We resemble what we revere. When we worship money, we view ourselves and others in terms of our cash value. We see people as creditors, debtors, and customers, rather than as human beings made in the image of God. When we worship sex, we treat ourselves and others as dehumanized objects of sexual pleasure—good for nothing other than the next orgasm. And when we worship power, we turn every relationship into a contest between competitors, managers, and pawns.
The tragedy of becoming what we worship is that our false gods “have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and noses but cannot smell” (Psalm 115:5-6). When God says that we become like idols, He means that we become mute, blind, and deaf to what matters most.
That’s why God told Isaiah that idolatrous Israel would “not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts and turn to [Him] for healing” (Isaiah 6:10). They had been serving idols for so long that they had become deaf to the very voice of God.
Nothing dulls our awareness of God as efficiently as the media. Movies and television shows ignore God in their pursuit of money, sex, and power. Have you ever heard an onscreen character say, “Let’s pray about this” or “I wonder what God’s Word says about our problem”?
We regain our ear for the music of God when we destroy our idols and practice living in His presence. Karl Barth explained that we become “like a latecomer slipping shamefacedly into creation’s choir . . . which has never ceased its praise, but merely suffered and sighed . . . that in inconceivable folly and ingratitude its living center man does not hear its voice, its response, its echoing of the divine glory.” Better late than never.
More:
Read Exodus 32:1-9 and Isaiah 48:4-5 to learn how God views those who worship idols instead of Him.
Next:
What prevents you from hearing God’s voice? What steps can you take to worship Him with all you are and possess?
Bryan B on February 6, 2011 at 8:33 am
Praise God, what a powerful devotion. I love how the Bible cuts right to the heart of the matter.
daisymarygoldr on February 6, 2011 at 3:40 pm
Media has made us mute, blind, and deaf to God’s voice is an understatement. Reality is—it has caused our spiritual death. In very subtle ways movies and television shows have destroyed millions of lives, including many Christians.
And so, it is not an overstatement to say that idolatrous Israel looks more righteous than the adulterous generation within the Church—that lives to worship money, sex, and power. In doing this, we have dared to provoke our God to jealousy by taking part in the table of the Lord and also the table of demons (1 Cor 10:21-22).
Sometimes we rationalize our idolatry by thinking there is no harm in watching stuff meant just for plain entertainment. What we don’t realize is—in blindly following these false gods, we and our children are being slow-poisoned by a whole set of values which—are completely contrary to the Word of God.
Where else do you think Christians get their immoral ideas of premarital sex—and our misconstrued views of marriage? Instead of having Christian values permeate the moral fiber of the culture around us, we have allowed their values to instill in us—to mold our marriages, our children, and our lives.
Sadly, we have turned our backs on God and bowed our knees to graven images that are carved out by the entertainment industry. At this point, the apostasy is so great—it makes me wonder if we would even respond to God’s warning conveyed in today’s post. That should not however, discourage us from speaking the truth—in love.
Isa 6:11-13 notes that Isaiah must continue to preaching God’s message until there was no one left to hear it. Given the fact that we can only “strengthen what little remains” (Rev 3:2), better late than never seems to be a wise decision for us to make—to destroy our idols and practice living in His presence.
Megwinkz on February 6, 2011 at 8:24 pm
Amen!