Harold Shank

Much of life involves the surfaces of life.

We pick out our clothes with great care.

• We paint our rooms with just the right color.
• We spend considerable time on hair, makeup, and personal appearance.
• Curb appeal sells houses.
• Car makers annually redesign each model in order to make their autos more attractive.
• Graphic artists arrange pictures and words in advertisements to attract our attention.
• Writers like me want every word and element of punctuation in just the right place.

We value externals.  We want to look good.  We want to live in attractive places.  We live in an age of image.

The book of Colossians takes up the issue of externals.

• In Col 2:16-23, Paul observes that the Colossians listen to voices that call them to superficial external practices.  These externals distract them from the Christian spiritual core which provides real growth and life.
• Rather than a singular focus on these externals, Paul challenges them not to seek the externals of these alternative teachings but the heavenly qualities of Christ that lift them to life and glory (3:1-4).
• The admonition of 3:12-17 reminds them that because the fullness of life in Christ, they should pursue not the superficial externals of 2:16-23 or the old life of 3:5-11 but the internal qualities that develop when God in Christ is in them.

In short, the epistle alerts us to the danger that externals can shortcut life by separating us from our core values.  Looking good and being good represent two drastically different perspectives.  Don’t let the first undercut the second.

It’s unlikely that the age of image will end any time soon.  In the meantime, we can make sure there is a person of value wearing the clothes, a home inside each house, and a message of substance conveyed by the words.