it. You read. You read his Word, not because you want to accrue a bunch of head knowledge but because you want to hear the words of the one you love. You spend time with him, and not just a fleeting moment or a passing prayer while you're driving in the car; you take time, and you walk with him, and you listen to him, and you speak with him. What you'll find through these very simple steps is intimacy.

I just love that. I love that God wants to be intimate, wants to be connected with you and me so badly he's like, "I'm going to make it so simple they can't mess it up. I'm going to put it on the bottom shelf. It's not that they have to learn some secret knowledge or ascribe to some elitist formula of spirituality. No, you don't need any of that stuff. What you need is just to spend time with me." That's what he's saying.

How do you get close to anybody? You spend time with them. That's what he's saying. He's saying, "Spend time." That's what he's wanting for, and that's why Paul is saying, "If you want to come close to God, it's not by spiritually ascending; it's by seeing the fact that he spiritually descended to get to you."

Now listen. I'm not saying that Christians don't engage in spiritual realities or experience. That's not what I'm saying at all. I hope you do not hear that. I have said from this platform myself I pray that God gives you transcendent touches here on Tuesday nights, because that's what he'll do. You'll walk in this room, and one night, the roof is going to blow off the building for you. It's going to be like a Tuesday you've never before seen.

It's going to be crazy, yet you're going to come back on another Tuesday, and it's just going to feel like a Tuesday. Why? Because growth isn't always about the burning bush moment; it's also about the mundane moments in between. Moses grew not just because he came face-to-face with God at the bush, at the pillar of fire, and at the parting of the Red Sea. He grew with God by way of wandering in the wilderness for 40 years and learning to shepherd sheep.

Some of you deeply want to grow. The mundanity of your spirituality… It can be richer. It can be hotter, but don't let it discourage you. God is working in the waiting. He's working in the mundane. He's wanting to meet with you at all times and in all ways. How do you spot a spiritual fraud? First John 4:1-3 tells us.

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God."

How do you tell if someone or something is spiritually fraudulent? When the emphasis moves away from the simplicity of knowing Christ. It's all about him. So, if it ever becomes about anything else, you get as far away from that as possible. This is the reality. I fear, in our desire and desperation to be connected to something that feels real, that feels spiritual, we have, in fact, gotten connected to things that do feel real and do feel spiritual but are not good.

We have given ourselves over to things that fall within the list I said earlier. We've said, "You know what? I can have this crystal. I can manifest this idea. I can indulge these other spiritual curiosities and walk with Jesus." No. Paul is decrying that reality. If you want inclined spiritual experience, why would you look anywhere else than the man who is the fullness of the deity? All the fullness of God dwells in Jesus. So, if you want something transcendent, then get intimate with him, because he'll lead you to it.

Final point. We'll pick it up in verse 20. "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…'" That feels a lot like religion. Right? "Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't." "…(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."

As Paul moves into the final few verses of this chapter, he picks up an idea that he addressed earlier on but we didn't really unpack in full detail. He comes back to this idea of asceticism. Earlier, I said asceticism is the teaching that you spiritually attain by way of self-denial. Here's what's interesting. Paul is going to talk about… Yeah, self-denial in this context is bad, but self-denial in every context isn't always bad.

If you look throughout the Bible, there are multiple examples of ascetic practices, of self-denial, things like fasting, abstinence, and celibacy, that people ultimately adopt for the sake of growing closer to God. You can look at the words of Jesus himself. Jesus says in Luke 9:23, "And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'"

"Let him deny himself." Is self-denial intrinsically bad? Is asceticism inherently wrong? No, it's not, but here's the thing. The act of self-denial is not intrinsically wrong, but what can be wrong is the motive behind your self-denial. That's what can be wrong, which feels kind of like, "Yeah, man. Of course. It's always about motives. It's always about my heart." But here's what we need to grab hold of, because I think this is where the point really stands out.

If you look at the word asceticism in the original language, it's a weird word, because the word actually just means humility, which we hear and are like, "That's a really good thing, man. I'm supposed to be humble. God gives favor to the humble. He gives grace to them." Yet in this context, as you read through these verses, Paul is unpacking not the idea of pure humility but impure humility. He's unpacking this idea of false humility.

For the Colossians, asceticism is synonymous with false humility. What's false humility? False humility is pride in disguise. "I'm going to make myself look low. I'm going to sound like I don't know, yet in the process of doing these things, they're going to think I'm awesome."

Like one of my friends was saying earlier, it's as if Jordan walked in and said, "Man, I'm no good at basketball." It would be like, "Shut up, Jordan. You're amazing at basketball." That would be false humility. He would be saying something that is not true. Why? Because he was baiting compliments. That's what Paul is pointing at here in this chapter. He's saying, "Hey, you need to beware of seeking an impressive appearance instead of Christ."

He says, "When you submit to regulations that have the appearance of wisdom and promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, they have no value." When you promote your own self-made godliness, your false humility, when you make yourself look low like Christ but simply so you can receive acclaim, accolades, and approval, there is no value in that. That has no worth whatsoever.

Porch, if I can just deal honestly with you for a second… For those of you in the room who do know Jesus, this is a problem that is especially prevalent in our culture today. We know people have bought wholeheartedly into the commodification of Christ and viral posturing for the sake of approval all on the basis of Jesus' name. You see it. Just pull up Instagram right now.

You can see someone with "Lights, camera, action," making sure people look in and say, "Golly! I wish I was godly like them," yet the truth of the matter is that's false humility. Not in every sense, but it certainly can be. People will prop themselves up on the foundation of Jesus Christ's name, Jesus Christ's ministry, simply for the hope that you will follow them more than you'll follow him. I am begging you. Do not be a life that follows in that vein.

That's what Paul is drilling home. He's saying, "Don't aspire to look like your favorite Christian influencer." You don't need to always speak in quotable captions and strategic sound bites. He says in 1 Timothy 6:17, "As for the rich in this present age…" The rich, those who have everything they want. "…charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy."

It's not in riches, not in acclaim, not through approval, and not by recognition that you enjoy; it's by God. God is the source of all joy. Listen. I know that feels especially specific to the believer, but for the unbeliever here… If you don't know Jesus, if you're still trying to figure this all out, Paul is pleading with you, too, to not just stand on the right side of history and agree to today's truth but to align with the author of all history and follow his objective truth.

That's what Paul is arguing for your sake. He's saying, "Hey, man. God is everything you want and more, everything you've longed for, everything you've angled to get. He's the one who has it, so come to him." It says in the gospel of John, "So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, 'If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'"

The truth of Jesus Christ is the one that sets us free. Believer, nonbeliever, it's the one that sets us free…free from being enough for people, free from feeling the need to position myself or posture my life so people will look at it and say, "Hey, that looks awesome, man. How do I get like that?" and free from any need to hold up the mask and hide behind it any longer. Jesus is the one who sets you free from all of it. I just wish we would believe it.

I wish we would believe the fact that he is the one who has come to set us free…free from sin, yes; free from slavery and bondage of those things we know we should not do yet we have done anyway and are in absolute and utter rebellion to God. He has come to free us from that, but he hasn't just come to free us from our sin; he has come to free us to life, to a new future, to a new hope, to a new glory.

How do we know that's the case? How do we know that Jesus has set us free from anything that would threaten our identity in him? Because Jesus Christ did every moral activity you and I could not do. He was perfect in our place. He lived absolutely perfectly on your behalf. Not only that. Jesus Christ, the fullness of God become man… He has brought in full a spiritual experience the likes of which you will find nowhere else. He says, "I know you want for something deep and meaningful and rich, and I've come to give it to you."

Not only that. Jesus did not concern himself with an impressive appearance. Instead, he took on our likeness. He humbled himself by becoming like one of us for the very purpose of living, dying, and rising, that you might have an appearance the likes of which you wouldn't dare dream find, one that is so impressive the world would look upon it and not say, "Man, you're awesome," but would look to him and say, "He is awesome."

This is the gospel. Christ has come to set you free from every threat by enduring your threat that you might be with him where he is forever. Do you believe him? Do you know him? Then walk with him, trust in him, and he will make you like himself in due time. Let me pray for us.

Father, there are so many traps and temptations in this world, so many things that seek to dissuade us from walking with you and lead us to seek satisfaction elsewhere, yet tonight, we're reminded of the reality that true love, deep joy, and uninhibited freedom are found in you and you alone, and because this truth still remains true and reigns over us tonight by your Son Jesus Christ, we can take such courage in heart. Though in this world we will have trouble, we can take heart, for you have overcome it, and we will be with you where you are one day.

Lord, I know there are people in this room tonight who don't know you, yet they've walked in tonight, and they've asked questions that I myself have asked in times past. "Why is life so hard? What's all this about? What even is my purpose?" I pray, God, they would know that you are the one who has the answers to these things, and those answers, God, are better than they could ever imagine.

For the believer in the room, there are many of us here who have fallen prey to some of the dangers we've talked about tonight. We have absolutely fallen prey to legalism, religious observance, just doing the right thing and hoping to get good out of it, trusting that that's going to make us like Jesus. That's not going to make us like Jesus. It's Jesus who makes us like Jesus. Sure, we have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We have to come along and be a part of the process, but we can trust in you, God, to complete the work you've already begun.

For others of us, it's not moral activity; it's spiritual sensitivity we want to experience. I pray, God, that we would know in you is all the fullness we could ever seek, that, Jesus, you are the image of the invisible God, so we need seek transcendence nowhere else but in you.

For others, God, we feel this need to be impressive, to put up a front, to make sure that we impress and appeal to people, yet we can know we don't need to pursue impressive appearance, for you, Jesus, have given us a likeness to that of yourself. God, would you work amongst us? Would you have your way in this space? Would you lead us to take a next step, we pray? It's in Jesus' holy name, amen.