The 'Idol' Phenomenon

When I say idol, probably the most common thing on the minds of most reality TV show watching people is “American Idol”. American Idol has developed into a phenomenon that swept the nation for 11 years. For 5 months out of the year, people are glued to the television set Tuesday and Wednesday night with between 18 and 38 million people tuning in. In a biblical sense, it truly has become an ‘idol’ that takes over our time. No, we don’t bow down and worship it, but we will do anything to make sure that we DVR it, make time to watch it, or get the scoop on what’s going on. I wonder what would happen in 18-38 million people went to mid-week Bible Studies for an hour instead of watching TV. Hmm. Interesting to think about. It doesn’t have to be American Idol…maybe you don’t like it. Maybe for you it’s Westerns; Movies, Music, a different TV show, work, games, money, food, alcohol, cigarettes…the list could go on forever.

This week we have a two part sermon series called variations of Idol/Idle. This week, we will talk about Idol. Many times in the OT, the Hebrews got stuck worshipping false gods…idols. Today’s Scripture, Paul addresses the same thing. We will be reading from Paul’s letter to the Colossians, 3:1-17. If you would, read along.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.


The center of our subject today is verse 5. The sins of sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed are all forms of idolatry. There are similar lists in Romans 1:28-29, Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:3-5, 1 Corinthians 5:11 and 6:9. All these verses list things that we should avoid. Idolatry is simply replacing God with the need of something else. OT times they bowed in worship to inanimate statues and gods. In today’s sense, idolatry takes a slightly different form. Remember the list I went through a few minutes ago? If these things are replacing God, then we have an issue. Quite frankly, attending mid-week Bible Studies, activities in the church, or home devotional reading is not optional. Is it required for salvation? No. But it’s how you tell where you are at spiritually.

From there, Paul mentions that the wrath of God is coming because of the idolatry and sinfulness of the world. In order to avoid this wrath, we must put these things to death in us. Anger, rage, malice (or ill will; wanting bad to come to another), slander (or defamation or belittlement), and filthy language (the original Greek literally means dirty talk; so whether you say a curse word or flipper biscuits, it’s still dirty talk because of the nature of the attitude.), and lying all tear us away from God. They replace Godly thoughts and turn us toward ungodliness.

The good news is that when we were baptized, we have committed to putting off the old self and putting on the new self. We are being renewed by our Creator. The part we play is to put forth the effort to remain close to him.

Moving down a little further, we find Paul telling us how to go about putting off this old self. It is vital that we surround ourselves in the following qualities: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, love, peace, and thankfulness. This all sounds so good when we list them, but the truth is, it’s difficult to put these things on, isn’t it. It’s so easy to yell at the dude who cut you off in traffic, yell at the kids for doing something for the 500th time you told them not to, get full of ourselves when we accomplish something, join in on the conversation with the guys about filthy topics just to fit in. I know we’re all guilty of shunning the things we should be putting on. Instead of putting on what we should, we clothe ourselves with other things that give us temporary satisfaction.

These things, as I stated earlier, can range a wide variety of things. The point is, to recognize what it is that we are placing in the position that God should be in. I’ve heard countless people say that they’ve tried everything from houses to booze, drugs to cars to collecting things. But when they finally found Christ, nothing quite fit the place that Christ did. I’ve heard them say that he is the perfect fit to the puzzle. There’s nothing quite like the enthusiasm of someone who has just come to Christ. The problem is, is that we lose that enthusiasm through circumstances that happen.

For me, just before I first started going back to church, I got involved with the Star Wars website. Yes, I am a huge Star Wars fan. I’ve seen all of them in the theater, have the DVD’s, have played the multitude of games they have put out for the various game systems, and at that time, I even was involved in the website where they had a Star Wars blog. It was where fans posted thoughts of theories about the movies and things that are never discussed in the books or movies. I loved it…we debated everything from Darth Vader to the Mos Eisley Spaceport Cantina Band. If I wasn’t at work, I was online blogging, playing a game or trying to find time to watch the movies. When I went back to church, I started to find church competing for my time; which I didn’t like. I was upset that it was interfering with my Star Wars time. Gradually I got away from it and filled my time with ministry opportunities. After 6 months of being away from blogging, I went back because I had a free day. It wasn’t the same. It wasn’t what I remembered. Somehow, it didn’t fill in like it used to. These days, oh I’m still a Star Wars fan. However, I have the DVD’s which I haven’t watched in a year at least. I don’t blog about it, play games, or anything else. It has slipped away as the focus of my life.

The point of my story is, there is something that is taking up your time that you should be devoting to God. What is it that competes for your time that you should be devoting to God? Don’t get me wrong, family is important, work is important, making money to support the family is important, there are multitudes of other thing that are just as important in our life, but does it take so much of our time that it competes with that of God? Maybe it isn’t one thing. Maybe there are a couple different things. Could you shave a little time off each to make an hour to attend a Bible Study? We have both a women’s group and a men’s group, and I want to, in the next 6-9 months, start a mixed adult’s meal and Bible Study. Attendance in these groups and or home study should be 100%...but it isn’t. Folks, I’m not even 100%. There are days that I am not good at reading and studying my Bible for my own personal devotion. Sometimes I get swept up in Sermons, Newsletters, Sunday School Lessons, homework and such that I lose time all over the place to give myself growth time.

We have got to make a conscious effort to not let other things become our idols. God has warned the OT Hebrews. Thereby warning us of the very same thing. My friends, idolatry is not dead. In fact, it is very much alive and well in the country of America. We idolize movies, movie stars, celebrities, TV, radio, finding America’s next ‘Idol’. That TV show personifies what it is that we value in our country.

My friends, what do you value? Do you value things instead of God? I’m not saying that we don’t value God, because we do, but where does he rank in our lives? Is he truly first? Or does he rank where it’s the most convenient. Our faith should not be a faith of convenience. If it is, we are not here for the right reasons. We should be pursuing God and his will at all times. American Idol? That American Idol used to be God. Let’s move him back there.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Outward Disciplines: Simplicity, Solitude, Submission and Service

The Half-Truth Problem & The Life of Christ: The Sermon on the Mount Link

An offering devotion...something to think about