Google the words “be confident” and the results are plentiful. We want to be confident. Instinctively we know that confidence helps us move forward. I have jokingly said that my motto is “frequently wrong—never in doubt.” Full disclosure requires I tell you I borrowed this from a coworker, but I am confident it applies to me! (Perhaps I confuse over-confidence for confidence.) Why ask about confidence? Because today’s reading says, not once, but twice, “Let no one...” —let no one what? Take away from you your standing with God.

What is it you are really good at? Seriously. Think about what you do well, and hold that answer in your mind. Why? Because I want you to consider the following. That thing you do well—do you have a specific approach, or formula, or theory about it? Do you have a set of fundamentals that you use over and over again? Let me offer one example. I snow-skied for many years—from age 5. The fundamentals of snow skiing do not change, whether you are a beginner or expert. The difference between the beginner and the expert is the ability to apply those fundamentals consistently, and repeatedly, in varying situations. Paul, in this part of the letter to the Colossians, gives us the fundamentals—and he does it by poking at the people who are undermining the fundamentals of following Jesus.

“Just the facts, Ma’am.” An often-used line by TV character Joe Friday on the show Dragnet. Or how about, “Get to the point!” An oft-used expression in conference rooms across the world, as mind-numbing presentations drag on. Perhaps you might feel that way in Paul’s short letter to the Colossians. Yet, like any letter, this one has a few themes—you might even say, a main point! And today, in these few verses, we get to it—a point Paul communicates that he has been laboring for over and over…