Another category of distractions from Christ is philosophy (Col. 2:4, 8). Philosophy in Colossians 2 refers to the ancient Greek philosophy. As early as the first century this kind of philosophy invaded the church. Heresies came mainly from the Jews, while philosophy came mainly from the Greeks. It is the subtlety of the enemy Satan to bring in these things among Christians to distract them from Christ.
Traditions are also a distraction from Christ. In the first century there were Jewish traditions and also Greek traditions. Wherever the gospel goes, those who hear it have their own kind of tradition. All such traditions distract believers from Christ.
Another category of distractions from Christ is teachings other than God's economy. In 1 Timothy 1:3-4 Paul tells us that we must avoid the teachings which differ from God's economy. In the human thought there are many different kinds of teachings. The good teachings as well as the bad teachings distract us from Christ. The teachings of Confucius are good, but in China those teachings have distracted many learned people from Christ. At the apostles' time the Jews had many teachings from the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament. After the churches were established, these Jewish teachings entered into the church life. There was a strong invasion of the Jewish teachings and the Greek philosophy into the church life. Both the Jewish teachings and the Greek philosophy distracted the early Christians from Christ. These are some of the winds of teaching which Paul refers to in Ephesians 4:14. Through the past twenty centuries many teachings have become winds to blow Christians away from Christ. For example, the Catholic Church teaches people to worship the "holy mother" instead of worshipping God and Christ directly. They teach people to pray to Mary, and then Mary will carry their prayer to God. What a distraction this is! This teaching is a great heresy. However, even some teachings which seem to be quite good may distract people from Christ. In order for us to remain in Christ, we must stay away from all heresies, philosophies, traditions, and even from so many good teachings which are not concerning God's New Testament economy.
As mentioned in 1 John 2:16, another category of things that would easily distract us from Christ includes the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of life. We are all people in the flesh, and in our flesh there are many lusts. Therefore, we must be very watchful lest at any time, any lust may rise up from our flesh to carry us away from Christ. Besides the lust of the flesh there is the lust of the eyes. In 1933 I went to Shanghai for the first time. In that large city the church had two meeting halls, one on the west side of the city and the other on the north side. While going between the two halls to speak, I traveled down Nanking Road which was lined with department stores having large show windows. Even at midnight the show windows were brightly lit. After looking at the displays many things came into my mind, and by the time I reached the other hall I found it difficult to speak the word as a message from my spirit. The show windows in the department stores stir up the lust of the eyes. Whenever you look at all the displays in the department store, it seems that your spirit is gone. It seems that Christ is in the heavens and you are in hell. By window-shopping in this way many people indulge the lust of their eyes.
This verse also mentions the vainglory of this life. To have a big house and a better car is a vainglory. To have a big car to show off is the vainglory of this life. These three things—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of this life—all distract us from Christ.
James 4:1 and 3 mention pleasures as another category of distractions from Christ. Drinking, eating, sight-seeing, and certain kinds of music are pleasures which can distract us from Christ.