No Idol Time

My pastor has started a series on the Ten Commandments.

The thrust of the series seems to be both their continued relevance in today’s life, and a similar emphasis that while Christ’s gift to us is forgiveness and “freedom from the Law” (this statement refers to Jewish and canonical custom), it does not mean that the Law its no longer to be followed.

Moving through them in order, this Sunday’s message was about the commandment to not bow down to or worship false idols.

The basis of the message was not directed at those who might worship false gods, which in the eyes of the congregation is clearly wrong, but instead to the modern equivalents. Things that we center our lives around. The Christian faith calls for God/Jesus Christ to be the center of our lives, the center that controls us, that we pivot around. Too many people let things (subtances, activities, money), ideas (fantasy and/or deception, pursuance of certain goals, obsession), or people (family, spouces, heroes) rule their lives, pushing God further down the list, or even off that list.

And, this was the direction I expected this message to go. People become like that which they dwell upon. How many of us experience a personality shift as we hang out with various friends. And this just a loose association. How much more do our hearts and minds change as we focus more intently.

The benefits of “positive-thinking” have been well documented. Most well known is the study of college basketball players. One group of players shot free-throws for an hour, one group sat or laid back calmly and visualized making perfect free-throws for one hour, and a third group one, then the other, for half an hour each. The groups that visualized had a much higher completion rate than the practice-alone group. The group that did both scored slightly better than the one that just visualized.

But, I digress from my point.

A year or two ago, I asked my pastor “How does one love one’s spouce completely, but love God more?” I asked this as preamble to a counseling session that never happened. (My pastor has a “family counseling” degree, and I often find it helpful to just go bend his ear for awhile.)

I asked, because I often struggle with loving my loved-ones too much. Most recently, I found myself “praying” to my best friend. What was this prayer? No, it was not an on-my-hands-and-knees supplication for divine intervention. Rather, it was just self-talk. “Pray continiously”. I found that throughout my day, instead of babbling to self or God I was babbling to my best friend. Why? Because I loved my friend so much, and they were such a part of my life, that it was natural for me to want to share my self-speak.

And, again, while I think that such love and devotion among friends is proper, I did need to remind myself to self-speak at least as much to God throughout my day, to love God more. I was properly convicted of it by the Holy Spirit, and forgiven through Jesus Christ. But still, the essential question of it was one that still intrigues me (view from the grange point).

So when my pastor shifted his sermon to focus on “what is worship”, I quickened. From my notes:

Make sure the focus of worship isn’t the experience of worship. People no longer experience the sacred. It is spectacle which appeals to the senses, than the Fear of God. We come to consume an experience rather than offering ourselves to a Holy God.

He showed a clip from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It was the scene where Elsa has the grail in her hands, and steps across the seal in the entry cave. The ground crumbles, and she stumbles, scattering the grail further from everyone. The grail slips into a chasam and so does Elsa. The grail lands on a crevice, and Elsa is caught by Indy, who begs her to grab him with two hands, as his grip is slipping. His affection for her is evident, as is her greed to..try..to…reach..the…grail…she..can…almost…reach…it…. when she slips from Indy’s grasp and falls to her demise.

Immediately the ground caves way, and Indy falls to be caught by his father. He shouts at Indy to use both hands, while Indy himself reaches…for…the…grail…he…actually…gets..a…finger…on…the…cup…. when he hears his father quietly call his name…. “Indiana? …Let it go, son, let it go” Obeying his father, Indy gives him both hands, and is pulled to safety as the artifact slips into oblivion.

How much more does our Holy Father call our names, seeking to turn us from the distractions that draw us further from Him and deeper into despair? We can be obedient, obeying the 2nd commandment and surrendering our impotent idols, or we can press on and die, consumed by our pointless passions.

The things you substitute for God will warp you and ultimately destroy you. The idol we shape ultimately shapes us. We need to be ware of worshipping anything that ought to be used, and using anything that ought to be worshipped. Do I use God? It is a question of:

experience vs expression

getting vs giving

Getting vs Giving is the same as Self-focus vs Love. There it is again…Love, the wild white magic.

Our pastor closed with the following steps to avoid idolatry:

1. Remember often who God is. A best way of doing that is to participate regularly in corporate worship.

2. Confession. Searching for, recognizing, acknowledging, and surrendering the idols in our life. Asking God to break their hold over us the moment we detect them. And being vigilant to prevent their establishing a stronghold in our lives.

The message was encouraging in that my conviction from last year was accurate and valid, as was the solution I was led to impliment. It was also an opportunity to recommitt myself to keeping the Lord center of my life, and to ward against idols in my activities or thoughts.

That afternoon, I watched a videotape by Dr. Kent Hovind (www.drdino.com) which showed where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, and where Mount Sinai is, and where God spewed water from the rock. I love to see things like that that make a connection for me across the globe, but it was also poignant because of the Ten Commandments sermon. (God gave Moses the ten commandments, while he was leading the nation of Israel through the desert).