Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind. Colossians 2:18
Paul concludes his line of thought (begun in Colossians 2:8-17) by ripping into the detractors of the Colossian church, the “Gnostics.” On the heels of declaring Jesus the substance of all things, the reality, he now dismantles this false teaching with its list of do’s and don’ts.
Paul uses the perfect word in describing what was going on, the church was being “defrauded,” or robbed. Of what? Their prize! The Apostle urged the church to not allow these counterfeits to serve as referees over them, but to seek after God as one would the victor’s crown in a race, to engage in the constant process of “forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,” pressing on toward or pursuing with singular focus “the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ.” Philippians 3:13–14
Self Abasement
If you’re an athlete seeking to be victorious in the Olympic Games, yes you will be disciplined and singularly focused, taking in the right foods, pushing your body to the limit, but Christians do the same not by “self abasement,” but by riveting themselves to the Word of God, and doing what it says. Certainly the burden these “teachers” were laying on the church was not what James would likely describe as following the “law of liberty.” (James 1:25) At best, these were the “elementary principles of the world.” (Colossians 2:8, 20)
Worship of Angels
The Bible is pretty clear that angels are not to be worshipped. That was Satan’s downfall as their ranking member. Then there are the biblical accounts of man’s encounters with angels who admonished them to stand to their feet in addressing them, that they were not the Lord.
I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. But he said to me, “Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God.” Revelation 22:8-9
Taken a step further, people today seem to be prone to “worship” their pastors, priests, presidents, professors, favorite players, and philosophers, but not the God of the Bible. We should constantly evaluate who and what we’re worshipping. I will have no other Gods or idols before me! (Exodus 20:3-4)
False Prophets
There’s a proliferation of videos out there from self-proclaimed prophets using “click bait” to rope the vulnerable into hearing their window in on the future. The Old Testament of course is replete with divine revelations that time has venerated. An honest study of the prophets of old yields their perfect batting average, with even more to be revealed. Jesus as the greatest prophet, proclaimed many prophecies involving himself and his people. After Christ’s ascension, without the Word of God available, many gifted men had to divinely dictate through the Holy Spirit what ultimately found its way into the pages of the New Testament. And we all await the unfolding of the teachings in Revelation, an unequivocal final prophecy of the Lord’s return and the establishment of his kingdom. So why believe someone on the internet when you’ve got the word of God to rely on? This was what Paul was taking on in his admonitions to the Colossian church. Among other things (self-abasement, worship of angels, etc.), they had fallen prey to charlatans who were propagating (going into detail about) what they had conjured up in their own minds, rather than following sound doctrine and the simple gospel of Jesus.
If we must follow and serve something with Spartan-like resolve and discipline, if we must “chase down” or “apprehend” (krateo) something from behind like an Olympian, seek first the kingdom of God…
…holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. Colossians 2:19
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