Conflicting Kingdoms
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.
Colossians 2:8
I’ve been living with this particular thought for several weeks. If you’ve known me for any length of time you would know that there are two things that drive my life as a pastor. The first is the creation of humanity in the image of God and the second is a commitment to proclaiming the coming of the kingdom of God in the light of Jesus. This provides me the lens through which I look at the world. If you think it’s the wrong lens then we can talk about that, and what follows here probably won’t be helpful to you. If you agree with this lens or want to know how someone with this lens thinks then read on.
The apostle Paul issues a similar warning to his young charge Timothy when he tells him that “the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Tim. 4:3-4).
One of the things that breaks my heart is the failure of the church today to take these words of Paul to heart. All too often I think Christians pay lip service to them but then allow the philosophies of this world rather than Christ to direct our paths. Much of the problem lies with pastors and teachers who don’t want to address some of the really hard topics. It was none other than Augustine who said, “you are afraid to denounce popular opinions which are false, and official traditions which are shams, even though you know in your heart that they are repugnant to what is divine” (City of God 6.6). Indeed when Greg Boyd did speak against the popular opinion in his 2004 sermon series, The Cross and Sword, he lost about 20% of his congregation, around 1,000 people.
The challenge is that “hollow and deceptive philosophy” is just that, it is philosophy. It is based on what appears to be a search for wisdom. Teaching like this can often sound attractive to the listener. It often blends biblical morality, offering an approach that feels moral, right, and good, with elements that distract from the fullness of the gospel. It then becomes a form of idolatry, competing with our allegiance to the kingdom of God.
James K. A. Smith explains that the real issue here is one of practice more than belief, “Instead of being on guard for false teachings and analyzing culture in order to sift out the distorting messages, we need to recognize that there are rival liturgies everywhere” (You Are What You Love, 22). A liturgy being a set of practices that shape our behavior and what we learn to love. As Smith notes in Desiring the Kingdom, “Liturgies are the most loaded forms of ritual practice because they are after nothing less than our hearts. They want to determine what we love ultimately” (87). Christian practices (liturgies) are designed to counter the narratives of the world and train the Chrisitan to focus their allegiance solely and squarely on God’s kingdom. Tragically Christian practice has often become mingled with the philosophies of this world and when we allow “hollow and deceptive philosophy” to creep into our life we fail in our re-formation process of becoming full citizens of God’s kingdom. We allow the practices of this world to shape our loves in ways that are contra the kingdom of God.
One of the problems we face is that we often fail to see these competing liturgies because they have become “second nature” to us. We have been raised with them being a part of daily life and take them for granted. As a result we will often push back when they are challenged.
One of the most pronounced ways in which I have observed this over the years is in the political realm. Particularly when it comes to national identity. Having been raised in Belfast where the Protestant majority could be heard proclaiming, “For God and Ulster” before moving to the United States where the flag takes on a divine status with people swearing their allegiance to it, I find myself shaking my head in disbelief that Christians can be so blind to their compromise between kingdoms. I weep when I think of how many wars have been fought between “Christian” nations claiming they have God on their side, as if Christ was somehow in favor of advancing national agendas.
J.D. Vance writes in his best selling book, Hillbilly Elegy, how his Grandmother, “always had two gods: Jesus Christ and the United States of America. I was no different and neither was anyone else I knew.” You can see the truth of this statement echoed in the cry of “For God and Ulster!” and in the opening words of the pledge, “I pledge allegiance to the flag …” As Smith explains in the third book in the Cultural Liturgies series, Awaiting the King,
“When we fail to recognize the liturgical nature of our public institutions, we also fail to recognize their (de)formative power. The state is not just a neutral, benign space I can stride into with my ideas and beliefs. The state isn’t just the guardian of rights; it is also a nexus of rights that are bent on shaping … my loves. It asks me to make a decision; it asks me to pledge allegiance” (Awaiting the King, 35).
Certainly, as citizens of God’s kingdom, as foreigners and exiles in this world, I believe that we are to take seriously the words that God spoke to the Jewish exiles in Babylon to, “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile” (Jer. 29:7). But we must do so as exiles, for we are now citizens of God’s kingdom.
Therefore, we must break the cultural liturgical practices that call us to divide our allegiance between God’s kingdom and the ways of this world. Christians must not be seen to be partisan in their politics. We must be willing to speak critically to both sides, acknowledging broken systems and working across the political divide. Christians must not be seen as nationalists, putting one nation above another, for to do is to put one group of people above another and all people, everywhere bear the image of God. We may love where we live but we have to recognise that our citizenship is in God’s kingdom, we owe no allegiance to the broken kingdoms of this world that put their national interests ahead of others, instead we, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Phil. 2:3,4).
I began with Paul’s warning, I want to end by noting that these words of warning follow a beautiful piece of writing in which Paul urges the church to be fully committed to Christ. It is Christ and Christ alone who needs to be the sole focus of God’s people. Paul doesn’t want anyone to be deceived by, “fine sounding arguments” (Col.1:4).
As Bach was fond of saying, “Soli Deo Gloria.”
