A few years ago, a girl named Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her home in Utah by a fanatical Mormon who wanted her as his second wife. Within two months, he and his wife were able to take her out in public with them, and she never tried to escape. When the police finally found her nine months later, she refused to disclose her identity, even though the man and his wife had been arrested and she was under no danger from them. She only reluctantly admitted she was Elizabeth Smart after they showed her a picture of herself from the previous year.

This is one of the most recent examples of something called Stockholm syndrome, a condition where a hostage develops a psychological dependence on his captor or kidnapper. It is named after an occurrence in August 1973 when two men robbed a bank in Stockholm, Sweden and held four people hostage for six days. When the robbers finally surrendered, the hostages defended them and said they feared the police more than they feared the robbers. Later one of the hostages even developed a friendship with one of the captors. This is all despite the fact that the captors repeatedly threatened to kill all of the hostages if their demands weren’t met.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8, NASB)

Human will is a very fragile thing. If you tell someone something for long enough, they will come to believe it no matter how ridiculous it is. The worst captivity is not captivity of the body, but captivity of the mind. They can lock you up, but it’s far worse when they don’t have to lock you up anymore because they know you won’t leave.

This is why we must be rooted in Christ and strengthened in the faith (Col. 2:7). Our greatest weakness is being taken captive gradually, not by force but by influence.