Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days— these are only the shadow of the things to come, but the reality is Christ!
Colossians 2:16-17 NET
As a follower of Jesus, what should I be doing? What practices should be a part of my life? What is the proper way for me to worship?
The Jewish believers in Paul’s day would generally have continued to follow the ritual requirements of the Torah, such as dietary restrictions, annual festivals, new moons, and Sabbaths. And they expected Gentile converts to follow them as well.
There was nothing wrong with following the ritual requirements of the Torah. Paul followed them himself and did not encourage Jewish believers to abandon them (Acts 21:21-24).
A Shadow of Reality
The issue was in judging other believers who failed to follow these requirements. Paul claimed that these practices were only a shadow of the reality that was to come. This echoes what Hebrews says concerning the Temple (Heb. 8:5) and Law (Heb. 10:1) being only a shadow of a greater reality.
That greater reality is Christ, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3). He is the one who should be the focus of our worship and service. Our outward worship practices are not as important as who we worship.
Do you worship on Saturday or Sunday? It does not matter. The day you worship is only a shadow of the reality that is Jesus. The same applies to many of the other different worship practices found in the church today. Celebrating Christmas and Easter, hymns or choruses, formal or informal, immersion or sprinkling, KJV or NIV, and many other ways we are different in our traditions.
We need to guard against the tendency to judge other believers whose traditions and practices differ from our own. All too often, we allow these shadow things to divide us. We should look beyond “the shadow of things to come” and see the reality behind them. A reality that should unite us together as brothers and sisters in Christ.
From one set of bible manuscripts, then many translations and interpretations, but why such diversity? God is SO far beyond our undertanding [Isaiah 55 8-11] that we should understand that our opinions are partial [1 Corinthians 13:12]. As Anglicans we may fixate on Trinity as central but perhaps the whole counsel of God [Acts 20:27] is way beyond our ken. I have sometimes wondered why the brightness and voice of God is often so hidden, but I conclude that such blatant evidence would usurp our autonomy and freewill we have been so graciously given. We can only wonder “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands” [Psalm 19:1,Genesis 1:16], nevertheless we should wonder “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” [Psalm 8:4]. Praise that God loves us despite our continual failures [John 3:16]. Alleluiai indeed!
Thank you and bless you Ed for your ongoing wisdom!
Thanks Richard