Are You Chasing a Shadow?
Are you superstitious?
I work nights as a nurse in memory care, and I won’t say “it’s been a quiet night” out loud. If I slip and say it, I go knock on wood. Do I believe that actually does anything? Maybe a little. Not really. But I’ll do it anyway, just in case.
We give power to something that doesn’t have any power.
Our Spirituality Can Be Superstitious Too
Colossae Had the Same Problem
Paul was writing to a church being told what they ate impacted their standing with God, that harsh self-denial was a path to holiness, that chasing visions was proof they were close to him. Superstition, giving power to things that never had any.
Colossians 2:16-17
So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.
Why We Keep ADDING to Jesus
Paul goes further: pious self-denial, chasing visions, all of it rooted in pride, disconnected from Christ. Underneath every one of these practices is the same quiet belief: Jesus is good, but he’s not quite enough on his own. So we add to him. Jesus plus the right diet. Jesus plus the right rituals. Jesus plus getting it together spiritually.
If we believe our holiness or religious practices bring us close to God, then there is no room for Jesus in our religion.
If our behavior is what makes us right with him, then Jesus’ sacrifice becomes pointless. If we still have to earn our standing through rules and rituals, Jesus is just the old system (the law) with a new name.
Those Nails Aren’t Good Enough
Colossians 2:20, 23
You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world? These rules may seem wise, but they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.
If I'm trying to win God's love through religious performance, I'm taking the nails out of the cross and saying they weren't good enough. Only the cross can save us. Only the nails hold our old self.
This is why fear-based preaching bothers me so much. Threats were never Paul's method. Instead of "what happens if you die today," as we do in modern evangelism, Paul's question is: “do you know what it means to be alive?” Do you know what it means to be FULL?”
Who Are You, Really?
In Christ you are a new creation, you are someone who shares in the glory of God.
Grace doesn't ask you to get your life together first.
Picture a newborn.
Now imagine leaving that baby in the garage until it's self-sufficient enough to come inside. Absurd. No baby survives that.
This is how moralism works. It expects us to get our act together before we're allowed to join the family. But a baby can't survive out in the cold, and God doesn't ask someone who's been born again to stay out there either.
They're invited in. And all their imperfect growing happens inside, with the family.
We don't start with behavior or religion and end up with love. We start out as loved, and then grace changes everything about us.
And that doesn't mean nothing changes. It will. You'll grow. Your life will start to look different, more patient, more generous, more honest. But that change was never the entry fee. It's what happens naturally when you actually love Jesus instead of trying to impress him.
Three honest steps:
Name one religious "superstition" you've picked up, and ask if it was ever really about knowing Jesus.
Tell someone today: you are a new creation, and you share in the glory of God.
Notice when you're trying to earn God's love this week, and let grace answer instead.
We're all a little superstitious. The good news? Grace was never asking anything of us in the first place.
