Following Jesus is Not a Popularity Contest

Read: Colossians 2:16-19

The divisions broke down something like this: band kids, ROTC kids, jocks and jockettes, the smoking court kids, geeks, preppies, and finally the really ultra-cool kids who transcended all other groups. Many people who have long since graduated still have vivid recall of the different cliques from their high school days. To be accepted and truly belong to a particular group, you had to dress, talk and act a certain way. You had to like the same things, like the same people and, yes, dislike the same people. Life in the cliques was about judging others and being judged.

In Colossians, Paul is warning the church in Colossae not to judge one another based on ceremonial religious laws. The “religious” people of Paul’s day clung to Old Testament tradition and created many man-made rules to be followed to fit into the church. If you did not precisely follow these burdensome laws, you were judged and deemed unfit to be part of their group. In verses 17 and 19, Paul reminds them that it is through Jesus Christ that we find our identity, and our connection should be with God.

Even today, at work, school and sometimes in the church, it seems all too natural to divide into groups, creating requirements to fit in and judging others. Remember, Jesus does not require us to dress, speak or look a certain way. He accepts us just as we are, and He already thinks you are ultra cool.

Reflect:

Is there a group at work, school or socially where you find yourself trying to fit in? In what ways might you be compromising your relationship with Christ in order to do so?