Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire

by Brian J. Walsh and Sylvia C. Keesmaat
2004, InterVarsity Press.

Some books of the Bible stand out like mountains on the horizon - you can't take in the landscape of scripture without them. Who hasn't marveled at the theological depth of Romans, or the in-your-face practical wisdom of James? Then there are other biblical books which get read, but failing to display their easy applicability to contemporary life, don't get selected for closer study. Colossians always fell in the latter category for me - a nice repetition of what Paul says in his other letters, with fewer original highlights - nothing special. And then I picked up Colossians Remixed.

With historical insight and cultural awareness, Brian Walsh and Sylvia Keesmaat (a married couple in Toronto) argue persuasively that Colossians does have a prophetic message for the church today. Examining Colossians as Paul's instructions to a community struggling to live faithfully in the context of oppressive Roman imperialism, the authors ask the same questions of us: What empire do we live in? And, how can we live subversively as the body of Christ?

The empire, claim Walsh and Keesmaat, is nothing less than Global Capitalism:

"We are facing the most powerful, fastest-growing and most successful religion in the history of the world. And what is fantastic about this religion is that it actually doesn't require any volitional choice of its converts.... Globalism wants more than your pocketbook, it wants your soul." (28-29)

As cultural observers have noted, parallels abound between the Roman Empire, with its myth of peace and prosperity through military might (Pax Romana), and current global conditions under the "Pax Americana." Walsh and Keesmaat creatively paraphrase the text of Colossians to let us hear how radical the message would have sounded to its original audience. For instance, here's their take on Colossians 1:17 (He is before all things, and in him all things hold together - NIV):

In the face of the empire
in the face of presumptuous claims to sovereignty
in the face of the imperial and idolatrous forces in our lives
Christ is before all things
he is sovereign in life
not the pimped dreams of the global market
not the idolatrous forces of nationalism
not the insatiable desire of a consumerist culture

In the face of a disconnected world
where home is a domain in cyberspace
where neighborhood is a chat room
where public space is a shopping mall
where information technology promises
a tuned-in, reconnected world
all things hold together in Christ
the creation is a deeply personal cosmos
all cohering and interconnected in Jesus (87)

They go on to show how Paul's instructions for the Colossians call for a community ethic rooted in the values of the Kingdom, values which are antithetical to those of the empire.

This is not an easy book. It offers no simple advice on how to improve our individual lives. Rather, the message is directed to communities: we must end our allegiance to the empire by allowing the Word and the Spirit to transform our collective imagination. As long as we say we have no alternatives to the lifestyle promoted by the empire - as long as we believe we have to buy our food at the supermarket, our household items at Wal-Mart, and drive everywhere we go (to name just a few cultural practices that the authors mention) - our imaginations are held captive by the empire, not knowing the freedom that is in Christ.

I'm passionately recommending this book to others because I can't live out its message alone - I need a community in which to work out the radically new life we have in Christ. Colossians Remixed should be required reading (and conversation) for pastors and ministry leaders in our postmodern culture. Much more than that, the book of Colossians is a must-read for all Christ-communities seeking to live faithfully to the gospel in this age of empire.

Download the first chapter of Colossians Remixed here!