Word to the Wise
Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - Tuesday in the 23th Week in Ordinary Time
[Col 2:6-15 and Luke 6:12-19]As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted in him and built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy according to the tradition of men, according to the elemental powers of the world and not according to Christ. [Colossians]
From the very beginning of creation, human beings have struggled to be faithful to God's Truth! Eve and Adam accepted the "empty, seductive philosophy" of the serpent and lost paradise! The Children of Israel lost patience with Moses' absence on the mountain and made an idol to substitute for God! Once the "promised land" was settled, they found the local cults to be more attractive, which were often based on "elemental powers" such as fertility, wind, sun, etc. They put their faith in alliances with pagan neighbors and lost everything to the Assyrians and Babylonians. In the years that followed Jesus' death and resurrection, the Christian community spread to areas of the Mediterranean such as Greece and Rome and Turkey where there was a great variety of religious expression, some of which was adapted and mixed with ideas that came from Christian preaching. St. Paul continually warned his communities about accepting anything that was contrary to what he had preached to them. The effort to "stay on message" continues to the present day!
One of the continual pastoral challenges that I encountered in my years in campus ministry was the great variety of "philosophies" that students would bring to my attention. These were usually variations on ancient theories that were cloaked in modern garb with some attractive ideological colors that would appeal to idealistic or materialistic youth! Some groups took on the characteristics of a "cult" around a charismatic leader who would deprive the follower of the very freedom that allowed them to consider his or her ideas! I would have to patiently point to the trouble that these theories and groups could mean for the unaware - not always successfully.
Perhaps the most subtle of the seductive, empty philosophies is the one that is expressed in the individualism and consumerism that are such powerful elements of our Western and especially American lifestyle. To continue, as St. Paul exhorts, to be "rooted in and built upon" Christ is difficult because there is so much abundance. We don't realize what is happening to us until we are so addicted to possessions and power that we start finding ways to rationalize the gospel to approve the addiction! The "gospel of prosperity" can lead us to a profound spiritual poverty if we let it. St. Paul urges us to think clearly and stay on message. It will not be easy, but the ultimate result is eternal life instead of the latest fashionable ideological tombstone! AMEN