We no longer have real power because we have sold our souls to a form of godliness without true fidelity to HIM. Anything that replaces our pursuit of GOD is an IDOL. Thou shalt have no other...and Graven Images are idols...everywhere
Let me list some of the idolatrous things people are addicted to in our nation:
- Money. People believe that if they just had more money they would be happier. Certainly having less is hard, but dependence on wealth and the getting of wealth has become an idol. I love free enterprise and industry as much as anyone, but the worship of it has become a false religion in our land.
- Economic Systems. People worship free enterprise, socialism, Marxism or anything that they think will redeem the land. It's become idol worship. I have friends who believe that everything will be OK if we just get a new wave of.....fill in your own blank. Idolatry.
- Optimism. I am optimistic. NOT because I think everything will turn out OK, or just the way I want them or all rosy...I'm optimistic because I have a GOD bigger than anything I might face. People have made a GOD of optimism. The sin is not being optimistic in their eyes.
- Schemes of Men. This one troubles me deeply because it is rooted deep in the church. Get rich quick schemes. Eddie Long had one and is in trouble for it. A ponzi scheme. I heard a story about a good friend in the ministry, one I admire greatly, one who has impacted my life, that a "Private Meeting" with him turned out to be a pitch for an MLM scheme. In fact most of the MLM's I have been pitched on in the last twenty years came from Christian friends and leaders. This too is idolatry. I think it's good to have a business, but when that becomes your religion, your faith center, you have erected a graven image.
- Political Parties. If you are a Liberal, a Conservative, a Democrat, a Republican and your faith is in the party or a figure in the party as your HOPE you have erected an idol. You are practicing idolatry. The problem is, we think that having no opinion is the answer. That is not true. We must be engaged in the culture and be change makers. BUT we must not have idols. I'm afraid the last few years have demonstrated clearly how clay the feet of our political idols are.
- Education. The idea that an education will solve all your problems is idolatry. Education will help, but it is not a cure all. Educated homeless are legendary. You must have your focus on the right things.
- Wealth. 401K, Savings, Gold, Silver, real estate. Anything we put our faith in other than God is an Idol. Prudence is good, idolatry is sin.
- THE BIBLE. This one will cause some hair to stand up. We have as Christians made an idol out of the Bible. I love the word of God. I read it. I use it for reproof, for instruction, for edification. It is the very word of God in my life. YET, there are people who have made reading the Bible an idol. They are like the Pharisees to whom Jesus said:
"You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life". John 5:39-40Many people have made the reading of the Bible a replacement for coming to Jesus. Idolatry. I have had people seeking a word say to me, "I read my Bible every day"...yet in conversation I quickly discover they don't know Jesus. The word of God is a Mirror. It shows us who we are. My mirror can't make me clean. It shows me where the dirt is. If I rub up against the mirror or carry it around all day, I am still dirty. Only when I use the Mirror to show me where to wash and what to wash do I become clean. You are NOT saved because you read the Bible. You are saved because you respond to the word in it and come to Jesus. Some day your Bible may be illegal, how much have you HIDDEN in your heart? That will be the real test.
God thru the Prophet Isaiah spoke to how this would all pan out...it's worth re reading:
Chapter 2: Verses 6b-22
Because they are filled with influences from the east,
And they are soothsayers like the Philistines,
And they strike bargains with the children of foreigners.
7 Their land has also been filled with silver and gold
And there is no end to their treasures;
Their land has also been filled with horses
And there is no end to their chariots.
8 Their land has also been filled with idols;
They worship the work of their hands,
That which their fingers have made.
9 So the common man has been humbled
And the man of importance has been abased,
But do not forgive them.
10 Enter the rock and hide in the dust
From the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty.
11 The proud look of man will be abased
And the loftiness of man will be humbled,
And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
A Day of Reckoning Coming
12 For the LORD of hosts will have a day of reckoningAs you have read this I suspect you may have identified a few idols in your own life. I certainly have. You probably could add to this list. It's by no means comprehensive. YET...we must be aware.
Against everyone who is proud and lofty
And against everyone who is lifted up,
That he may be abased.
13 And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up,
Against all the oaks of Bashan,
14 Against all the lofty mountains,
Against all the hills that are lifted up,
15 Against every high tower,
Against every fortified wall,
16 Against all the ships of Tarshish
And against all the beautiful craft.
17 The pride of man will be humbled
And the loftiness of men will be abased;
And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
18 But the idols will completely vanish.
19 Men will go into caves of the rocks
And into holes of the ground
Before the terror of the LORD
And the splendor of His majesty,
When He arises to make the earth tremble.
20 In that day men will cast away to the moles and the bats
Their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
Which they made for themselves to worship,
21 In order to go into the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs
Before the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty,
When He arises to make the earth tremble.
22 Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils;
For why should he be esteemed?
4 comments:
Interesting post! I know a Christian in ministry who wants to get rich quick "to do God's work". He continually falls for get-rich-quick scams and is often scammed. Recently he was touting a MLM scheme involving gold-plated jewelry. It was pushed to him by some pastor who supposedly got rich with it i.e was on the higher rungs of the MLM. This person I know says "40 pastors can't be wrong" about this product. He was trying to get my family to sign up and we said no way! Not surprisingly ALL of his "mission schemes" fail. He never waits for God to provide the resources and the guidance. Looking at the way he runs after the unrighteous Mammon and is "greedy for God" makes me pray that I only want to follow God's will and plan for my life! He will supply the resources.
Jer 17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
Jer 17:6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
In my opinion the biggest religious idol is the “rapture” doctrine. Many Christians lift it up as the hope in their lives. They develop a faith in faith and forget the One who called them. They worship Jesus but look for a rapture to save them from distresses of the world....forgetting that Jesus is our Ark and our Passover.
A couple of years ago I joined a rapture blog with the hope to start some discussions. I wanted to test my own knowledge against their rapture beliefs. But, whenever I posted something that disagreed with their doctrine my messages were scrubbed without explanation. People actually complained that I was not following the rules. ( I had not read their rules and the complaints were justified.) But, the points is that I was a threat to many of them. One accused me of trying to take away her crown. After all we are only going to receive the crown of righteousness if we love His appearing.(2Timothy4:8) Most in that group shelter themselves and do not want to be exposed to other points of view. They do not want their golden calf touched. (They wanted to call 1-800-rapture for help.) :)
Fallout, your post on the rapture being a false God is ON THE MONEY.
Thanks for your good insight.
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