1st August 2025

Watch out that nobody takes you captive! There’s a lot of so-called philosophy out there – hollow trickery, human tradition, the ‘elements of the world’ – none of it in line with Christ. (Colossians 2.8, tr. Tom Wright)

As a missionary in India, Lesslie Newbigin spent his life in the multi-cultural societies of south-east Asia. In his book, “The Gospel in a Pluralist Society”, he brings an outsider’s perspective to a critique of Western culture, arguing that the Christian Gospel cannot sit comfortably within our multi-cultural/pluralist society. It is not sufficient to see Jesus as just one good teacher among many. To truly encounter Jesus is to have your whole belief system transformed, turned upside-down, shaken and stirred. Anything less is to miss the significance of his incarnation.

Each of us has a view of the world that is shaped by the culture in which we live. We have assumptions and beliefs about the way that the world works, and it is hard to question them. In the lectionary reading quoted above, St Paul is warning us to look out for these assumptions, these ‘elements of the world’ that shape our thinking. He is urging us to allow Christ to reshape not only what we think about but how we think.

I am job-hunting at present. And I am being challenged to consider what I should be looking for in a job. An exciting project? A nice office? A good salary? Such criteria may seem important from a worldly perspective. But what would the job hunt look like if I allowed Christ to determine how I think about the search? I’m not quite sure, but I do know it would be something quite different.

Ian Waddington