With Jesus Addition = Subtraction
Definition Adulteration: “To render (something) poorer in quality by adding another substance, typically an inferior one.”
“Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body, so YOU ARE COMPLETE THROUGH YOUR UNION WITH CHRIST, who is the head over every ruler and authority.” (Colossians 2:8-10 emphasis added)
“Four out of three people struggle with math,” I saw on a tee shirt recently. Pretty funny. God’s math in our relationship with Christ is also a little counterintuitive. It is addition = subtraction. When we add to what we have to our completeness in Him we actually subtract, dilute or adulterate our relationship with Him.
“Keep it simple. Jesus is all we need,” said a family member to me when I was a new believer in my late teens. This relative was warning me away from faddish teachings that were going around the Christian community during the height of the Jesus Movement in Hawaii. This person unfortunately wound up not heeding their own advice.
Sadly, this was common then (and now!). So many to came to Jesus then out of a personal sense of EMPTINESS rather than a realization of their own SINFULNESS. As soon as they perceived He did not completely fill that void (in this short life) they either drifted off into extra-biblical teachings or returned to their previous state of unbelief. BUT this time they became hardened and inoculated against the real life-giving, holy “infection” of following Christ! Sadly, they became worse off than if they hadn’t believed in the first place.
Today in 2021 we are more at risk than ever to adulterate, to dilute the impact of Christ in our life by adding other substances of inferior quality. There never has been a time in history when there are so many choices and distractions in information, entertainment and opinion. But the answer that the Apostle Paul gave believers in the 1st Century to this challenge is the same as He would give us in the 21st Century.
The Apostle Paul knew that the relationship of a Christian is essentially a Great Romance. It is a love relationship between God and us that is best reflected in the marriage between a man and wife. “For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God Himself. I promised you as a pure (unadulterated) bride to one husband-Christ. But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.” (2 Corinthians 11:2-3 NLT)
How do we keep our relationship with Jesus simple? Think what makes a marriage thrive. What really makes it work? Planned, intentional times together…Being around other couples who are committed to their marriage…Having spontaneous times together…Expressing to each other regularly love for each other… speaking to each other with gratitude regularly… Serving each other sacrificially… Guarding hearts from any relationship that would damage the marriage... making boundaries from the many possible incursions into the sanctity of the marriage.
According to Colossians 2:8-10 (see top of blog) I can’t add inferior substances, thus adulterating my precious relationship with Christ. Just as like in a marriage “Three’s a crowd!”
Dear Lord, protect us from adulteration in our relationship with You. Remind us daily to “keep it simple” to remember that “Christ is enough” and give us your grace to remember this every day! In your All-Sufficiency, Amen!