Other gods?
I wrote and shared a blog recently. It garnered a comment from someone I've known for years in the military:
Excellent. I have fallen away from Christianity when I was younger due to the hate coming from other "good Christians". All i heard from her was "please be a good person and show love to our fellow humans" and so many people were angry because she told him to be nice
This has been a common theme in my ministry, and especially in my time in the Army. I will have a Soldier tell me they used to be a Christian, but now they are not because...and then they will tell me a story about something that happened to them that caused them to turn away. Normally, it was someone who said they were a Christian who hurt them in some way.
Here's the problem that Pastor Philip preached about Sunday: we have a propensity to pursue other gods. I have been in church ministry for over three decades and have seen and heard all sorts of things:
- I have seen church members walk up to guests and say, "You're in MY seat." They made a god from that seat.
- I have seen churches include language in their bylaws forbidding anyone other than white people from being members of their church. Thay made a god of their racism.
- I have seen a church deny hispanics a place to worship beause "they might mess up our building." I have seen churches spend tens of thousands on buildings and nothing on missions and outreach. They have made a god of their buildings.
- I have seen people in church lose their minds over a style of music and do extreme damage as a result.. They have made a god of their preferences.
- I have seen many, many church people say horrific, ungodly things on social media because they feel their "rights" are being infringed. They have made a god of their own"rights".
I could go on, but you get the point. Wne we take our eyes off God's purpose for us and the mission he called us to do, we begin raising up idols. How do we combat this? Be Jesus to people. I responded to the comment at the beginning, and this was her response:
I 100% agree. My best friends and both of my husband's grandmother's are religious (one if even a devot catholic) and they are what I picture when people say good Christian. You as well sir. Thank you for standing up for the people
But let me take it from the general to the particular.
As I was listening to the sermon on Sunday, I was reflecting on my own preopensity to idolatry. It is a wrestling match, isn't it? If I worry about money, I've made a god of money. If I lose my temper about the situation I'm in, I make a god of my position. If I gossip about those who put me in this position, I make a god of my dreams.
And in the end, don't I really make a god of myself? Isn't that what we are prone to do? Take 200 shekels of silver and make an idol that looks like...me. "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, Lord, take a seal it, seal it for Thy courts above."
So say we all.
SONGS FOR SUNDAY
Raise A Hallelujah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2XtRuPfaAU
Still in Control
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gITYkfHoD_M
Same God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yse43TUrces
Tremble