Many refer to our age as one of pluralism.   A pluralistic society permits more than one version of truth.  In the past, the Christian worldview tended to dominate American thought, but today numerous other worldviews challenge the Christian perspective.

Christians ponder how to respond to such changes.   How do congregations teach in a pluralistic society?  How do parents raise their children when multiple versions of “truth” fill the airwaves?

First century Christians in the western Turkey city of Colossae encountered a similar situation.   Other versions of truth challenged the members of this young church.  Paul’s response to their version of “pluralism” may inform our own.

Even a quick reading of the short book of Colossians reveals multiple uses of the concept, “filled.”

• Paul prays that “You may be filled with the knowledge of his will” (1:9) so they could be “fully pleasing to him” (1:10)
• The “fullness of God” dwelt in Jesus (1:19)
• He sought to “make the word of God fully known” (1:25)
• The Colossians had “fullness of life in him” (2:9)
• Paul ends by urging Archippus to “fulfill the ministry which you have received” (4:17)

Paul’s point revolves around the principle that something full resists infiltration.  If the Colossians fill themselves with Christ, with the word of God, with the rich life of Christ, with the work of ministry, then they protect themselves from alternative worldviews.

Satisfied customers seldom look for another store.  Those experiencing the richness of life tend not to seek an alternative way of living.

Paul’s method suggests these responses to pluralism in our churches, families and personal lives:

• Teaching the truth of the Gospel fills our minds with a richness that needs no alternative
• Bearing fruit (Col 1:6, 10)  brings such satisfaction that we need go nowhere else
• Those who stay close to Christ – who knows all and provides all (Col 1:15f) find other sources of authority less attractive
• When we seek the “knowledge of his will” (Col 1:9) – we find such clarity and fulfillment that we go deeper there rather than listing to other voices

The multiple voices of contemporary society cause great concern among church leaders, parents and individual Christians.  Perhaps we need to respond to twenty-first century pluralism with a first century solution.