Churches Focused on Secondary Issues and Avoiding Pitfalls
Churches Focused on Secondary Issues and Avoiding Pitfalls
Paul warns the Colossian church to guard against being "taken captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ" [1]. This caution addresses a perennial danger: churches can drift from their central mission by elevating secondary matters—whether cultural traditions, speculative doctrines, or internal disputes—above the gospel itself.
The Biblical Priority: Unity in Christ
Scripture consistently emphasizes the church's identity as one body with many members. Paul tells the Corinthians that "the body is not one member" but "many members," yet all "make up but one complete body" where Christ is the head [3]. This organic unity transcends human divisions: "There is no longer... male and female... you are all one... in Christ Jesus" [5]. The church's allegiance to Jesus as Lord must supersede differences, resulting in "peace (harmonious relationships)" [4]. When joined together in Christ, believers become "a holy temple for the Lord" [6], a unified structure rather than competing factions.
Practical Safeguards Against Distraction
The apostolic writings offer concrete guidance for maintaining focus. Paul instructs believers to "set your minds on things above, not on earthly things" [2], a directive that reorients attention from temporal controversies to eternal realities. In matters of church administration, transparency prevents suspicion: Paul took "prudent caution to have witnesses" in handling financial collections, "that we might not be suspected of having either embezzled or misapplied their bounty" [7]. This principle extends beyond money to all areas where churches might face blame.
Calvin observes that genuine godliness integrates both tables of the Law—worship of God and justice toward neighbors. A person's devotion is measured not only by religious observance but by whether he "acts inoffensively towards other men," "abstains from every act of injustice," and "lives in the exercise of kindness to his brethren" [9]. Churches that neglect this integration risk reducing faith to partisan identity markers.
The Cost of Neglect
When congregations fixate on secondary issues, they undermine the body's essential function. Paul warns against giving "offence" through "things indifferent" that "grieve, and wound, and stumble" weaker believers, or through outright sin that hardens "profane sinners" [10]. Some early Christians had "begun to neglect their meeting together in regular worship, perhaps to avoid persecution" [8], illustrating how external pressures or internal discord can fragment the assembly that exists for mutual encouragement in "love and good works" [8].
Sources
- Colossians “Colossians 2:8 (BSB) — See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.”
- Colossians “Colossians 3:2 (BSB) — Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
- 1 Corinthians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Corinthians 12:20: But now are they many members,.... Of different make and shape, in different parts and places, and of different use and service: yet but one body; all are united together, and make up one complete body, and which without each of them would not be perfect: so there are many members in the body of Christ, the church; some are teachers, others are hearers; some give, and others receive; but all make up but one church, of which Christ is the head; nor can anyone of them be spared; was anyone wanting, even the meanest, there would be a deficiency, and the church ”
- Colossians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Colossians 3:15: 3:15 Just as Christ is one, so there can be only one body of Christ (see 1:18; Eph 4:4-6). Allegiance to Jesus as Lord must transcend differences and will result in peace (harmonious relationships).”
- Galatians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Galatians 3:28: 3:28 There is no longer: Everyone comes to Christ and receives God’s promises in exactly the same way (cp. 1 Cor 12:12-13; Eph 2:14; Col 3:11). • male and female: Cp. Gen 1:27. • you are all one: The community of believers is one body, the body of Christ (see Rom 12:4-5; 1 Cor 12:27; Eph 2:15-16, 19-22). • in Christ Jesus: See Col 2:6–3:11.”
- Ephesians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ephesians 2:21: 2:21 Joined together in Christ, Gentile and Jewish Christians become a holy temple for the Lord, because the Lord himself is among his people (see Matt 18:20; 28:20; 1 Cor 3:16; 1 Pet 2:4-5).”
- 2 Corinthians (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on 2 Corinthians 8:20: Avoiding this, that no man should blame us - Taking this prudent caution to have witnesses of our conduct, and such as were chosen by the Churches themselves, that we might not be suspected of having either embezzled or misapplied their bounty, See the note on Co1 16:4.”
- Hebrews (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Hebrews 10:25: 10:25 Some in this Christian community had evidently begun to neglect their meeting together in regular worship, perhaps to avoid persecution (10:32-39). • Our motivating one another to love and good works should be done in light of the day of his return, Christ’s second coming (9:28; Luke 12:42-46; 1 Cor 5:5; 1 Thes 5:2; 2 Pet 3:10; 1 Jn 2:28).”
- CCEL (Reformed) “Calvin, Commentary on Isaiah, Vol. 1, section 7.37: not they fear God. We might, indeed, be deceived, were it from the second table only that we formed our judgment about the godliness of a man; but if any one discharge the duties of the first table, which are evidences of godliness and of the worship of God, he must then be brought to this standard, Does he act inoffensively towards other men? Does he abstain from every act of injustice? Does he speak truth? Does he live in the exercise of kindness to his brethren? This is the reason why Christ pronounces mercy, judgment, and faith, to be the”
- 1 Corinthians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Corinthians 10:31: Give none offence,.... Avoid everything that may be the occasion of offence, of the stumbling and falling of others; whether things indifferent, when they are offensive to weak minds, and grieve, and wound, and stumble them; especially things sinful, which as they offend God, and are therefore called "offences", so they are offensive to the churches of Christ, and are cognizable by them; they are staggering and stumbling to weak believers, when committed by professors of religion; are the means of inducing others to sin, and of hardening profane sinners in the”