Appearance and Value

The second half of Colossians 2 is an extraordinary application of the Christian Gospel – an application that can be seen in place throughout Paul’s writings. Near the end of the chapter, beginning in verse 20, Paul “puts all the cards on the table.”

Having died with Christ to the world, he finds it hard to understand why the Colossians live as though they are still a part of the world. The way he sees that they are still so worldly is their tendency to think that creating manmade regulations is the path to true spirituality. That doesn’t work and he wants them (and us!) to know it.

They have created a list of rules that not only will not work, but are actually physically impossible to follow. Look at verse 21: “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch.” Who is in the world could possibly live without handling, tasting and touching? Yet at least some of the Colossian Christians apparently thought their adaptation of Jewish purity laws would somehow pave the road to spiritual maturity.

Paul grants that such approaches have the “appearance” of wisdom – but they are “of no value in checking self-indulgence.” So the contrast he wants them to think about is the difference in “appearance” on the one hand and “value” on the other. This is a vital, absolutely-essential equation to consider when thinking honestly about spiritual maturity.

The difference in “appearance and value” is the difference between remaining a failed law keeper as compared to a committed follower of Jesus. The challenge for us is that in order to find the kind of “value” that truly promotes spiritual formation, a believer has to be willing to live “above the law” not “beneath the law.”

At some level, this ultimately involves understanding grace and what it means to be called a child of God. Grace does not reduce the demands God has made on our lives, rather it raises those demands to a new, and now achievable, goal. Grace achieves what the law never could!

It is amazing, at one level, that the Colossians would have such a hard time getting that. But, on the other hand, don’t we have similar struggles? How do we manage to develop a kind of maturity in the lives of those with whom we share fellowship in the body of Christ – a maturity that discovers “value” over “appearance?”

I understand that the less mature we are, the more in need we are of the kind of direction that might sometimes sound like “do this” or “don’t do that.” Yet, even at that level, we can ill afford to let people think that the key to true spirituality is found in list keeping! It is about a relationship with Christ that is transforming in nature. Grace is about growth in that relationship – a growth that has as its aim to be the body of Christ around us. There are no rules for how that happens!