Don't Be Taken Captive
I enlisted in the United States Air Force on December 9, 2003. At the start of basic training, my fellow trainees and I were seated in a large auditorium. A colonel stepped onto the stage and asked, “Why did you decide to join the Air Force?” One trainee approached the microphone and answered, “I watched the Twin Towers fall, and I joined to defend my country.” The room erupted with cheers. When the noise settled down, the colonel asked everyone who had been motivated by the attacks on September 11th to stand. I watched as hundreds and hundreds of my peers rose to their feet. Though two years had passed since that tragic and violent day, it was still, to my generation, a call to action.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that the assassination of Charlie Kirk will be remembered as a defining event of this generation. Its shock has reverberated into every corner of our society. Eventually, as always, the echo will fade. The news cycle will turn over, and today’s headlines will be replaced. But the memory — the graphic, violent memory — will remain. And for a younger generation, it can be a call to action.
What can you do in response to this generational event? As a pastor — not as a politician, cultural commentator, or social media influencer — I want to spiritually encourage young people in the church.
The violence that was committed last week is the direct result of ideology. Ideas aren’t neutral. The Bible teaches that how you think, what you think, and, even more important, what influences your thinking is of incredible importance. The Apostle Paul puts a burden on every single one of us when he says, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Col. 2:8).
Why does Paul say that? His command came from a deeply pastoral place. It was his God-given ministry “to make the word of God fully known,” and to proclaim to everyone the knowledge of Jesus Christ “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” But Paul knew that such a message would be resisted, and if he was to be faithful he had to be found at the front-lines of spiritual struggle and conflict.
The conflict includes the battle for the mind. There are powers at work in this world — far beyond earthly powers — that seek to take the mind captive, to carry it off as a spoil of war. Paul says this is done by “philosophy and empty deceit.” He doesn’t mean philosophy in its technical sense, or as a field of educational study. Maybe it’s easiest to understand Paul as saying the mind is taken captive by a particular way of thinking, by a system of thought. It’s a system of thought that is presented to the mind “with plausible arguments” but is not “according to Christ.”
That’s an important distinction. One of the unique features of Colossians is that it gives to us one of the biggest portraits of who Christ is. Earlier in the letter Paul said, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Part of the all things of and in Christ, are “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” In other words, any way of thinking or system of thought that doesn’t put Jesus in his proper place is empty and deceitful — it has no real substance or value. It doesn’t matter what label it has, who holds it or promotes it, how popular it is, or how reasonable it sounds. If it does not give to Christ the honor, praise, worship, and glory he deserves it’s an empty philosophy.
Look around you, and you won’t have to look very far to see that these empty philosophies saturate our culture. Every single day you are bombarded by them — in entertainment, music, podcasts, memes, news, books, government schools, and especially social media. What are these ways of thinking? It’s relativism — truth is whatever you want it to be, live your truth; individualism — follow your heart, your highest good is to discover, express, and affirm your inner-self; radical autonomy — I’m my own lawgiver, free from all and under no one; sexual freedom — I can have sex with whomever I want, however I want, whenever I want; secular humanism — man is at the center of all things; consumerism — you are what you have, and life is about acquiring and possessing; digital escapism — online life shaped by algorithms is enough, satisfied by endless scrolling, gaming, or pornography; moralistic theistic deism — God wants me to be happy, and everything serves my happiness; feminism — the rejection of masculinity and femininity; victim culture — society is understood by oppressor and oppressed, and empathy unhitched from the truth; political messiah-ism — politics are the ultimate answer, and salvation is found in candidates and platforms. The list could go on and on. And all these ways of thinking are empty philosophies because in none of them will you find Jesus Christ in his proper place.
Multitudes of people have their minds captured by these ways of thinking. Tragically, we watched as a bullet — fired not only by a gun but by a mind taken captive by empty philosophy — violently kill a man who was a husband, father, and brother in Christ. It’s a shocking reminder that what you think, how you think, those things that influence your thoughts, really do matter. There’s a battle being fought. The Enemy’s forked tongue is speaking with all of his persuasive power. He wants to breach the wall and plunder your mind as a spoil of that war. And so Paul, on the frontline of the conflict, summons us to courage and says, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit.”
With the memory of the collapsing Twin Towers permanently etched in our minds, many in my generation were called to action to put the enemy to flight. Last week’s horror was viewed by again and again on social media, and the image is likewise etched in our memories. It belongs to this generation to fight the better fight of faith and silence the Enemy’s arguments. Let me suggest three ways that can be done.
First, by hearing and receiving the preached Word. Paul said, “Therefore as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught.” The teaching Paul is reflecting on, is the preaching of Christ entrusted to ministers of the Word. God intends preaching to be a proclamation of his truth that confronts and silences the plausible arguments of empty philosophies by making known the full riches of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Jesus. Ears that only hear the messages of this world will be minds that are easily captured.
Second, by growing together in the church. Again, Paul said, “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love.” It’s a self-evident truth that two of us are strong than one of us, and three of us are stronger than two. There is safety in numbers, and God intends the community of the church to be that safety. Those who isolate and neglect the fellowship of the church are those whose minds are easily captured.
Finally, by cultivating gratitude. Paul said, “abounding in thanksgiving.” For what? For the redemption and liberty that has been purchased for us by Jesus Christ. When we’re not abounding with gratitude we leave our minds open to empty philosophies. But a mind that is filled from his fullness with thanksgiving is a mind that is well fortified against plausible arguments. Gratitude forces the Enemy into retreat.
I wish I hadn’t seen the video of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. It was violent and gruesome. There’s no way to unsee it. At the same time, it reminds us that how we think, what we think, and especially what influences our thoughts matter. Our culture is captivated by empty and deceitful philosophies whose end is only death and destruction. Against that, Paul says, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit.”
