I remember reading the Exodus account of the Golden Calf when I was in college. It's a classic story--Moses has led the Israelites out of Egypt and they are in the wilderness and Moses disappears for a while to receive the Ten Commandments. He returns, only to find that they have constructed an idol in the shape of a cow and started to worship it (see Exodus 32). I remember thinking, what on earth does this story have to do with my life, with Christians here and now? I felt so dismissive of those Israelites. But then it struck me, as I fingered a gold earring and realized how much I cared about material goods, that I was just like the Israelites. "We are idol-making factories," a preacher once said.
Yep. That's me. An idol-making factory.
Lent, at a minimum, has exposed once again how easily I substitute habits of consumption for habits of the heart.
A few days into Lent, Peter mentioned that he wants to divide the year into 40 day increments and come up with a different practice to take up or fast from all year round. We considered the possibilities: pray together for 40 days, give something away every day for 40 days, wake up and read the Bible every day for 40 days, give up caffeine, give up meat, drive the speed limit... I'm not sure I have it in me, but I can only imagine what it would expose about my little idolatries to practice any of these disciplines. Of course, exposing idolatry is only the first step. The second step is to recognize how those idols wound me, how they lead me away from who I am in God's image, who I am as a part of the body of Christ. And the third step is to receive God's grace, God's forgiveness for all my little idolatries, God's call for me to turn instead and worship him.
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4 comments:
Beautiful. Educational. God's grace given through you. Thank you. Barbara
I am so glad I found your site. It is always good to have the viewpoint of another Christian about things. I don't do lent but I do pray daily that God show me anything I need to change in my life, anything that I might be putting before him. I found at one time I was putting my Husband before him ( yes your spouse can become an idol just as anything can). I will some times ask people if they think they have idols they put before God. The answer is usually no I don't think so. Then I will ask what do you give the most time to on a daily basis, when they answer I will tell them that is their idol. Think about it you give your time to what you care about the most, is that God. then I tell them that we all do that and that is why we need God's forgiveness.
Jan, Thanks for your thoughts and words. I agree with you that there are many things/people who can become idols in our lives, but I think it is more complicated than how much time we give to those things or people. Because God is present in every activity and relationship, we can live lives that are continuously devoted to God, continuously praying, and still be attending to those things. So I can be with my husband for more hours in a day than I am reading the Bible, and yet, depending upon the state of my heart, God may be fully present in both situations.
Thanks again for your comment--here and on Brother Born Again!
Jan, Thanks for your thoughts and words. I agree with you that there are many things/people who can become idols in our lives, but I think it is more complicated than how much time we give to those things or people. Because God is present in every activity and relationship, we can live lives that are continuously devoted to God, continuously praying, and still be attending to those things. So I can be with my husband for more hours in a day than I am reading the Bible, and yet, depending upon the state of my heart, God may be fully present in both situations.
Thanks again for your comment--here and on Brother Born Again!
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