Word association game:
IDOLS
First thing that comes to your mind?
I suspect if you are like most people, you might say something like “Statue.” “Fat man sitting cross-legged (Buddha)” “Icon.”
The list goes on. And as you make your list, I seriously doubt you would be able to go back and say, “Nope, not that.” Even those seemingly innocent things have been made into idols.
I say that because while doing some thinking about my 2014 preaching schedule (I have a pretty good idea what I am going to do), I began to peruse Gospel by J.D. Greear. I cannot say enough good things about this book. Anyway, as I was looking through the book just to reinforce my thoughts about what am considering preaching, I ran across some underlined passages. I read them to my secretary and she was, “Wow!” Then I told her what I thinking of doing for 2014. First, what J.D. wrote:
Let me be blunt. The prosperity gospel (My note: ungospel) is a lie. God does love to give gifts to His children, and He delights in our successes. But the greatest prosperity is not driving a new car; it is knowing Him and having a life that brings glory to Him. Preaching a message that says if you come to Jesus, He will make you rich is not only wrong, it leads people to idolatry rather than faith. It leads people to use Jesus, not love Him. (p.183) Emphasis mine.
BAM!
Alright…just so you understand: God is glorified when people are made well. The church I pastor has seen evidence of that recently. But we also have a man who is on a vent and being kept sedated to allow his body/his transplanted kidney to rest and hopefully recover. We also have a teenage girl who has been sick all summer and the doctors still have not been able to figure it out. Whether someone gets well or not is not a result of faith or no faith or not enough faith. That sort of garbage just sort of makes me gag. Does God want us to have faith? Sure! But He wants our faith to be in Him as the all-wise, loving, sovereign Father who knows and does what is best. He wants us to trust Him, not in what He does.
Rant over. 🙂 Have any thoughts you want to share?
Oh, about that sermon series? I feel “led” to do something I have never done before. (Now that’s scary). I am going to ask the people to read the 4 Gospels for 2014. Matthew in January; Mark in February. etc. In May start Matthew again. Each month my sermons will come from that particular book. It might be 4/5 parables or miracles. It might be a specific topic from that book. I’ll use all 4 in December for the Christmas story. I’ll tell you more when I have it cemented in my head. 🙂
How do you trust someone but not in what he does? It seems to me that what he does is the only thing you can trust.
I am sure I don’t use Jesus. I do like a lot of things he is credited with saying.
It will be hard to have a revolution when your fellow believers are accused of telling lies.
Sunnis or Shias, Orthodox or moderate, Prosperity or not, it’s all the same story with a different ending.
The story is irrelevant. What a person does matters a lot more than what a person believes.
These are some thoughts I like to share.
St. Paul seems to argue that what a person believes, is more important.
What ‘we do’ or ‘do not do’ is neither here nor there when it comes to the work of the gospel.
We are made righteous through faith.
I appreciate your thoughts Jeff. i would submit that you can’t always trust what a person does because you don’t know why he is doing it. But I also understand what you are saying. IMHO true belief will always result in actions.
I still remember a certain well-coiffed mega-pastor crowing how he prayed for a parking spot at the mall and ‘bam’ there was one right near the front. Brother, how can you argue with that? Cha-ching.
I caught your sarcasm Daniel. 🙂 But seriously, that is a joke. I wonder what he would think if God was saving that spot for a handicapped person? 🙂
Yes, I like the idea of your sermon series and I really like the quote. I’ve been studying idols recently in preparation for this weeks sermon and I have just been overwhelmed with the reality of how many idols we really have in our lives. Idolatry is a huge theme throughout the Old Testament and New Testament.
You are right about the reality of how many we have. It will dawn on us when we realize they are more than brick and mortar.
Idolatry is what we do.
And ant idol will do.
??
Should have read, ‘any idol…’
not “ant”
That is an awesome idea, Bill. I like it.
Thanks larry. I have decided to pursue it further than just an idea.
Thank you for saying it: the prosperity gospel is a lie. Oddly enough my first thought of an idol was Spiderman, and I don’t even care about Spiderman.
I wish more people (like thousands) would realize that lie Dan. It would put an end to the garbage if the well dries up. Spiderman?
Been thinking about the idea of being too dependent on tools and not the source, relying too much on knowing about God rather than knowing God. Kind of ties in to what you’re saying, I think.
it does tie in kari. We have sometimes made an idol of the “tools” and forgotten the source.
Our focus needs to be the giver, not the gifts. And great idea for the sermon series. Really cool.
Excellent way to put it Matt. Thanks.
Excellent thoughts, Bill. There are plenty of verses in the Bible that teach us we are blessed so that we can bless others, but we are called to honor the Provider, not the provision…
Totally agree Floyd. Too easy to forget that.
Ugh… this is my pet peeve as well (and, thankfully, Sam’s as well because otherwise we would get into huge arguments about it – hehehe)…
Here’s a comic I found recently – it strips down the prosperity “gospel” quite fiercely without being mean…
I have no idea why some people still believe that BS (since that’s what it really is… no other term for it.) Have they ever opened the Bible? Have they seen Jesus riding a 1st century prototype of a Lamborghini? Did Paul have a yacht of his own? Were they all healthy and never died??
Ahem… yeah.
And here are a couple more comics from the same website too:
http://adam4d.com/god-has-no-limits-except-this-one/
http://adam4d.com/how-to-justify-prosperity-theology-in-3-easy-steps/
Want to tell me how you really feel little sis? 😛 But…well…you express my thoughts actually. I’ll take a look at the links.
I love those comics Zee! They were all well done. Thanks for sharing them.
They are good indeed – the guy has many more that are hitting the nail on the head.
Hahahaha. Yeah))) Seriously… I highly dislike people who teach that stuff… It is the reason why my cousin is now angry at God and doesn’t want to listen to anything I tell her. So I’ve got personal beef with those greedy idiots… Aaaanyway.
All the more reason to sound the battle cry against them.
Hi Bill.
I’ll try to be brief. The subject is huge. I agree with you, we are to glorify God. I don’t believe a sick body glorifies God. One of the first things Jesus did (and taught his disciples to do) was heal the sick. So that says to me that disease is definitely no part of God’s plan for us, no, not a cross to bear. But the healing does glorify him. I believe there was an expectation for Christians to be healthy, and Paul pondered why the opposite was manifesting in some cases during his days. 1 Cor. 11:28-30 (He didn’t see a material cause, but spiritual or mental.)
Job 3:25
Prosperity gospel? No true Christian would buy into that. Life isn’t a party, it’s a classroom.
Idols? One big one: ourselves and our bodies.
I’ll stop there. Thanks for being longsuffering, Bill. We each receive many opportunities to learn to love more and it always comes through others we encounter. And I like your sermon idea. (If I lived in Spencer, I think I would want to attend your church. Scary thought, huh?) Actually, that’s a compliment to you.
I don’t consider it longsuffering Dave. I consider your comment very well said. Thanks for your take on the sermon idea. The more I think about it the more I like it also. I reckon that is good! 😛 And I would feel honored you would attend OVCF. maybe some day I will get a chance to meet you.
Thanks, Bill. I’m on the East Coast, but time and space mean nothing to God. If he sends me your way, I will definitely stop in. And I would find it an honor to meet you. And I promise, I won’t saying during the sermon. 😉
Only if it is good! 😀
I wonder if my idol is my time. I don’t want to go to one of the Stans because I might have to give up my leisure and that’s the one thing that is in my control.
I know my time is sometimes an idol for me. I’m lost on “Stans.”
Love this, Bill. I have a hard time reconciling “deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me” with two words that don’t belong together. “Heal the sick, raise the dead” were the commands, not “Build up your bank balance and your 401k and I will bless them”…what, am I foaming at the mouth again? I promise to stop – right after these words from the First National Bank of God. 😀
My sentiments exactly. Unfortunately, a dupe is found around the next corner.
I almost forgot..Idols was the question? American Idol is the correct answer nowadays
Never watched it. Whew I’m safe. 😉
You and I both – the name of the show alone was enough to make me yag, but so much of commercial TV does that to me nowadays that I rarely turn the thing on.
I don’t watch any “reality” TV, and that includes Duck Dynasty. Not that I am against DD. I just don’t watch much TV at all, especially in the summer (unless it is baseball and that very little).
My I also mini-rant on the scaring people into heaven gospel?
I hate that. really hate that…
that whole cliché that if you better say the sinners prayers before you walk out that door or you might get hit by a bus!!!! and go to hell forever!!!!
hate, hate, hate that.
You can’t scare people into the kingdom…
Rant away on that Arny. I am dead set against that type of preaching also.
The only idol I have on this earth that trips me up is “me”. The very same idol that makes people believe the lie in prosperity
teaching. It’s encouraging to hear pastors, teachers, believers speak out about this lie. Good reminder brother…
You’re 100% right… The idol is “me.”
is there room for me?
No, just for Betty and I 🙂
Someone once said that the human heart is an idol factory. There seems to be no limit to the idols that I can pursue. As soon as I defeat one, another crops up. It’s something we have to constantly be on guard against.