Roots

"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, abounding in thanksgiving." Colossians 2:6-7

In Colossians 2:7, Paul uses what I think is my favourite Biblical illustration: Rooted in the Faith.

The pure gospel is the good soil for your faith to take root in, to grow in. The solid root system allows the oak tree to grow as tall as its roots grow deep. I love this simple illustration. Rooted, rhizoō (𝜄𝜁𝜔), is perfectly and immediately clear in conveying his meaning, but it also illustrates so many facets of his meaning. In fact, I love this illustration so much that I read some botanical scientific articles about the root systems of trees, and I love it even more now.

I always thought of roots as the system that allows the tree to not fall over. Which it is, botanists call that anchorage. The roots anchor the tree. But anchorage is only one of at least four scientific functions of roots. The other three are resource acquisition, storage and symbiosis.

Obviously anchorage is important because you don’t want your tree to collapse or fall over at the slightest winds. But without resource acquisition it anchorage would not be sufficient because the tree would just wither away, dry up and shrivel to nothing. And without storage your tree would not withstand the winter when the light is sparse and the darkness stretches out and the environment turns harsh, nor could it withstand any dry spell or drought. The roots store the resources needed for those difficult seasons.

And then there is symbiosis, or a type of communication between plants. Yes, it appears as though trees communicate with each other through their roots. Fear not, there is no need to prepare for the uprising of the Huorns just yet, let me enlighten you.

You may or may not know this depending on your botanical literacy but trees grow in communities called forests. I went deep. And the trees of the forest form symbiotic relationships, they communicate with each other. I need to quote someone with more credibility in this field than myself or you’ll think it’s made up. This is Peter Wohlleben, German arborist and author of The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: “Trees of the same species are communal, which is why you see the same types of trees bunched together within the forest, they support each other’s growth and they send distress signals about drought, disease or insect attacks and other trees alter their behaviour to withstand these attacks.”

This is remarkably similar to what Paul is signaling to the church in Colossae. You are not alone, you are part of the family of Christ, and I am warning you, you are under threat, you are under attack and you need to fight off this external threat, but you have everything you need to withstand the assault.

You are rooted in Christ. You are anchored in the truth that Christ is God and that what he accomplished on the cross is sufficient there is nothing you need to add to that truth. Because it provides you with everything you need to maintain your faith and for your faith to grow and flourish and even withstand seasons of trial. In the simple truth of who Christ is and what he accomplished for you already you have everything you need to grow heavenward - established in the faith.

That’s the word Paul uses “established”. You know when a company tells you it was established in 1915, it’s not trying to communicate to you that its old and dusty… It’s communicating to you that it has withstood the test of time, it has lived and thrived through wars and societal changes and pandemics and economic crashes but it is still here today. Your faith was established when Christ revealed himself to you as your Lord and saviour and by rooting your faith deep into the fertile soil of Christ’s love and grace you will not only withstand external assaults to your faith, but you will grow and flourish ever stretching further towards heaven.

It is important for your faith to be rooted, because the Bible warns it will be tested. Peter tells us: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” And in these trials are why I love that Paul says our faith should be rooted like a tree, because all four botanical functions of roots become important in facing these trials: Anchorage, Resource acquisition, Storage and Communication, because the tests come in different forms.

The winds of anxiety and distress will test the anchorage of your faith. The winds of instability and insecurity are stirred up by the world around us, and your faith will give you hope like an anchor for the soul firm and secure. Even in the face of all the uncertainty of our economy and our job security and political strife and even war. An anchored faith stands firm in Christ against the winds of the world.

The world will put temptations in your path. And when these tests befall you, will your faith be well nourished? A steady diet of Bible and Prayer will nourish your soul and your faith shall not wither. Pray and live in the bible and the Holy Spirit will be your sustenance building you up and sanctifying you, growing you more and more into the likeness of Christ. Stretching you literally heavenward.

And we will experience droughts as well. Terrible times of grief and sadness and affliction - we will not be spared these tests. And in that time will you have faith stored up to see you through the dry season? A strong faith, nurtured and lived out does not crumble. A rooted faith recalls God’s past provision and is quick to recall God’s promises to see us through, promises that his Grace is sufficient.

And finally, we will not likely be spared external attacks to our faith. The world hates what we stand for and the forces of evil are emboldened, they are after our children and they are after us. It is a full frontal assault on our beliefs and our faith. But we are not alone. We are part of one body. The body of Christ cannot be defeated, even under extreme persecution, yet the bride of Christ flourishes, the church grows and the Gospel spreads as we warn each other of false teachings and encourage each other in fellowship and build each other up in prayer.

No hurricane winds, no droughts or fires, no dark or cold spells, not even coordinated attacks can claim your faith when its roots run deep into the fertile soil of the Gospel and clings to the solid rock of Christ.