God's philosophy


Colossians 2:8 (NIV)
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.”

Conventional wisdom is a generally accepted theory or belief. It typically has no research or evidence backing it up, it is hollow, but it is still accepted as truth. Today I talk with many people who attend church that accept things that are considered conventional wisdom. I hear people say, “We should love them for them. It is not my place to correct them.” But, this is not what Jesus teaches in Matthew 18. I also hear, “what goes around comes around.” Which is not Christ like of us to say, we are to be loving and compassionate towards others, and this saying is both vengeful and spiteful.

Philosophy is literally defined as the love of wisdom. We know that God is the source of all wisdom, so philosophy should be the love of God. However philosophy is the study of why and how, or in other words the meaning of life. According to a study by David Bourget and David Chalmers, over 72% of philosophers are atheist. They are aimless because they do not turn to the source of wisdom. Solomon the wisest man in history wrote a philosophical book, Ecclesiastes, and his conclusion was, “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”

Traditions are passed down through time, each generation learning from the prior. A lot of times we blindly follow these traditions without knowing why. Each family, school, church and organization has their own traditions. We should step back and examine each tradition to make sure it is not pagan and does not dishonor God. I hear people talk about mother nature, and some talk about doing a rain dance. God is in control of the weather, not this mythological, pagan creature, and a rain dance is a pagan ritual. Any belief and tradition that is not rooted and built upon Christ is empty and weak.

We see people who dedicate their lives to studying the meaning of life and completely miss it. Conventional wisdom is hollow philosophy and can also be deceptive philosophy. We need to know the facts, what the bible says about each situation before we construct our personal beliefs. Do not just accept things because it is generally accepted by others. We should also not blindly follow traditions either, each should be carefully examined.

Challenge: Examine anything that is generally accepted as being true. Look into the word of God to see what he says about each topic. Also look at your traditions and evaluate each to see if they are pleasing to God. Root yourself in and build your beliefs upon Christ.

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