As I read through these words this morning I was struck by the amount of fear and trepidation that so many of us live with because we are afraid that others will judge us and think poorly of us. In Colossians 2, Paul uses the phrase "no one" four times (vs. 4, 8, 16, and 18). In each of those statements he was encouraging the Church to live the new life that God had put into them via faith in Jesus Christ; and to do so boldly without regret and fear of the cynical judgment of others. The fear of others' judgment can be a paralyzing grip on the Christian.
I remember when I was a young pastor and an older minister asked, "do you sometimes feel like you're preaching to a jury?" I did have that feeling. There have been many occasions (then and since) when the disapproving stare of a person or a cutting comment caused great butterflies in my soul. I kept thinking "Oh, I don't want to deal with that person," "I hope they aren't in the meeting tonight," or "I better be prepared for her questions tonight." And, this fear of disapproval led to a spiritual paralysis that hindered my enjoyment of the Good News of Jesus and my joyful teaching of that Good News.
There is much to consider in Paul's writing, so I'll throw out two thoughts/suggestions:
1 - Don't live for the approval of others.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ makes us new and makes us righteous by the imputed work of Jesus Christ through faith in Him alone. We are made righteous - we are justified. It (justification) is an "act of God's free grace, wherein he pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ, imputed (we are given credit for Jesus' work) to us, and received by faith alone" (Westminster Shorter Catechism 33).
In Jesus we are made new. Now, we are called to live that new life; "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12-13).
God makes us righteous once (That is conversion, justification).
He has called to "be holy." That is the process of living out what God has put in (sanctification).
We need to be careful not to confuse the positional status of the new life (righteous in Christ) with the calling to grow in the that new life (pursue holiness).
2 - Don't do anything to bring disapproval to your character.
So, we are called to enjoy the freedom that Christ gives (freedom from legalism, freedom from judgmentalism, freedom from seeking the approval of others, freedom from sin). We are called to live that freedom and live it boldly. But, many in trying to out their freedom (their new life) take that freedom to be a license for spiritual sloth, carelessness or laziness.
We are called to "be sanctified." Those words are active, not passive. Essentially, the Apostle Paul was saying "be being sanctified," or "be continually in the process of growing in the grace of Christ." We aren't called to passively "let go and let God" make us more holy. We need to regularly examine our lives and seek out ways to shed the old patterns and live the new.
All the while knowing that we have smiling approval of the Creator because of faith in His Son!
At the end of Colossians, Paul wrote these words "Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the best use of the time" (Col. 4:5) and in Ephesians he wrote "look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time" (Eph. 5:15-16). I take that to mean that we need to make the most of the opportunities that God gives, to live boldly, joyfully, and freely as we "get the most out of life." And, in our freedom, watch how we live, talk and treat others so that there is no cause for someone to say "what a hypocrite."
In the words of one of my favorite movies, the Gospel (our new position) calls us to "get busy living."
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