PREPARED BY
KEN GEHRELS
PASTOR
CALVIN CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH
NEPEAN, ONTARIO
"You shall have no other gods before me."
The first commandment and the beginning point of our series on "10 Lies that Destroy
Lives." Many of you have heard these words often. Ever find them a little dated?
Quaint? You turn your mind to pictures in National Geographic of stone altars or Buddha
images and know you'd never find yourself face down in prayer to one of these.
Not a problem.
No other gods. Well - that would also obviously include the need for us to avoid things
like:
But then the Catechism challenges us to take it one step further.
What is it that fills our deepest need?
What do we value the most in life?
What holds our heart captive?
That, it says, is our god.
And suddenly idolatry begins to spring up all over the place:
- When we hold a catalogue and feel this craving for more - especially which we see in the
hands of another.... this can quickly lead to a dampened spirituality, a lessening in our
hunger and thirst to build a strong relationship with God. For example, we buy a bigger
home and stretch our budget to the limit. Meaning, perhaps, that a second job is needed to
pay the mortgage and visa bills. Family gets up at 6, goes its separate ways, and gathers
again at 7:30pm, exhausted. Time is at a premium. Time to rest is non-existent. Time for
personal prayer and devotions disappears. Involvement in the Church community is pushed to
the background - "maybe in 5 years when things ease up," we say. but that time
never comes. And with physical exhaustion and mental strain comes a dampening of spiritual
vitality. And one day, when we crash, we realise that God is so very distant. Our prayers
are ineffective. Our time in worship becomes a time where we sit with glazed eyes and pea
soup brains and deadened emotions.
And we begin to wonder just who or what is controlling us.
It doesn't just happen with physical possessions. Desires - good and God-given - can run
away on us and take control of our life in inappropriate ways:
-desires for comfort, for sexual pleasure, for acceptance, for leisure, for a pampered palate.
Our priorities in life can become distorted extremely quickly, and the distortion can
come from so many directions. One person that knew this better than a lot of people was
the apostle John, one of Jesus' closest friends. As he became old, having seen much of
life, he was led by God to write letters to the churches he had pastored - letters to
assist them in their Christian life.
I can imagine him at his desk, pen in hand, labouring over each thought and word. Then he
comes to the end of the letter. And before writing the last sentence he thinks - what is
the most important thing he can tell his beloved fellow-believers? What will be the
biggest struggle for them? What will threaten them the most? In what area will they need
the most encouragement?
Then his eyes light up and he scratches out the last words:
1 John 5.21: "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols."
John knew!
Harvey Smit, in a Banner article of some years ago, put his finger on the most tempting
idol in our society today - self.
Striving for "my success, my self-realization, my self-esteem, my satisfaction, my
personal good." ["Me only will I serve" Banner 2/2/87]
We see it all over the place: looking at possible involvement in a group or project and
finally making a decision by the criterion "what will it cost me in time, money, an
effort, and what return will I get for it in terms of satisfaction, increased security,
feeling good, etc."
Why change a career? Because the change gives ME more personal satisfaction.
Why act rightly? Because that gives ME the best feeling about myself.
Why change mates, or friends, or loyalties? Because it helps ME get into MY comfort zone.
What's the biggest cry in Canadian society today?
MY rights!
All the world can stop, but my rights may in no way be violated.
Chase whatever works.... for me.
Go for it!
Do it!
The #1 Lie that destroys lives today.
Viewing life first of all for what it will give ME.
It's the lie that Satan tries to foist on Jesus.
The first temptation, for example. "Turn those stones into food, Jesus." It is
as if he is saying, "Jesus, take care of yourself. Look out for yourself. If you
don't eat, you don't live. And then what will all the talk in the world amount to?"
And Jesus replied, "Food is important, Satan, but not that important."
Jesus understood:
God first.
God alone.
John Calvin points out that it is more than abstaining from false gods. It is, in a
positive sense, building a strong faith-life in God the Father and Jesus the Son, and
developing a very strong and very conscious reliance on the Holy Spirit.
[Calvin Institutes II.viii.16]
That means giving God top priority to the point where it affects how we approach the rest
of our lives.
Like in a marriage - when a person is married he or she walks around for the rest of their
life with a little band of gold on their finger. It's a sign that this person now is not
free to do whatever whim comes to mind. There is someone else involved, someone demanding
the full loyalty of this married person. The married person will do nothing that
compromises that marriage relationship, and does everything possible to strengthen it.
That marriage covenant, heart-to-heart agreement affects everything else, colours
everything else, and has priority over everything else.
In fact, when it comes to one's marriage relationship with the Lord, Jesus is very radical
in the words he uses - Matthew 5.29-30:
If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you
lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right
hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of
your members than that your whole body go into hell.
Matthew 10.37-39:
He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves so or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take his cross and follow
me is not worthy of me.
How high the stakes are!
If we turn from Jesus and check out another source for strength in living - like a little
child that wants to check out one more comic book before running to catch up with mom on
her way out of the grocery store we run a risk. There will come a time when Jesus will not
be waiting for us.
"You want to try that out? You really want that? Than have it your way!" will be
the answer as he quietly slips out of the door of our life, leaving us terribly alone.
Time-sharing may work in condominiums and vacation resorts, but not with God.
It's what He said in the old testament to his two-timing people - Ezekiel 8.6: these
things will drive me far away from my sanctuary
the glory of God would be driven away from the holy temple where the people had grown
accustomed to meeting their Lord.
He would be gone, not tolerating another lover in his presence.
Honouring God as God. Him first, with no other suitors allowed.
Do whatever works...... for me?
No - for Him.
Chase whatever, do whatever works for you?
Ha! A destructive lie that is.
See...
When push comes to shove, when an unexpected trial arrives, when we reach out in desperate
need to grasp something secure, someone to hold us and keep us from catapulting into black
disaster -
if we've spent our life energy searching for anyone or anything except Jahweh God - triune
Father, Son and Holy Spirit - we are going to be let down, disappointed, crushed somewhere
along the way.
Because finally:
Only He listens.
Only He has divine resources to aid.
Only He responds to bring His people through the dark chapters of life
- doesn't remove us from the chapters, but guides us through them.
The lie says, "Chase whatever works for you." And so:
We depend on our health.... until the pain appears and the deadly diagnosis hits
We hang on technology.... and hear about the plane crash last Thursday
We count on our job.... and come in one morning to an email with the bad news
We are sure of our RRSP portfolio.... well, you've seen the markets lately
There are, finally, two forces in the universe with whom you will have to come to grips.
The scriptures call you to have no other gods - honour God as god.
Him first. And Him alone.
Have you done that? Have you gone to your knees somewhere and surrendered everything you
are and have to Jesus Christ?
Are you doing that now? Are you in that ongoing project of discovering what God wants for
your existence and beginning to roll that out.
Falling in step with the drumbeat, the desires of God -- no matter what.
Taking the risks of obedience.
Letting the chips fall where they may.
It's not an option.
It's a matter of honour.
It will require decisions.
It may be uncomfortable, or certainly unpopular.
It will affect the way you speak. It will temper your dating practices. The way you handle
your money will be different. Your calendar of to-do's will change. Career paths may take
a turn. Family relationships.
And there will be many who have fallen for the destructive lies of today's age who will
shake their heads at the path you're following.
But do it. Hang in. Be sure.
It's the right thing to do. Full throttle.
It's the life thing to do.
For when you depend on the only one who can provide a solid foundation, the only One with
the true resources of the universe at His disposal, the only One who has the eternal fate
of body AND soul in His hands, the only One who be there all days in all ways, there
begins to develop
a certain peace - even in the storm -
a certain certainty and security - even when the future is fogged -
a certain sense of rightness about life - that, YES, this is how it should be.
an ability to walk forward and face tomorrow.
So - next time you open National Geographic and see a picture of an idol of some sort and
are tempted to smile, beware lest your fall be all the harder.
Turn from the picture to the mirror and ask if an idol stares at you there.
Glance around the room and see potential idols.
And close your eyes.
Draw your mind's eye to a cross in the dark, on a hill. A cruel pedestal.
Jesus - dying for you.
Life blood pouring out - for you.
His total devotion - for you.
And see His eyes looking your way, questioning -
Where is your devotion?