Audio Transcript

Happy Friday, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. As many of you can imagine, when one spouse gets saved and the other spouse does not, it leads to new tensions inside the home. Maybe you don’t need to imagine such tensions. Maybe this is your reality. At least five times, we have addressed these tensions on the podcast. (See APJs 397, 680, 1029, 1560, and 1690.) And this now includes today’s episode. It’s a question from a woman who listens to the podcast. Here’s her question: “Dear Pastor John, hello! Although I have always identified as a Christian, I just recently experienced the new birth as a married woman with children at age 34.” Praise God! “My husband, however, is not a Christian. Jesus has transformed my life. And though my husband has been supportive of me until now, he does not want me to be baptized. I feel the time has come for me to be baptized. But I don’t want to go against my husband’s expressed wishes either. Ephesians 5:22–24 says I should submit to my husband. First Peter 3:1 speaks of the influence of a wife’s conduct on her nonbelieving husband. But I am called by Jesus to be baptized. So should I go against my husband’s wishes?”

When all is said and done, my bottom-line answer is going to be yes. But for that act to be pleasing to the Lord, there is more that needs to be said, so let’s take a few minutes and think about this.

The uniform teaching of the New Testament, whether it’s Ephesians 5 or 1 Corinthians 11 or Colossians 3 or 1 Peter 3, is that husbands are to be the head of their wives the way Christ is the head of the church, and that wives should be in glad support of that leadership, that headship, which the New Testament calls submission.

So, I would define submission like this: the disposition of a wife’s heart and mind, for the sake of Christ, to give glad support to her husband’s leadership. And the reason I use that kind of definition — namely, a disposition of heart and mind to comply gladly with the husband’s initiatives and leadership for the Lord’s sake — is that those two aspects of the definition, the disposition and for the Lord’s sake, provide limitations on the absoluteness of obedience to the husband.

Two Limits to Submission

The first limitation is implied in the words “a disposition of heart and mind,” because you can have a disposition to comply even if sometimes, for godly, biblical reasons, you may not comply. In other words, there is a huge difference between a biblically submissive wife, who occasionally sees biblical reasons not to comply with something her husband expects, and a defiant wife, or just an egalitarian wife, who is resistant to the very notion that her husband has a God-given responsibility to exercise initiative and authority in their relationship. There’s a big difference.

“She is first and foremost under the lordship of Christ. That’s what it means to be a Christian.”

And the other limitation that my definition puts on absolute obedience to the husband is when it says that her glad support for the husband’s leadership is “for the Lord’s sake.” That’s really significant. What I mean by that is that she is first and foremost under the lordship of Christ as a Christian. That’s what it means to be a Christian. And then derivatively, not absolutely, she is under the leadership of her husband.

So Paul says in Colossians 3:18, “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.” And Ephesians 5:22 says, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.” Now both of those statements that connect submission with the Lord imply that submission to the husband is flowing from a prior reality that’s higher and more authoritative — namely, being in the Lord or having Jesus as your Lord.

Then Peter makes this connection most clear when he begins his section on submission — to state, masters, husbands — in 1 Peter 2:13. He says, “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution.” Now that’s huge. All obedience to humans is subordinated to obedience to Jesus, the absolute Lord. We do things for his sake, in submission to him, under his lordship.

Obedience to Jesus sends us into earthly relationships with the disposition to serve and acknowledge God-given authority. But that same obedience to Jesus limits our obedience because Jesus does not send us to be obediently disobedient to him. The words of Peter in Acts 5:29 fly like a banner over all Christian relationships: “We must obey God rather than men,” they said.

Obedience and Opportunity

So now, in regard to the decision of this wife to be baptized while her husband disapproves, here are several implications I would draw out.

Christ’s Command

First, when it comes to the command of Christ versus the command of a husband, the command of Christ will take precedence over the command of the husband when they’re in conflict, as they are here, it seems. This is what it means to have Jesus as your Lord. Baptism is a command of the Lord Jesus. In the Great Commission, Matthew 28:19–20, he said that making disciples of all nations included baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

“Obedience to Jesus limits our obedience because Jesus does not send us to be obediently disobedient to him.”

Baptism never became merely optional in the ministry of the apostles. There’s no evidence of any Christians in the early church who were not baptized. The assumption in all the Epistles is that Christians have been baptized. It belongs together with faith as an outward expression of our death with Christ and our resurrection in him to newness of life. That’s the first thing.

Her Disposition

Second, choosing to be baptized against the desire of a husband does not mean that a wife has abandoned her disposition of heart and mind to give glad support to her husband’s leadership. This exceptional act of non-compliance can be pursued without defiance and without anger, and with respect and affection, and with a longing expressed to her husband that he would see in her a loyal wife who delights to be responsive to his initiatives and leadership. But on this particular point, her greater allegiance is to Jesus and his call to be baptized.

Her Approach

Third, I would emphasize that she doesn’t need to be precipitous or hasty in her action, but for her husband’s sake and for peace and hope she can go slowly (it seems like she has) and pray and seek to help him understand, as much as he’ll let her. She does not need to give any impression that she’s acting irrationally, but that she has come to this decision carefully, thoughtfully, and would love to include him in the process — and, indeed, have him be a part of the event as well.

His Opportunity

And finally, by way of encouragement, even though this is a point of tension between her and her husband, it may turn out that by the conversations they have about the meaning of what she’s doing and why she’s doing it, that this would be one of the most clarifying things for him about the very meaning of Christianity. What does it mean that his wife is a Christian?

It may be that some of his resistance to baptism is owing to a very superficial understanding of what it is and what it really means to be a Christian. And this decision on her part may give her an opportunity to explain to him the profound reality of spiritual death with Christ and new life in the Spirit and all the implications of what it is to be forgiven and accepted and loved and indwelt by the Holy Spirit with the hope of everlasting life.

Few things will provide as clear an opportunity for a wife to make plain to an unbelieving husband what it means for her to be a Christian as for her to explain — in great detail, perhaps — what the greatness of baptism stands for. So I will pray that God gives you great grace and wisdom as you move forward, and that your husband will not only be agreeable, but someday join you in the life that baptism really stands for.

This is a worship service and not a public lecture. The act of worship is not mainly the transfer of information. The act of worship is mainly the exultation of our hearts over the greatness and beauty and worth of Jesus Christ, our Savior and our God. Worship is happening when we treasure that greatness, that beauty, that worth — and say it, and sing it, and pray it, and listen for it, and plead for it.

The sermon, in corporate worship, is not after worship or before worship. It is worship. If the preacher is not moved by the reality he explains, if he not exulting over the truth of his exposition, he’s not preaching. The preacher must set forth biblical truth in such a way that Christ is seen more clearly and loved more dearly, and he does it by seeing truly and loving duly.

So when you hear that this message is about biblical foundations for a church-based Christian college (namely, Bethlehem College), don’t take off your worship garment and put on your academic garment. Don’t stop hungering to see the work of God. Keep expecting, right now, to join the preacher in exulting over the greatness and beauty and worth of Christ. This is a worship service.

God Brought Bethlehem into Being

One of the amazing works of God in the last 25 years of the life of this church is that God formed a seminary and college here, both fully accredited by the Association of Biblical Higher Education and incorporated under the laws of the state of Minnesota. I emphasize that God has formed this school not because human instruments aren’t important but because “the horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord” (Proverbs 21:31). God is decisive. He is always decisive, not man.

“The act of worship is mainly the exultation of our hearts over the greatness and beauty and worth of Jesus Christ.”

And not only that, but no pastor and no council of elders sat down in 1998 and said, “Let’s put in place an apprenticeship, and then an institute, and then a seminary, and then a college so that in 2023 we will have Bethlehem College & Seminary.” Nobody did that. It didn’t happen that way. It grew up organically, like a human embryo becoming a mature person. The DNA contained it all. The seed contained the flowers.

Our church mission statement, which we embraced in 1995, has seeds in it. There’s a powerful spiritual DNA in it. The statement says, “We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ.” Almost every word of that mission is explosive with implications. The seeds of that mission have been germinating for decades in God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated worship.

And God himself, who loves to be exalted as supreme in the lives of his people, organically brought into being Bethlehem College & Seminary for that mission — for the spreading of a “passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ.” And for his glory, and for the advancement of his mission, and for your joy as part of this church, you (especially the members of Bethlehem and The North Church) need to know what you are a part of.

Christian Seminaries — and Colleges?

The legal corporation of Bethlehem College & Seminary is owned and supported by two members of the corporation, Bethlehem Baptist Church and The North Church. The elders of those two churches approve the board of trustees who oversee the school, appointing the president and guarding the vision. And you, as members of one of these two churches, choose who the elders are in each church. You see what that means.

You affirm the elders. The elders affirm the trustees. The trustees call the president and oversee the vision. The president builds the faculty, and the faculty bring the vision to life for the students. And with God’s merciful blessing in the life of this school, the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ becomes a lifelong reality in the lives of our students. It’s your school — our school. To be a member of this church or The North Church is to own a school.

And this morning, my focus in particular is on the biblical foundations for the college, not the seminary. Most Christians understand that there will be a need for pastors, teachers, and global ambassadors in the body of Christ always. Christ will build his church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). It will endure till Jesus comes again, and he has appointed that it should have pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:11). What better place to train them than in close association with the local church (just as, for example, medical students are trained in connection with hospitals)?

So most Christians understand the need for a seminary — but a college is another reality. Not as many Christians have a clear sense of what it is and why a church would start and own one. Let’s think about that together.

Infrastructure of Grace

The first thing to say is that God does not plan for everyone to go to college or to go to this kind of college. I have been blown away recently by simply letting myself ponder the vast complexity of what it takes for contemporary society to function.

To put it in biblical language, Jesus said, “[God] makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). In other words, God gives common grace, distinguished from saving grace, to unbelievers so that life may go on. Common grace includes thousands of skills and competencies performed by people created in the image of God who don’t worship him at all.

Without these God-given, God-graced people, all the infrastructures of this metroplex called the Twin Cities would collapse. According to Hebrews 1:3, Jesus Christ holds this world in being: “He upholds the universe by the word of his power.” And he does it, among other ways, by giving thousands of different occupational preferences and abilities and skills.

Think of the complexities of just functioning as a city (not to mention flourishing):

getting clean water to your home, and getting waste and sewage away from it
the production and distribution of electricity to every block of this city, powering a thousand different kinds of devices and lighting every building
the construction and maintenance of buildings with a hundred different kinds of expertise for every phase of construction
the planning, building, and maintenance of roads, without which nothing would get anywhere
the legal systems of legislatures, laws, courts, and law enforcement
the massive complexities of transportation, whether cars, trains, or planes, all of which have to be designed, built, operated, maintained, and coordinated
the vast systems of communication, from phones to email, snail mail to texting, all of which depend on the design, manufacture, distribution, and programming of computers
the amazing system of medical care available at the mere dial of 9-1-1 or within walking distance (I can walk to four major hospitals from my house in twenty minutes)
the utterly indispensable industry of farming and food production, without which we would starve
the manufacture of clothing and a thousand other goods that we depend on daily, along with the innumerable retail outlets that make these products available

All of that just scratches the surface of what makes modern life work. So recently, I have been blown away that a city like Minneapolis actually works. Jesus Christ holds it together. Colossians 1:17 says, “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Hundreds of thousands of people will give account before him someday that they never once thanked him or worshiped him as God.

All that to say, it takes thousands of kinds of human interests, desires, abilities, and skills, along with training and education, to make modern society work. There is no presumption — no biblical warrant — that everyone should get the same kind of education or training to be of service in this world.

There are implications of 1 Corinthians 12:4–6 for all of life: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.” Bethlehem College is not for everyone, and you are neither the lesser nor the greater if God leads you to pursue mature discipleship and worthy service another way.

Pivotal Years

That word discipleship is key, isn’t it? Jesus said that the task of the church is to go and make disciples, teaching them how to live in obedience to everything he commanded (Matthew 28:19–20) — to make him supreme in all things.

So begin discipling the moment they are born. Disciple them at age two. Disciple them at age twelve. Disciple them when they turn eighteen. A mature disciple of Jesus is passionate “for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ.” This mission statement and the command of Jesus to make disciples are one thing, and it is what we want to happen in our students. So why would we put so much focus and energy into this season of life — the brief, post-high-school chapter of life?

One answer is simply that at the time of the inception of this college, God had brought together the critical mass of people who shared the burden for this peculiar kind of college. That’s the way new things are created. God ignites a flame, a vision, in a person or a group, and it becomes contagious and grows. Something new comes into being.

This has happened all across the room. God gave you a desire for something, something that would glorify him. You pursued it, and it became a reality. You could have done a dozen other things, but this one burned in your heart. And God blessed it — because God put it there.

But there’s another reason for why we have given so much effort to starting and building a college. The years from 18 to 25 are a uniquely pivotal period of life. Ecclesiastes 3:1–5 says,

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted . . . a time to break down, and a time to build up . . . a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together.

“The time between 18 and 25 is a pivotal time to plant, to build something that will last a lifetime.”

In our culture (because it’s not the same in every culture), the time between 18 and 25 is a pivotal time to plant, to gather stones together, to build something that will last a lifetime.

Changed at Eighteen

Let me use myself as an example. When I went to college at age eighteen, I would say my faith in Jesus was stable and strong. But my sense of identity — of what I would be in the world and how I could be useful — was weak and fragile. I had huge insecurities and no sure sense of vocational direction — just a cauldron of desires that needed a lot of maturing.

Three things happened in those years. All of them determined my future. First, I fell in love with Noël, and we have been committed to each other for 57 years. The impact of her on my life is incalculable. I would pay all the tuition in the world for that. Second, I heard the call of God to spend the rest of my life in the ministry of the word of God. That call rings as clear today as it did in the summer of 1966. Third, during that same summer, God broke a lifelong bondage that made me paralyzed and unable to speak in front of a group.

I know it doesn’t happen to everybody this way. But in general, we believe that this is a pivotal period of life. Lifelong trajectories are set, and at Bethlehem College we want to be God’s agents of maturing, directing, liberating, and, yes, even matchmaking, for the glory of Christ.

Now, instead of getting into the particulars of what it is like to come here and study “the great books in the light of the Greatest Book for the sake of the Great Commission” (as our college puts it), let’s go to the teaching of Jesus. Let’s see what he says about the life of the mind — what it’s for, what gets in the way, and how that applies to Bethlehem College.

Observe, Understand, Evaluate — and Feel

In Mark 6, Jesus miraculously multiplies five loaves and two fish so that they feed five thousand people. Then he sends his disciples away in a boat, out onto the Sea of Galilee. Around 3:00 in the morning, Jesus comes to them, walking on the water. Here’s what happened:

When they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. (Mark 6:49–52)

In verse 52, Jesus says that their terror and astonishment was owing to the fact that “they did not understand about the loaves.” What does that mean?

It means that Jesus expected his disciples to observe carefully what was happening in the feeding of the five thousand. Then they were to understand its meaning and implications for who he was. Last, they should evaluate his worth, his power, his trustworthiness, and his readiness to take care of them accurately. (There was a whole basket left over for each disciple. Get it?) And with this observation, understanding, and evaluation, he expected to affect their emotions when he came walking to them on the water.

That’s what a college education is for: to build into students’ minds and hearts the habits of observing carefully, understanding rightly, and evaluating truly, biblically — so producing life-shaping emotions that are proportionate to reality.

How the Heart Hinders the Mind

But it didn’t happen for the disciples. Why? Look at the end of Mark 6:52: “They did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.” Their heads didn’t work right because their hearts weren’t right. This is foundational for what we do in Bethlehem College. Heart transformation is the great inner foundation of all true education, of the right use of the mind. If the heart is hard toward God, the head will not work right.

Jesus illustrates this again in Matthew 16:1–3:

The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.”

These are smart people. They know how to use a syllogism.

Premise 1: All men are mortal.
Premise 2: Plato is a man.
Conclusion: Therefore, Plato is mortal.

That’s the way all of you think when you are in your right mind. God baked that into your mind because it’s the way he thinks. So Jesus congratulates the Pharisees and Sadducees on their syllogistic reasoning.

Premise 1: When the sky is red in the evening, the weather will be fair.
Premise 2: This evening, the sky is red.
Conclusion: The weather will be fair tonight.

That’s right, Jesus says. That’s the way you are supposed to use your God-given mind. Then he says in Matthew 16:3, “You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” Your brain works just fine when you’re deciding whether to go sailing on the Sea of Galilee. But when it comes to observing and understanding and evaluating and loving the Son of God, who is working wonders right in front of you, your brain goes haywire. You cannot interpret the signs I perform. Your brilliant brains stop working.

“If the heart is hard toward God, the head will not work right.”

Why is that? Matthew 16:4 gives the answer: “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign.” The minds didn’t work because their hearts were adulterous. I think he means spiritual adultery. Jesus Christ came into the world to be the bridegroom for his people. They did not want him as their husband. They were adulterous and wanted the praise of man. They wanted to be married to money (Luke 16:14).

When the heart wants something more than Jesus, the mind will find a hundred ways not to observe accurately, not to understand correctly, not to evaluate him truly, and not to love him. Today, Jesus would say to unbelieving scientists, “You know how to use your minds to get to the moon? You don’t know how to use your minds to get to heaven. And if you are not on the way to heaven, getting to the moon is nothing.”

Heavenly Minded Colleges

Our goal at Bethlehem College, with God’s omnipotent and merciful help, is that our hearts not be hard or adulterous. Only then can our minds observe accurately, understand rightly, evaluate truly, and feel the worth of all that God is for us in Christ. If we succeed, our students will have the critical powers, if they choose, to join the team that gets us to Mars. But far more important, they will be on the team that gets us to heaven.

You may be wondering, How does this connect to the text that was read at the beginning, 1 Corinthians 2:1–16? I will leave that for you to think through. But here’s a pointer: in verses 14–16, Paul says that the natural mind — the mind without the Holy Spirit — sees God and his ways as foolish and therefore cannot understand them.

But the spiritual person, the person changed by the Spirit, sees God and his ways as wisdom and beauty, therefore seeing the whole world in the light of truth. He calls this change “the mind of Christ.” That’s our goal for our students. That’s why we have a college.

Audio Transcript

Happy Friday, everyone. We’re back to talk about education. Specifically, how do we pursue education in this world without getting taken captive by the thinking of this world? It’s a question we get often from students navigating higher learning and wanting to do so with discernment, both in non-Christian and in Christian schools. James, one listener, asks it this way: “Hello, Pastor John! I’m a Christian studying philosophy at a secular university. What steps can I take to do as Colossians 2:8 says and avoid being taken ‘captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ’?”

And the question comes from Michael, as well: “Hello, Pastor John! I am about to begin my senior year as a philosophy major, and I am currently working on an Honors Thesis on Christian Compatibilism. As I have felt God lead me to study philosophy, and take great delight in what I study, I also recognize that Colossians 2:8 challenges the study of this discipline as a whole. While I esteem the word of God above all else, I also believe that the study of philosophy can be used for the church. The question that I would like to ask is, In your view, what is the role of Christian philosophy, and where should one take care in the pursuit of this discipline? Is it okay to explore possibilities, and things that Scripture does not directly deal with, as long as one does not speak with authority on these issues?” Pastor John, what would you say?

Well, thanks for the question. I was a literature major in college, but I did have a philosophy minor. So, I had enough of a taste to be able to resonate positively — because of my experience at a Christian school — with what they’re saying.

The word philosophy occurs one time in the Bible — namely, in Colossians 2:8, where it says, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental [principles] of the world, and not according to Christ.” So, let’s think about this verse for just a moment, and then we’ll step back and think about the larger task of philosophy.

Lovers of Wisdom

The word philosophy, both in English and in Greek, literally means “love [philos] of wisdom [sophia].” It means thinking about the great issues of life: What is ultimate reality? How can you know it? What’s right and wrong? What’s the good life? In and of itself, therefore, one would, I think, be inclined to say, Who could find fault with that — loving wisdom? Well, of course we should love wisdom and pursue it with all our might.

In fact, this book of Colossians is filled with positive references to wisdom:

Paul prays “that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom” (Colossians 1:9).
Paul says that he teaches “everyone with all wisdom” (Colossians 1:28).
“In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom” (Colossians 2:3).
Paul tells us to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16).
“Walk in wisdom toward outsiders” (Colossians 4:5).

“Treasure Christ’s fullness as the ground and goal and access to all true wisdom.”

My goodness. It seems to me that in view of all that — just in Colossians, I mean, not to mention all the other places in the Bible — it would be a sin not to love wisdom, not to be a philosopher in that sense: a wisdom lover. So, if you just take the word philosophy, “love of wisdom,” by itself it would surely be a good thing.

Taken Captive

But Colossians 2:8 says it’s not a good thing. Why not? Paul says four things about philosophy in Colossians 2:8, and let’s look at them to see what the problem is here.

Empty Deceit

First, he says it is “empty deceit.” Deceit means that it pretends to offer a fullness but is in fact empty. It pretends to be full of what would make the good life and bring us lasting satisfaction and finally get us to eternal happiness — and none of it is real. It proves to be totally empty and leaves us miserable in the end. That’s the first thing he says about this so-called “philosophy” that he’s worried about in Colossae: “empty deceit.”

Human Tradition

Second, it is “according to human tradition”. In other words, it has no true warrant from God. It’s coming out of human heads rather than from God’s mind. It’s mere human thinking, not dependent on God’s thinking. Of course — and this is the really interesting part about philosophy — aspects of human thinking can parallel or overlap with God’s revelation of his own thinking in Scripture and in the world.

But what Paul means is that this teaching doesn’t carry in it any built-in submission to God’s thinking. Therefore, it is fundamentally flawed — not because it may not have some overlap with truth, but because, at its root, it doesn’t care about conforming to God’s truth. And therefore, even in those places where it may parallel some divine truth, it has the aroma of error because it doesn’t love that truth as coming from God and conforming to God and glorifying God. That’s the second thing he says: “human tradition.”

Human Precepts

Third, Paul says this so-called philosophy is “according to the elemental principles of the world.” Now, later in the chapter, Paul explains what he means by “elemental principles.” He says in Colossians 2:20–23,

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 [these are, I think, the names of the elemental principles] — “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” . . . according to human precepts and teachings? 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.

“This ascetic rule-keeping, this philosophy, was feeding the sin of pride rather than subduing the power of sin.”

Virtually every philosophy points to a way to live that it considers wise or profitable — the path to greatest meaning, greatest satisfaction. And in the case of this philosophy threatening the church in Colossae, the way to live in this philosophy was summed up in certain ascetic elements and rules — “elemental principles,” they call them — so that through severity to the body one might find a pathway to illumination and to the good life and the approval of angels. And it was backfiring because this ascetic rule-keeping, this philosophy, was feeding the sin of pride rather than subduing the power of sin.

Not According to Christ

And the fourth thing he says about this philosophy is that it is “not according to Christ,” which is the fundamental issue for him. He says in Colossians 2:19, “not holding fast to the Head, from whom” everything is coming.

Redeeming Philosophy

So, let’s step back now and ask, How can the study of philosophy — the history of the love of wisdom as humans have tried to see it — how can this study be made truly profitable rather than a snare like it was at Colossae? And I think the central answer in the book of Colossians is this: If you want to measure all philosophy rightly, and thus profit from what God has revealed — by special revelation in his word and general revelation from the writings of the influential thinkers in history — then

know Jesus Christ as he is pervasively and profoundly revealed in Scripture,
treasure his fullness as the ground and goal and access to all true wisdom, and
live in a way that shows in your life how this wisdom defeats pride and sin and exalts Christ.

I say it that way, with those three criteria of good philosophy — knowing Christ as supreme, treasuring Christ as supreme, showing Christ as supreme in your life — because of these texts in Colossians:

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:15–16). In other words, he is the ground and the goal of everything, all true philosophy.
Be “rooted and built up in him and established in the faith” (Colossians 2:7). All true life flows from him as root and foundation.
Do your thinking “according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8). Let all thought, all affection, all action accord with Christ and all that can be known about Christ.
“[Hold] fast to [Christ as] the Head” — that is, hold fast to him as the all-supplying one (Colossians 2:19). His redemption makes all knowledge and all the enjoyment of all that is good possible for forgiven sinners.
“In [him] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).

All the Treasures of Wisdom

Whatever is valuable in any truth found anywhere is the way it points to Christ. Let me say that again, because that’s a little complex. Whatever is valuable in any truth found anywhere, whatever that value is, is this: it’s the way that truth points to Christ and helps us know him and treasure him and show him. That’s the truth. That’s what’s found in him.

There are very few scholars in the world who are willing and able to pursue wisdom — that is, do philosophy — in this Christ-saturated, Christ-treasuring, Christ-showing, Christ-exalting way. But if you can, if God gives you the grace to do that, do it.