Published in Signet Ring, January, 2014
Idolatry is not a popular topic among Christians. It’s one of those subjects that has the power to convict like none other. Life would be so much easier if we didn’t think about it. We have accepted Christ into our hearts and we have eternal life locked down, what else is there? Well, more than we could ever imagine. Idolatry isn’t limited to a golden calf, a forbidden fruit or a pagan god.
Adam and Eve knew all too well about idolatry and the immediate consequences it has. They could tangibly see the difference in an instant. Immediately they went from being perfectly whole to broken-hearted. I think today we downplay the consequences and effects of idolatry when in fact it is of no less consequence than in the Garden of Eden. Is the first sin more sinful than the second, third or fourth? Or is God more tolerant of sin and idolatry because there is so much more of it now? I think not. Idolatry is idolatry. Sin is sin. The first sin was no more sinful than the sin that just happened or will happen.
If you think about Adam and Eve’s initial sin at its most basic level, it was their desire to make a decision apart from God. Think about how many decisions you make each and everyday with no thought or regard of asking God. You don’t have to look far as our brokenness is on display each day with no idea or regard for the consequences of our idolatry. We have become so blind we don’t even recognize idols in our lives or, even more tragic, the desire to even want to see them.
Idols are everywhere. The question is not if you have idols, but have you recognized them? While it is impossible to be free of idols in this world, we have some serious house cleaning to do.
Earlier this year I was thinking about all of the idols in my life and the Lord blind-sided me. He revealed to me that even our knowledge of Him can become an idol. I know this sounds crazy but let me explain. To make the decision to ask Him into your heart and know Him is the most important decision anyone can make. There isn’t a decision that will be more life changing. However, we are called to more than just knowing Him. We are called to know Jesus and walk with Him. Knowing Him doesn’t always translate into walking with Him and there is a big difference between the two. For example, I “know” a lot of people, but “walk” with very few. I see people at church, co-workers or friends during a typical week, but I have no clue what’s really going on in their lives. Knowing someone is simply recognition or counting them present. However, walking with someone is to come alongside their journey and hold their hand through the good, the bad and the ugly.
The best analogy of walking with a person occurred in the ancient world. A disciple who accepted the call to follow a rabbi entered into the inner circle of that master and they shared life together. A disciple would follow his rabbi everywhere. One of these rabbis, Yose ben Yoezer, used to say, “Cover yourself with the dust of [your rabbi’s] feet, and drink in [his] words with gusto.”
This idea of being covered in the dust of your rabbi was commonplace in first-century Palestine. By the end of the day, the disciples would literally be covered in dust and dirt. If these disciples had settled on simply knowing the Rabbi they may learn a lesson here and there but they would live their life apart from him and as time passed those lessons would be forgotten. But by walking with him they had the opportunity to live in communion with him and to see the Scriptures come to life and thus be transformed forever. You see the difference?
Think about your relationship with God. When we choose not to walk with God because we know Him, the value of knowing Him is chosen over application. This was the Pharisees’ problem. They knew all about Jesus from the Scriptures but didn’t recognize Him as the savior because they valued their knowledge of Him over walking with Him. You cannot expect to truly know Jesus unless you walk with Him. Walking requires movement and going where He goes, just like the Israelites following the cloud. Walking with someone means taking risks and going places you might not want to go. Stopping at knowledge allows you to avoid all the inconveniences and keeps you at a safe distance.
Many know God but few walk with Him. They don’t want to get dirty, they want to go in the direction and stay in the places they want. Some might think or say that the comforts and conveniences of this world are just too hard to pass up. It is easy to become a flabby lazy Christian resting on ones laurels of being heaven bound. Clearly there are seasons in our lives where comfort is a reality, but what if our desire to be comfortable is something we choose over God? Comfort in itself isn’t necessarily bad until it is chosen in place of God.
In my own experience, when I’m uncomfortable I feel like the Lord is unhappy with me so my natural reaction is to chase after comfort. In doing so I am affirming God’s love for me through comfort. Does comfort equate to blessing from the Lord? This is a dangerous ideology. We cannot judge others’ reality through the lens of comfort and riches and immediately relate it to the blessings of God. What if the perceived blessings of God are what is keeping us from breakthrough in our relationship with Christ? Is the Christian life about receiving so much from God that we don’t even need Him anymore?
What we value is what we worship and what we worship is what we become. Anytime we choose someone or something over God it becomes an idol. What if God is calling you to walk with Him but you are resting on solely knowing Him? Don’t let knowing Him become an idol. He wants to walk with you. Knowing Him gives you the ticket to heaven, but walking with Him cashes it in and brings heaven to earth. May you get dirty from the dust of the Lord with your heart ablaze and your eyes fixed on Him.
Published in Signet Ring, October, 2013
Love. What is love to you? How does love affect you each and every day? Does it? Have you really ever thought about it? How many times have you heard someone say they love something? I love my iPad. I love this pizza. Oh my gosh, I love that song. I love it when that happens. I love my new car. Is this what love has become to us? An affection to things that only bring us an immediate satisfaction and fulfills a superficial need. The concept and meaning of love has become so watered down and misconstrued that we don’t even know what love means anymore. Love has become a transaction rather than a relationship. It has become a one-night stand as opposed to a marriage. Our immediate superficial needs and desires replace the intimate needs and desires our hearts so desperately long for.
We can’t expect to misuse or misinterpret love without negatively impacting our heart. Our flippant use of love not only damages our heart but also down plays what Christ demonstrated on the Cross. Some might say this is a radical position and I couldn’t agree more. If there is one thing we should be extreme about, it should be His love for us. The primary reason we aren’t more radical for God is that we don’t understand how radical His love is for us. If we could somehow more fully grasp His incredible love for us our lives would be drastically different. The sad reality is that we live our lives as if God is watching each and every move just waiting for us to screw up so He has a reason to withhold His love from us. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
I John 4:8 tells us that God is love. Notice it doesn’t say that God loves but instead it says God is love. God does not show acts of love. Why? Because He is love. God is just God and by Him being God He can’t help but be love. Every thought, every act and every decision of God is always based upon love. Why? Because God is love. God’s wrath starts with His love. God’s justice starts with His love. If God is love then love has to be the most powerful force in the world. It’s not discipline, hate, anger, disease or even the largest army. It is love. But without an understanding of love how can we expect to more fully understand God? There is only one answer to the question and that answer is Jesus.
Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Jesus is the exact representation of God. In another words, Jesus was God walking the earth in human form. Do you see the connection? If God is love and Jesus is God then Jesus must also be love. This same love conquered the grave to cancel every past, present and future sin for everyone. Not just for the Christians but for the Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, New Agers, Agnostics, Satanic, Scientologists and every other belief and non-belief that has ever existed. This is the one true undefeated love.
Jesus did nothing apart from the Father. Did you notice the word “nothing”? I looked up the definition and sure enough it means “not one thing”. Jesus didn’t want to spend one second of His life without being in communion with His Father. Why? It is because Jesus knew the love that His Father had for for Him. If you knew, I mean truly knew the love of God for you, why would you want to spend one nano-second out of communion with Him? If you knew the uncreated God loves you more than anything in this world why would you spend any amount of time not listening to Him? You know why I don’t? I think God is holding out on me. I think I can do my life better than God can. I think I know what I need better than He does. I think my love is better than the love He can offer. At times I use His love just when I think I need it. All these point to a sad reality, “I think I can love myself and others better than He can.” I’ve learned that there is only one formula when it comes to love.
God + Nothing = Love
Apart from God, love is not possible. This uncreated God created humanity out of His great love. Not some Hollywood love where someone completes someone else. I’m talking about the kind of love that parts the Red Sea, turns water into wine, raises the dead, cancels sin. Love isn’t simply an act. Love is a force like none other. It is absolutely impossible to live the life Christ asked us to without love. Love is what unleashes the Kingdom of God. Love is what makes Earth more like heaven. Love is not God giving us everything we want. That’s not God’s mission. Can He bless us? Will He bless us? You betcha, but God is not a grandfather figure who shows up at Christmas and birthdays to spoil us.
Love is only possible when God is working “in” and “through” and us. We are called to the same standard as Jesus and we can learn from the model He exemplified. The “in” is the receiving, and Jesus who was a clean vessel was able to receive the Father’s love like none other. The “through” was evidenced by Jesus’ reverent submission to the Father. In the West we assume there are two doors to this equation. The first is the “in” and the second is the “through”. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The fact of the matter is that there are not two doors. The doors are one and the same. We cannot give what we aren’t receiving and we can’t receive what we aren’t giving. We must receive love to give it and we must give love to receive it. God is love and as we receive and give, He is present. When He is our source of love we can give it away because we know He is love.
I’m certainly not here to say there will not be times when we can’t feel His love or even see it. Just because we don’t think He loves us does not mean it is not present. It’s no different than the different phases of the moon. Just because you can’t see the moon does not make it any less real. The same applies for the love of God. The love of God is constant and exists no matter what. It is in the times when we cannot see or feel His love that we must remember what His son did for us.
Never ever forget in the present what He did in the past. It is only through greater revelation of God’s love that will enable you to be righteous, hopeful, faithful, holy and peaceful when your circumstances appear overwhelming. Realizing God’s love reveals that what’s right in His eyes is also what’s best. Have you ever really thought about that? His commandments and requests are not just what He considers to be “right” but what’s best. That truth alone will not only change your life but everyone else’s around you.
God’s love has the power to ignite hearts and restore lives. His love will free you from despair, depression, fear, anxiety and abuse. Whatever it is, it has no chance. No matter how far you think you’ve run from Him, His love will chase you down. It doesn’t matter if you have no desire to follow Him. His love for you will never change. God loves us more in a moment than we could love anyone in a lifetime. Love is not about us or the person or object we think we love. Love is always about Him and when we receive His love it is the match that ignites our hearts with love. Let His love be your fuel and your life will become the flame. As your life burns with His love you cannot help but ignite other’s hearts. When hearts burn with His love things change. The blind see, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, those who mourn become joyous, the fearful become courageous and the broken become restored.
God’s love tells us that what He asks to do is not just right but it’s what’s best. You are a dream of God and His love created you and His love will see you through. Your life begins and ends with the love of the One True God.