TYPE OR SHADOW OR SUBSTANCE

Karen and I have a friend who has never been to church before so we said we would wait outside of the church (which transforms a high school gym into a place to gather people) and attend. As I told her, "misery loves company and we would love to suffer with you." Well, we suffered alone she never showed up, but that was okay maybe it was for the best. We kind of knew what we were getting into, a big (maybe 300 folks) seeker-sensitive church, no lights except on stage, gallons of coffee, smiles, peace and welcoming signs, and a message about a hip Jesus, but no balloons. Some older lady tried very hard get me to take a cup of coffee, but I was waiting for our friend and Karen. Well, our conversation, in hind sight, did not go well especially when I was told I had to go to the big blue tent outside and get my free gift. Not sure of the Bible translation the Pastor used, but when he linked Christmas (lights, reindeer, and Santa) to the Gospel and started showing pictures of "South of Border," "Bucees" a Texas gas station chain, and a Chick-fil-a in NY, City, while speaking on "The Wonders of Christmas" and since our friend did not show up, I looked over at Karen and she already packed up so we left. You should have seen the looks we got. Way too much seeker-sensitive for us. Basically, the seeker-sensitive church (for those who have never heard of the term) tries to reach out to the unsaved person by making the church experience as comfortable, inviting, and non-threatening as possible. The hope is that the person will believe in the gospel. The idea behind the concept is to get as many unsaved people through the door as possible and the church leadership is willing to use nearly any means to accomplish that goal. Theatrics and musical entertainment are the norm during the church service to keep the unsaved person from getting bored (as they think) as in a traditional church. State-of-the-art technology in lighting and sound are common components of the seeker-sensitive church, especially the larger ones. But, John tells us, "Love not this world and the things in it. (John 2:15) things like all of the theatrical and musical entertainment and make no mistake my friend the "true Gospel message is very threatening to our self. Again, way too much seeker-sensitive for us. All of the "things" used to get the unsaved people through the door: the music, coffee, free gift, non-threatening conversation, and the like are what some people would call types and shadows of Christ. but no they are not. They are just gimmicks, tricks, and marketing ploys to hook people to come to church and then count on their good looks, their winning personalities, number of people in attendance, and a high-tech glitzy light and sound show, and their persuasion to convince, while not depending on the drawing of the Holy Spirit. Paul in Romans, talking about the Jews and all lost people, "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." (Romans 10:1-4) Zeal in God must be broken in us or we will lead many people astray and in the end miss the mark our self. This my friend is the problem with the seeker-sensitive movement in the world, zeal for God, but no knowledge of God. Paul talks about what shadows are in Colossians 2. Here Paul is drawing a contrast in this passage between shadow and substance. He is contrasting those things that are merely a shadow of Christ (religion, the Law of Moses, zealous effort, legalism, false humility, and the like) he is contrasting those over and against the Person of Jesus Christ Himself. Paul writes, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body (substance and reality) is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increases with the increase of God. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh." (Col. 2:16-23) Now the words, "shadow of things to come" is significant. Paul is not talking about world events that will happen in the future. Rather, he is talking about eternal things. This is usually what the New Testament means when it speaks of "things to come," the eternal things that are coming to pass through Jesus Christ. Now, you will also note that Paul is talking about religious things in this passage. In fact, he uses an example of a shadow, God’s own law and ordinances. God gave the laws of clean and unclean meats, the Old Testament Holy Days, the calendar based on new moons, and certainly gave the Sabbath commandment. So, when we think in terms of a shadow we must not think of sin or some pagan religion. Oh No. The shadows in this passage are things which God gave us, they are in fact, a shadow of Christ. A shadow of Christ is a representation of Christ. Sure is, just as our shadow represents us. If you stand outside on a bright, sunny day, and allow your shadow to be cast in front of you, does not your shadow accurately represent you? Absolutely it does. Your shadow is an accurate outline of you. It is in your shape. It is just that it is all filled in with darkness where your body is blocking the sun. This is also the case with the many shadows of Christ. They do rightly represent Him, they are God given, but as far as they are able they rightly speak of Him. They are truth, but they are NOT repeat NOT Christ Himself. This is what Paul is telling us. Imagine you trying to give a shadow a big hug, instead of the person casting it. It could not be done. Imagine if you tried to have any kind of relationship with a shadow rather than the person. That would be utter nonsense. In fact, you can see only the shape of a person and perhaps pick up a few details of a person, from their shadow, but for the most part you cannot know many details about them. And you certainly cannot know them from their shadow. You can know only a few things about them and those few things have nothing to do with a relationship with them. In fact, without the person there can be no shadow. God gave His law and His ordinances to point to Christ. They do accurately represent Him for they are in the inspired Word of God. But, God never intended for us to settle for the shadow. He intended for us to come to know the Person. There are Christians by the millions today who know only the shadow. That is a problem to be sure, but actually it is not the biggest problem. The biggest problem is that they think the shadow of Christ is the Person. In other words, they are deceived. One of the most often used wiles of the enemy (Satan or man) is to get us to settle for less than God has for us all the while convincing us that we have all that God has for us. Some Christians are so prideful that they will not be exposed by God as coming short of what He has for them. They take pride in living in a relationship with a shadow of Christ because they insist they are special in God’s eyes and so they demand, "they have arrived." There is little or no humility or submission to God. So they will not accept being told they are less than a mature Christian. Others simply refuse to go on to the Person of Christ because it requires that they be moved out of their comfort zone. A shadow is not very demanding is it? But, neither can it bless. I hope we get the point. God does not want us to get wrapped up in even the shadow of Christ that He Himself has given. There are certainly other shadows that He has not given and those also would be things to avoid. Paul is telling us that there is reality and truth and life not merely in teachings about Christ, but in Christ Himself. You know, actually, Paul is not merely correcting Christians in Colossians 2, he is warning them. Note that. Colossians is an epistle about the centrality of Jesus Christ. And in Chapter 2, Paul gives us four ways in which Christ is all things to us. He says: "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Col 2:3), "rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving." (Col 2:7), "you are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:" (Col 2:10) and "which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." (Col 2:17) My friend, Christianity is Christ in us the hope of glory. Chapter 2 is really giving us four ways in which Christ who is in us will be revealed to us and experienced by us, but you will notice that with each of these statements about Jesus there is also a warning given by Paul, lest we be drawn away from the truth. Paul says: "And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words." (Col 2:4) "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." (Col 2:8) "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:" (Col 2:16) "Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind." (Col 2:18) And yet, despite these, and so many other warnings from God, Christians rarely do beware. They almost never, "test the spirits" or even pause to question whether something is taught in the Bible. Instead, they assume that if the masses are following a certain course, then it must be right, because God would not let that many people be deceived. Well, if the world is running after you, even the Christian world, you can bet the LORD is not. We assume that if a movement is highly successful selling books, with TV ministry, going around the world, and especially if they claim souls are being won, that this must be of God, but all shadows, no substance which is Christ. We assume that if a famous preacher affirms something then he must know. Satan has absolutely succeeded, over the last fifty years, in softening up the Body of Christ to the point where many Christians will accept anything as long as it is packaged with hype, supposed miracles, and especially if it makes them feel good about themselves like the seeker-sensitive church movement. Almost never do people actually strip off all the hype, the pressure to join the crowd, and the names that affirm such movements and simply ask: "What does it really say about this in the Word of God?" And just as importantly, "What does it not say about this in the Word of God?" Paul said beware. But, again beware of what? Well, we certainly ought to beware of false teaching. We need to make sure that this does not gain entrance into our lives. However, Paul is actually getting at something more. He is saying, Beware lest you be led away from Jesus Christ as your very life! Beware lest you follow a substitute for Christ, some philosophy or law. Beware lest you be in a relationship with a shadow of Christ, instead of Christ Himself. Christian people need to hear this loud and clear: God is not going to spare us deception or the consequences of deception if we neglect to heed His warnings. One of the biggest way in which many of us error, in this matter of shadow vs. substance, is in the matter of the peace of God. Too often we think that peace is a condition of mind, or emotions. And so Christians seek a condition of mind called "peace" but, this is not the peace of God. Rather, we should seek Christ Himself. For once we see Him and walk in Him, His peace will be operative in and through us. Today there is more and more preaching on Christian TV that amounts to nothing more than pop psychology. Many teach how to be happy and achieve emotional wholeness. The goal, in many cases, is to achieve peace of mind, and the way to achieve it is to get it from God. Of course they bring Christ in to the picture and do mention obedience and faith. And much of it might sound good and indeed, some of it may have a basis of Truth, but almost all of it completely misses the point. Jesus Christ did not die to give us a happy and comfortable state of mind or emotional life. Oh No. Jesus died to give us Himself. Any happy emotional state that is of the Holy Spirit must be the result of knowing Him, and walking in Him. And why? The peace of God is the result of peace with God. And the only way to get peace with God is by surrendering to Him. Lastly, repentance is a shadow, but it is not a mechanical religious exercise whereby I give intellectual assent to the Biblical doctrines that state that I am a sinner and that I must confess and repent. People do this all the time. No. Repentance is the result of "truly" seeing Jesus Christ. That will reveal to me both my sin and the Savior. And unless I see both, it is not real repentance unto salvation. Since Christ is the substance and reality it ought to tell us that unless He is in what we are doing, it is a shadow at best. The Body of Christ is to be the expression of Christ and not a religious shadow of Christ. May God show us the difference. Paul writes as he goes on in Colossians 3, "If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory." (Col 3:1-4) Written by David Stahl