Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

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. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.—Colossians 2:6–10 

Introduction

Greetings to you all in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I consider this such an honor and tremendous privilege to be here this morning. My wife, Abigail, and I have such a love for our Bethlehem family. As global partners, we feel so loved and cared for and prayed for.

I grew up as a poor village boy in India. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that God would lead me to Bethlehem. In the year 2005, while I was going to a seminary in Minneapolis, a friend of mine introduced me to Bethlehem. I had no idea who Pastor John Piper was at that time. But as I sat under his preaching I was really gripped with his solid biblical exposition of the Word. So I continued to attend this church. That's how my relationship with Bethlehem began. 

When I look back at the past 12 years I can strongly say that the Lord has used Bethlehem to bless us in many different ways, and the best part is providing me with a beautiful bride, Abigail. She grew up in this church. She was sent on a short-term ministry trip to my village, but now she is stuck with me for a lifetime. We are also blessed with a beautiful son, Suvinay. It is such a joy to serve the Lord as a family.

We are currently involved in providing theological education for national missionaries, planting healthy, biblical, indigenous churches, and caring for orphans and widows, and few other community outreach initiatives. I thank the Lord for Bethlehem’s partnership in the gospel ministry, not just with us but with many global partners across the globe. Bethlehem, your passion for God’s glory and zeal for his mission is exemplary. I want to thank the pastoral leadership team for giving me this amazing opportunity to preach here today. Thank you.

Let us pray …
Heavenly father, would you please move our hearts this morning through your word for the sake of your Name among the nations. Help us to see Jesus more clearly through the preaching your word this morning. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen

The general theme for global focus week this year is related to syncretism - the title I was given to preach this morning is “Jesus alone or Jesus also?”

Gospel Work in India and Across the Globe

God is at work today. Lots of exciting gospel work is happening across the globe. In the last 200 years, there has been an explosive growth of Christianity in the Global South (Africa, Asia, and Latin America). The percentage of all Christians in the Global South in 1800 was just 1percent, and in 2017 its 77 percent—that is an amazing growth! For every one new believer in North America and Europe there are nearly 30 new believers in the developing countries like Nigeria, Brazil, India, and China. As a result of this growth, we now have new opportunities to preach the gospel, new people groups to reach, and we get to witness the expansion of God’s kingdom among the nations. There are new believers everywhere! And they are passionate to share the gospel.

Churches also have many challenges to face in the gospel work. Some are external challenges: Persecution, the growth of fundamentalism, lack of resources, poverty, and also some internal challenges: Lack of trained pastors, lack of theological education, and growth of false teachings.

I believe that more than physical persecution and poverty, the greatest threat we are facing today is the spread of false teachings: The health, wealth, and prosperity gospel; more interest on inner voice and prophecy rather than the study of Scriptures; and more emphasis on experience and less on the word of God. Pastors are elevating themselves as mediators for prayers, presenting Christ just as a healer and provider rather than a Savior who died on the cross. They are exercising faith only to receive material blessings and taking advantage of the poor, twisting Scripture to lure them into giving money to their ministries. And then we have the problem of syncretism, which is another huge challenge

The Problem of Syncretism

Syncretism means mixing of different religious beliefs and making them into one single practice. It manifests in Christianity in different ways. Indigenous Christians and international cross-cultural Missionaries wrestle with this issues of syncretism on a regular basis in the process of sharing the gospel, making disciples, and planting churches. Here is the problem they are wrestling with: Many believers, even after their conversion to Christ, while claiming to be followers of Jesus, continue to follow superstitions and old traditions that are strongly rooted in their former religion. They treat Jesus as an add-on.

An example: Once I was invited by a brother from our local village to come to pray for a groundbreaking event. He asked that I should come exactly at 9am. I was a bit surprised at his request. But when I went and was about to pray, they brought in nine different grains and a few rupee coins and put them into the pit in front of in which they were going to lay the foundation. Then they gave me a coconut oil bottle and asked me to pray over the oil and squeeze it into the pit. It didn’t take much time for me to realize that they had gone to an astrologer to fix an auspicious time, and then they called me to come and pray exactly on the same time that was recommended by an astrologer. They had the grains and rupees put into the pit as a symbol of prosperity—and finally closed everything with a Christian prayer.

What happened there was a blending of Hindu superstitious practices with a Christian prayer. This is called syncretism. There are deeper issues like the caste system, dowry, and marrying only within certain caste because of the high and low caste systems. These practices are extremely unbiblical practices and go totally against the core of the gospel and, sadly, not many people are there with training to preach against this. 

Preachers fall into this trap for many reasons: inadequate discipleship of the new converts, fear of persecution and excommunication from the community, and to make the gospel culturally relevant and acceptable.

When you travel in my country, you will find in many homes, taxis, and public places pictures of Hindu gods, Quranic verse, and a picture of Jesus all mixed together. For them, just adding Jesus to their other gods is not a problem at all—as long as you don’t bring up the uniqueness of Christ and the exclusivity of the gospel. But for the blood-bought believers to continue to follow the ways of the past? How far is too far? Is that acceptable? Is that biblical? The answer is a big NO.

It is my sincere hope though this message from Colossians 2:6–10 is to show the Biblical warning about the dangers of syncretism, to look for the antidote to syncretism in the scriptures with you and point out how this Gospel truth that Jesus alone sufficient for our salvation - can refresh our soul and re-fuel our passion for Global Missions. 

Background of the Church at Colossae

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 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. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.—Colossians 2:6–10

In the context of syncretism, the message of the letter to Colossians is very relevant for us today. Because it gives us a great insight into the dangers of syncretism. Colossae was a little town located in Asia Minor. It was a typical pagan city. It was a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic city with Greeks, Romans, and Jews.

The church in Colossae was founded by a man named Epaphras who came to Christ under the preaching ministry of the apostle Paul. Approximately six years after the church was established, Epaphras took a 1,000-mile long journey to visit Paul who was in the Roman prison. Basically, he brought a good report. But from the letter, it seems that the church in Colossae was in some sort of danger. Some heresy was beginning to creep in. It is often described as the “Colossian heresy.” Biblical scholars identified about 44 possible issues that could have infiltrated the church. 

If we read through the entire letter, we see that they were relatively new Christians and were encircled by false teachers who were trying to convince them that Christ was not enough and that they needed to add on something more. So there was an extensive blending of Jewish ceremonialism, Greek philosophic speculation, human traditions, oriental mysticism, and worship of angels—all combined together with a Christian flavor.

About the syncretism in the church of Colossae, someone said: “While at its heart it was a combination of Judaism and paganism, it wore the mask of Christianity. It did not deny Christ, but it did dethrone him. It gave Christ a place, but not the supreme place. This Christian outlook made the Colossian heresy all the more dangerous.” As a response, Paul wrote this letter to Colossians to warn them about the dangers of the syncretistic teachings (2:4–23) and to counter the false teaching with sound Christology. This letter has four chapters—the first two deal with doctrinal matters and second two deal with the practical matters. 

Biblical Warning Against the Dangers of Syncretism (v. 8)

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 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.—Colossians 2:6–8

In Colossians 2:1–7, Paul was encouraging the church to go back to the foundations of the gospel. He assures them that all the truth of wisdom and knowledge is in Christ. He was writing this so that they will not be deluded by the plausible arguments, but they will continue to walk in Jesus, rooted and built up and established in the faith, abounding in thanksgiving.

Then we read verse 8: “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.” See to it that no one takes you captive also could be translated as, “Be continually being aware.” Aware of the false teachings around you so that no one can take them captive.

A similar warning was given in Galatians 5: "Don't be entangled again in the yoke of bondage,” because once we were in the bondage of sin and Satan. But we were rescued out of the dominion of darkness and have already been transferred into the kingdom of God through the death of Christ on the cross. And now the believers are in danger of being taken into a different kind of bondage. Therefore, Paul is warning that the people of God must be vigilant to guard themselves against being captured by these false systems of thought.

These false teachers came into the church in the disguise of philosophers offering philosophy, more knowledge, and wisdom. They were teaching that Jesus Christ is not enough; you must have elaborate knowledge in addition to having Jesus. For them Jesus plus knowledge equals salvation. But we know that God revealed himself through the Scripture, not through philosophy. Christ is the truth and the methods of philosophy will never lead people to this truth. In India, we say, “Philosophy is like a blind man, sitting in a dark room and searching for a black ant.” It is impossible to find it. So philosophy promises all the answers for life but gives none—so it is deceitful. 

With regard to human tradition, Paul is referring to the Jewish traditions here. They created so many traditions that they were no longer able to differentiate between the human traditions and the word of God. And adding the inadequate human thinking to an adequate and all-sufficient Savior is a form of syncretism.

When Paul says “elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” he is referring to the “basic teachings” from their former pagan religion. It appears that the false teachers were trying to mislead Colossian Christians to embrace this former style of life along with the Christian faith. But to return to them would be to leave the mature, life-sustaining teaching of the Bible for the immature basic opinions of the world. By placing them in line with our Savior is like making a statement that his sacrifice on the cross is not sufficient. That is extremely dangerous and was the problem that Colossian church was facing.

What about the present Global church? What kind of false teachings are being added to the gospel? 

A Few Examples From the Global Church

Christians in Latin America keep Bibles in their cars as a sort of charm to prevent bad luck. That is syncretism.

Believers in Africa go to church on Sunday and go to the witch doctor on Monday for relief from evil spirits. That is syncretism.

Now, what about the churches in the West? Are they free from the challenges of syncretism? Historically, syncretism has been identified mainly among new believers in the developing world. But today these challenges are present even here. Churches in the West may think that they are immune to such challenges. But I must tell you, dear brothers and sisters, that you are also in danger because in the West, syncretism happens in more subtle ways that are under the radar. They can be difficult to recognize unless you are very careful.

Syncretism is often accepted here under the umbrella of “contextualization.” Based on the latest missions research, in order to make gospel culturally relevant and acceptable, some dress up Christianity in the garb of specific cultural groups hoping that these groups would accept the Christian faith while retaining their culture. I believe that the church in the West has been a huge blessing and played a vital role in transforming the trajectory of global missions in reaching the unreached nations. But at the same time, unfortunately, some of the most preposterous teachings are being exported to the Global South by the so-called missions experts from the West. Contextualization is useful, but the extreme levels of it lead to syncretism. We need caution.

Seeker-sensitive churches use methods that dilute the gospel message for the sake of higher numbers in the churches.

Grafting the American dream with Christian faith—there is so much amalgamation of these two aspects, which at times it is nearly indistinguishable from unbelievers, on matters like the allocation of financial resources and investment of time, and an emphasis on comfort, safety, and leisure. Jesus + my comfort, Jesus + my grand retirement plans for my life, Jesus + my cabin and boat. Having a cabin or a boat is okay, but when your cabin and boat fill your thoughts, and when you hunger for your cabins and boats for joy and satisfaction rather than seeking Jesus alone for your joy and satisfaction—this is a form of syncretism. The call to follow Christ and the American Dream are contrary to one another. To pursue one necessarily requires rejection of the other. They cannot coexist.

Antidote to Syncretism: Jesus Alone Is Sufficient (vv. 9–10)

This leads us to the question … “If syncretism is very dangerous, then what is the antidote to syncretism that will help people to follow Jesus well and learn to trust in Jesus alone without the ways of the past?” The answer is found here:

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.—Colossians 2:9–10

The antidote to the Scripture-denying syncretism is in the affirmation of the truth that Jesus alone is sufficient for our salvation, because in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. No philosophy or tradition, elemental spirits or angels, mysticism or asceticism, is above my Lord Jesus Christ because he is the Head, he is the Ruler and Authority.

The entire epistle, really, focuses on Jesus. If we go back and look at Colossians 1:16–20, we see a powerful statement on who our Lord Jesus Christ really is and how he alone is sufficient. The same truth is proclaimed throughout the Scriptures.

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.—1 Timothy 2:5

[Christ is] far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.—Ephesians 1:21
All things have been put under his feet. That’s a symbol of reigning.

Jesus said …“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”—John 14:6

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.—Acts 4:12

The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. God sent his Son, Jesus, to the earth where he lived a perfect life. He died and rose again on the third day. He took our sins to the cross, and on the cross he defeated the sin and death—and only through Jesus we can be saved. Are you trusting in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of your sins and salvation? Or are you trusting in something else? Maybe your good works? Church attendance? Or false systems of thought that will lead you to captivity? You can be saved and your sins can be forgiven, but only through Jesus Christ alone.

In summary, what we have learned this morning from Colossians 2:6–10 is that “the man-made systems of thinking” are deceitful and will lead you into captivity. And, only Jesus Christ is sufficient to save us from our sins and bondage to Satan.

How Do We Apply This in the Context of Global Missions?

Millions of people do not know this truth that Jesus alone is sufficient for our salvation. So this gospel truth must be preached to the peoples who treat Jesus just as an add-on and also to the peoples who have never heard of him. Jesus Christ has come into this world 2,000 years ago, but the Good News of salvation about him is yet to reach the millions of perishing souls who are on their way to hell and destruction.

We have a humongous task before us when we consider some numbers of the unreached in India. India is one of the most unreached nations in the world. It is heartbreaking to see the vast majority of my country without the gospel of Jesus Christ. India’s total population is 1.3 billion: 80 percent Hindus, 14 percent Muslims, and only 2 percent are Christians. In that 2 peprcent of Christians, the majority of them are falling away into false teachings. So the actual number of true believers is smaller. In almost 2,000 years of gospel work in India only 265 people groups have been reached, which means there are still 2,289 people groups yet to be reached in India. Nearly 500,000 villages in India alone have no witness to the gospel. In the 10/40 window, 3.2 billion have neither freedom nor access to the gospel.

Many all over the world, in India, and in the 10/40 window, are dying without ever knowing about the one true God who is able to save them from their sins. One of the biggest reasons why these parts of the world are so unreached is that there is a lack of Christians willing to go to these places.

How are we going to fulfill Great Commission together? All born-again believers have the Great Commission call on their lives to go and make disciples of all nations. A tremendous amount of talk and tons of information is pumped out regarding the unreached groups. It is time for us to move on from information to implementation if we want to see these people reached with the gospel.

Partner with one another. In the past, we had many more Western missionaries who went out to the nations, and then in the recent past we’ve seen the movements of indigenous missionaries thriving. But because the task is huge, western missionaries and indigenous missionaries must partner with each other to finish the task with the help of our sovereign God. 

Learn about the unreached people groups. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance.” We must take the time to learn about different unreached people groups in the world. Only then will we be able to know what their gospel needs are. Only then can we effectively pray, give, send or go out and make disciples of all nations

Continue to seek the Lord. Be open to his call. Respond in faith. We have no need to fear because God will be with you. He will lead you and guide you.

Concluding Prayer

Dear Father, thank you for the sufficiency of Christ. Thank you, Father, that we don’t need empty philosophies or human traditions or any false systems of thought from our former world life, because we know through your word that Christ is all we have and Christ is all we need. Raise many among us even from this church—many who will go out into the nations to preach this gospel truth. Lord, change our hearts about the way we think about missions so that without any doubt and fear we will respond to your call. I pray, Holy Spirit, that you would grip our hearts for the nations, even now, and that we would follow and serve Jesus wherever you may lead us to. Lord, please give us strong faith to respond to your call today to go to the nations to proclaim the true gospel that you alone are sufficient. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.