Slides: Self-Made Religion

Self-Made Religion
Colossians 2:18-23 

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, 19 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. 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— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 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.

Disqualify?

If a Packer fan put on a striped shirt, could he disqualify Steeler Troy Polamalu for having long hair?

If a Steeler fan dressed as a referee, could he disqualify Packer star Aaron Rodgers for his “belt” celebration?

• The fan has no authority.

• The league has no such rule.

Let no one disqualify you!

•   Self-made religion has no divine authority.

•   Self-made rules are not required by God.

Superstar religion?

• Super-structured
-food and drink
-schedule of rituals

• Super-strict 
-asceticism
-don’t, don’t, don’t
-severity to body

• Super-spiritual
-angel worship
-visions

• Super-stern
-judging
-disqualifying

Self-made religion

• Superficial
-shadow without substance
-puffed up without reason
-perishable not permanent
-impression without impact

Judaizers

• Circumcision: required for salvation

• Food and drink: kosher laws, no pork, meat must be certified as killed properly, hands and utensils must be ritually washed, no sharing meals with Gentiles

• Festival: Passover, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles, and more

• Sabbath observance: kept making rules stricter and more detailed than ever

Islam (Muslims)

• Food and drink: no alcohol, no pork, meat must be certified as killed properly

• Friday observance: strictly required

• Asceticism: Ramadan is a month of fasting (sunup to sundown with no food, no water, no marital intimacy)

• Prayers: five set times each day, must wash before prayer, face toward Mecca, bowing—standing—prostrating—sitting in exact order, recite required words

Buddhist monks
• Eat only between sunrise and noon
• No alcohol, music, dancing, or marital intimacy
• Isolating self
• Meditating in the proper positions
• Seeking vision

Latter Day Saints (Mormons)
• No alcohol, coffee, tea, tobacco; limited meat
• Polygamous founders
• Jesus became a god, and believers can become gods by ceremonial ordinances
• Angel vision received by Joseph Smith
• President and Council of Twelve are prophets

Not holding fast to Christ

• Judaism: Jesus is not God. Ceremonial law is required to be faithful to God.

• Islam: Jesus is not God. He did not die, and he did not pay for our sins. Law saves us.

• Buddhism: Jesus is no more divine than anyone else. We must save ourselves.

• Mormon: Jesus was born of a physical union of the Father and Mary. Ceremonial ordinances and good deeds help us to grow up in divinity, as Jesus did.

Seventh Day Adventists

• Food and drink: no pork, vegetarian is best, no tobacco, no alcohol

• Sabbath: strict regulations, sign of true remnant church (some say violating Sabbath is the mark of the beast)

• Visions: Ellen G. White is honored as an inspired prophet. Following her teaching is a mark of the true remnant church.

(Seventh Day Adventists teach Trinity, deity of Jesus, atonement, justification by faith)

Adventist official declaration:

Revelation 12 … identifies the church in the last days as the "remnant . . . which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (verse 17). We believe that [this]  is describing the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which not only keeps "the commandments of God" but has "the testimony of Jesus Christ," which is "the spirit of prophecy" (Revelation 19:10). In the life and ministry of Ellen G White (1827-1915), we see God's promise fulfilled to provide the remnant church with the "spirit of prophecy.”

We consider the biblical canon closed. However, we also believe, as did Ellen G White's contemporaries, that her writings carry divine authority, both for godly living and for doctrine. Therefore, we recommend:

1) That as a church we seek the power of the Holy Spirit to apply to our lives more fully the inspired counsel contained in the writings of Ellen G White, and

2) That we make increased efforts to publish and circulate these writings throughout the world.

Superstar spirituality

• Asceticism: holy hermits, singleness godlier than marriage, starving or whipping self

• Angel worship: spirits as go-betweens, speaking in tongues as ultimate worship

• Visions: revelations beyond Jesus and Bible, mystic visions, pronouncements of popes, near-death experiences

• Seven sacraments: church officials provide salvation by sacred rituals

Finicky fundamentalism

• Banning “worldly amusements”: movies, dancing, cards, smoking

• Sunday strictness: prepare Sunday meal on Saturday, no biking or games on Sunday

• Hominess as holiness: home schooling, home birth, natural foods, country living

• Prudery as piety: ban boy-girl interaction, drab dress code, intimacy is icky

Superstar religion?

• Super-structured
-food and drink
-schedule of rituals

• Super-strict 
-asceticism
-don’t, don’t, don’t
-severity to body

• Super-spiritual
-angel worship
-visions

• Super-stern
-judging
-disqualifying

Self-made religion

• Superficial
-shadow without substance
-puffed up without reason
-perishable not permanent
-impression without impact

No life or growth apart from Head and Body

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, 19 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.

Dead to elemental spirits of worldly religion

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— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?

If you quit basketball and play football instead, don’t try to dribble the football!

Self-made religion can’t change your sinful self.

23 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.

Connection with Christ

¤ Hold fast to the Head: Jesus is enough!

¤ Be nourished and knit together as members of the church body.

¤ Reject elemental spirits.
   ✞Jesus disarmed them.
   ✞You died to them.

• Let no one delude you. (2:4)
• Let no one take you captive. (2:8)
• Let no one judge you. (2:16)
• Let no one disqualify you. (2:18)

 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. (2:4)

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (2:8)

Therefore let 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. (2:16-17)

Let no one disqualify you!

• Self-made religion has no divine authority.

• Self-made rules are not required by God.