Colossians 2: 6- 10Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed and overflowing with gratitude. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the traditions of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.
One of my favorite illustrations is that of a frog in water. The frog is in a pot of water, happily oblivious to the fact that the burner has been turned on. The frog is having a good time! Gradually, the water warms up and so does the frog. Being amphibians, their body temperatures adjusts to the temperatures around them. The frogs body temperature continues to climb as the water temperature continued to rise. In the end, the frog dies from heat stroke in a pot of boiling water without ever realizing that he was in danger. It is like that for Christians in our time. The culture is a boiling pot of water, but we are happy and contented and do not realize the danger we are in. We are unaware of how much of the world has crept into our thinking.
Scripture teaches us that we should not be taken captive through philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men or elementary principles of the world. These things are the opposite of walking in Christ. 1 John 3-5 says, "By this we know that we have come to know Him. if we keep his commandments. The one who says, "I have come to know Him and does not keep His commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him. but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. " Christ himself tells us in Luke 13 22 -30 that we should strive to enter through the narrow door, for many I tell you will seek to enter and will not be able to. Why could they not enter? They ate with him, he walked on their streets. What made them unable to enter but others able? They had fooled themselves. The truth was not in them, they were liars.
In one of my favorite sermons, Paul Washer said, "Thirty years ago the unbelievers had more morality that the believers of today." Thirty years ago homosexual marriage was unheard of. Now it is a reality. Thirty years from today sex with children will be removed from the book of psychological ailments and will be normalized. (There is a movement within the field of psychology to have this happen.) When my DOD graduated from college we went out to eat. The restaurant we chose is like most of the restaurants today and had a bar in it. We did not think anything of it. My grandmother however, stopped just inside the door and refused to budge. Were we eating in a bar? I have thought about that a lot and have wished many times that she would be able to have a conversation about it with me. I believe that is another example of a cultural shift that occurred seamlessly between the generations. A pot of water we did not know we were in. Now we eat in bars and do not think anything of it. We don't even question setting up ministries in our garages to brew beer as an outreach. The water is boiling all around us.
