Collosians doorknobs.

If you’ve ever sat in a church fellowship and felt out of place—like everyone else “gets it” except you—then Colossians is a letter worth reading slowly. It speaks straight to anyone who has believed, repented, and genuinely turned from their former ways, yet somehow still feels “not enough.”

A friend once told me that when he got born again, a seasoned believer pulled him aside one Sunday morning and advised him, “Don’t be like them.” In this case, “them” meant the very brethren he was going to worship with. That short statement from a seasoned believer shook him, and it made him observant.

It’s sad how believers can drift, little by little, from a relationship with God to a relationship with other believers only. Both are important, but one tends to become religion—and it’s always the latter. You can often spot this drift when someone can quote other believers fluently but hardly quotes the words of God anymore. Or when someone knows their denominational rules by heart but is shaky on kingdom truths.

This is what Paul was addressing. The church in Colossae had gradually invited rules that ended up locking Christ out. These are the kind of rules that leave Jesus standing outside, knocking. They were becoming like their Laodicean neighbours. Paul even hoped the Laodiceans would read the same letter. If they didn’t, Christ Himself later wrote to them with those piercing words in Revelation 3:

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.”

Reading this, you can almost feel the hurt in Jesus’ voice. Locked out of what He started. From leading the Church to waiting outside, hoping someone notices. That’s what religion does—it locks out God and holds tightly to gold, goodness, and human systems. The Colossians were losing Him by gaining religion. Their structure worked so well that they no longer needed to ask God for direction.

Paul therefore confronts the systems built around cultures and calendars. The famous “Sisi church kwetu…” mentality. Their influences were no longer scripture or the Spirit but the environment around them. Colossae was a cocktail of beliefs—animism, astrology, Judaism, mystical practices, and more. They wanted to “fit in” as another religion. Yet God never designed His people to be a religion but a relationship. They had an open door policy for anything and everything. When this happens, Christ steps out.

Look at the pattern:

– The first human walked with God in the cool of the day.

– Enoch walked with God until he walked right into heaven.

– Abraham was called God’s friend.

– Israel was God’s spouse.

– The apostles were known as friends of Christ.

God desires relationship before anything else—friends who become family. That’s why Paul urges them: “Since you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him… just as you were taught.”

As I reflect on this letter, I ask myself:

Have I set rules for those I disciple that make me or my ministry the centre instead of Christ? Can they hear God for themselves? Do they know the Word, or are they merely echoing me as I follow Him? And personally—am I following Christ directly, or am I just following His followers?

This is what our brother Martin Luther discovered: Christ alone. After exhausting himself trying to meet human requirements so he could “fit in,” he learned that adding anything to Christ—or subtracting anything from Him—forces Him out. He’s jealous like that. It’s either Him, or He steps aside. He doesn’t share His glow. Yet in love, He turns back and knocks again—because He knows we are nothing without Him in our midst. And if even one person among us hears His voice and opens the door, the whole fellowship gets to dine with Him.

So once again, go back. Study. Evaluate both your belief and your behaviour.

Blessings.

Previously on Collosians: https://mapstage.blogspot.com/2024/11/collosians.html