What will reign in you?
Over the past couple of weeks, there has been a reoccurring theme continually surfacing in my world. The theme of idols. Not the wooden, golden, or concrete trinkets or statues one may imagine, but the ideas and themes behind them. Idols such as power, comfort, control or, popularity, wealth, pleasure, prosperity, and the like.
For many reasons, our global pandemic has caused many of these to surface for many of us. The good news is, when a tragedy hits, it presents us with an opportunity to re-evaluate our priorities and make sure that the most important things rise to the top. It also reveals our default "go-to" vices in large ways. It brings out the best and worst in us.
Interestingly, the powers that be know this about us and have no problem exploiting and manipulating us in ways that move us deeper into our addictions. All one has to do is look at social media to understand this. It's not an accident that all we see are posts, videos, and advertisements that fuel our personal worldview and feed us what we want. Many times, without even knowing it, our strings are pulled in ways we would never have gone had we been aware of what was actually happening.
But we aren't aware.
Or we don't care.
And we fall deeper and become more entwined in the web our idols (and the forces behind them) weave.
Now, the hard part about all of this is the reality that many of our idols aren't bad or evil. Wealth isn't a bad thing; it can solve a lot of problems. Power can be beneficial, especially when confronting injustice. Pleasure, in its proper context, can reinforce good and healthy behaviors and relationships.
But when any of these (or anything else for that matter) becomes the most important thing, that's when the problems arise.
Why?
Because when everyone worships and serves different idols, chaos reigns. It reigns in our personal lives, our relationships, our culture, and ultimately, our world.
But it wasn't always this way. In the Hebrew Scriptures, in the Book of Genesis, there is an ancient poem about God ordering creation and placing humanity over it. Humanity, created in God's image, was charged by God to rule over, care for, and move creation forward. Thus, a created order came into being:
God>Humanity>Creation
When this order was followed, everything functioned as it was meant to. The ancient Hebrews called this shalom. And God said it was "very good!"
Unfortunately, shalom didn't last long as we decided we would replace God with ourselves and the rest of creation, thus "idolizing" creation instead of the creator.
But there is Good News! Through Jesus, we have been (and can be) set free from our idols to live a full life as God intended! And, as His followers, we can bring shalom and banish chaos wherever we are, so that the rest of the world can experience this life as well!
As followers of Jesus, this is our calling. And it starts with us recognizing our idols and either removing them or putting them in their proper place under the rule of King Jesus!
What are your idols?
What idols have created chaos in your life because they come before Jesus?
What do you need to let go of or pursue to experience and give shalom?
Many in our Hillspring Community are reading through John Eldridge's book, Get Your Life Back. In it, John talks about the idea of "Benevolent Detachment." Benevolent detachment is the idea of recognizing neither we nor creation are in control, only God. It is giving ourselves permission to "let go and let God." It is a realignment that places the created order back in its proper place.
Where do you need to experience a "Benevolent detachment?"
It is my hope, amid our pandemic, that we are willing to face our idols and let go. That we would give ourselves the gift of "benevolent detachment" and realign ourselves with King Jesus, who longs to set us and this world free to experience life as God intends.
Chaos has reigned long enough…
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Justin