“When are you ever going to amount to something!?”
Have you ever had that said to you? Perhaps not, but maybe you’ve felt that. Maybe you even ask yourself that sometimes. It’s a common problem in our culture to strive to become something important, something significant, excellent at what we do, even the best at what we do. The striving and the inevitable disappointment are enough to lead some down the path of depression and self-flagellation. It seems that we are creatures bound by a desire to be noticed and respected – not the limelight experience, but a quiet, unassuming experience for most.
Why the drive to become the best? Why the drive for perfection and importance? Perhaps it is because we look to others for completeness. Perhaps we need others to make us feel valuable and significant.
In our passage today, we find Paul warning against those who teach that special knowledge and special rules and ceremonies are needed to be part of the “in crowd” – those who say, “Christ is not enough; you need more.” But how much is enough? If Christ is not enough, then how much more does one have to do and achieve before becoming a valued member of society? One can see how this worldly thinking can creep into our churches (e.g. the one who serves most, the one who prays with the most passion, the one who sacrifices his or her right arm are the ones most valued). In the end, the problem is the same – we look to others for completeness. But what does Paul say:
8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. 9For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;
Who could possibly exceed Christ? Who could possibly add to His work? He is the “fullness of Diety”, and we are but frail humans! Surely Christ is enough for us. Indeed, we have been “made complete” in Him.
The next time you feel yourself striving to be perfect, striving to rise above the rest, trying to prove yourself to others that you are good, remember, remember, remember that you have already been made full and complete in Christ. You don’t have to prove a thing to anyone because you are already there in God’s eyes. You don’t need more approval because you are already approved in Christ. You don’t need everyone to like you and respect you and look up to you because you know that that only feeds your need for acceptance and significance – a need already met because God put His Son on the cross for you. That’s how important you are to God. The One who is “head over all rule and authority” finds you to be of significant worth and value just as you are.
When will you ever amount to something? You already do in the eyes of God.