When Ebola came to the United States on September 24, 2014 the media whipped itself into a frenzy and the American people followed suit. Post 9/11 in response to the terror attacks on the United States, Americans supported policy changes that stripped them of their freedoms in favor of the appearance of safety by allowing the TSA to invasively inspect passengers guilty of nothing more than buying an airline ticket. Global Warming has been in the news for over a decade now and the apocalyptic warnings have resulted in changes to our laws, in the cost of our goods, and even in what goods are available. While there is certainly something to be said concerning being a good steward of this world, some have gone so far as to create Carbon Credits to offset their “carbon footprint” and reduce the impact they themselves have towards the so-called demise of our world.
Why do we allow ourselves to be so tragically twisted out of shape at the first signs of Ebola in the US? Why did we allow the actions of nineteen misguided men to decide the course for our culture post 9/11? I can understand why many are worried about the problem of Global Warming and the state of our world for future generations, but why are Christians concerned? Why do we let the things we see and hear in the world weigh us down?
While it is certainly true that the Ten Commandments were given to the Jew, not the Gentile nor the Christian, it does us good to further examine the second of the Ten Commandments and consider how our lives may be improved by heeding it.
Exodus 20:4-5 reads:
You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them.
The word worship in this verse is the Hebrew word shachah which among other things means variations of bowed, homage, lie down, prostrate, weighs it down and worship. This paints for us a picture that whenever we allow the likeness of anything in the heavens, on the earth or under the earth to weigh us down, rather than God, we have engaged in idol worship. But why is that important, and how is it relevant to Ebola, terrorism, global warming, poverty, the AIDS epidemic, cancer, ALS, worldwide hunger, human trafficking, Harry Potter teaching witchcraft, same-sex marriage, and the outcome of the next election?
It has been rumored that the Bible contains 365 variations of “fear not” and while this may or may not be true, what is certainly true is that the scriptures emphatically encourage us not to fear the things in this world, much as the second commandment emphatically encourages us not to let anything in this world weigh us down.
When the Israelites gave weight to the giants living in the Promised Land they were forced to wander the desert for 40 years until their generation had died out. But when three Israelite youths refused to bow down to an idol of a king, or even the fear of being thrown into a fiery furnace, they were delivered by the power of God. It was Saul and his army that was weighed down by the size of a giant, but it was a shepherd boy named David who gave weight to God and struck Goliath down.
We are told in Hebrews 11:6 that “without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him,” but forget that just five verses earlier that “now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
What we can see includes everything in the heavens above, on the earth beneath and anything in the waters under the earth. When we are confident in what we see we have given importance to it. When we make Ebola, the HIV epidemic, cancer, ALS, terrorism, and global warming so important that we bend our lives down to these things, then we allow them to weigh us down in an act of worship which God views as idolatry. This does not mean that when we are sick we must act healthy, or that when we are stricken we must pretend to be whole.
So what does God expect from us then? Because these things are real and they impact our lives and the lives of our loved ones on a daily basis.
While we are not called to ignore these problems we are called to have a confident expectation of better outcomes. For when we give in to fear, we succumb to the evil things that twist our lives around like a pretzel. This means that if God is possessive and watchful in the maintenance or protection of us as his children, then his jealousy will be stirred to wrath.
Jesus told us in Matthew 7:11 “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?”
Put another way, if you being evil know how to tear down your child’s bedroom door when you hear his frantic screams, how much more your heavenly Father who is not evil, but jealously possessive and watchful in his protection of you? And if you being evil understand the wounds inflicted when your own son turns the cause of his frantic screams of doubt and terror upon you then how much more do you displease your heavenly Father when you direct your own doubts and fears regarding his intent and ability upon him?
God’s jealousy is revealed when Jesus awoke within the storm-tossed boat and rebuked the wind and commanded the sea to be silent and still rather than rebuking his disciples and commanding them to be silent and still. Instead, he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
When the multitude followed Jesus to a secluded place and his disciples bowed to the hunger of the people rather than their God, Jesus implored his disciples to give the people something to eat. Instead of being certain of what they could not see, they were certain in what they did not have: enough food between them to feed everyone. They were weighed down by their lack rather than being weighed down by God’s goodness and power towards them. They chose to believe with their eyes rather than believing with their hearts.
Consider God’s own nature as demonstrated in Genesis chapter 1. God saw the darkness, but rather than pointing out the obvious and proclaiming it dark, he spoke light in response to what he wanted to see. And there was light.
Idols of sickness, human tragedy, natural disasters and earthly poverty bring our focus down into the dusts. Seeing the obvious and giving our attention to the obvious will never change them, because these idols serve the master of the dusts: that is our adversary the snake, cursed for the remainder of his days to crawl upon the earth and make our dust his food.
When the man blind since birth was brought before Jesus the people looked down into the dusts and focused on his lack, only to mistakenly assign blame for his condition to his sins. Jesus pointed up, drawing their attention to their Father and told them it was not due to sin, but so that their Father in heaven would be glorified in giving sight where there had only been blindness; to give light where there had only been darkness.
The idol of blindness was never going to allow the man to see again. Bending the man’s life around it was never going to improve his vision. Giving weight to his ailment only gave weight to their perception of his sins and the sins of his parents. But when God was given weight in the situation, when Jesus bent the man’s focus upon something higher and greater, his sight was restored.
We all have idols in our lives, those things that rob us by bending us over and twisting us up by the weight we give them. Even good things can become idols when they begin to destroy us by bowing us down to them. Wine and alcohol are given for our benefit to be merry by, but too much can bring us to ruin. Wealth is a tool that enables us to prosper materially in this life, but when we bow down to it and make it our master it fails to bring us any happiness. Popularity and fame fill us with a sense of value that we all rightly deserve a share of having been made in the image of God, but when we chase after it as an idol it leaves us empty and without purpose.
Contemplate for a moment the areas of your life where your joy is incomplete. Follow that unhappiness back to the idol you have fashioned from the image or likeness of something in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. Consider how much time and suffering you have invested towards bending your life around that idol and answer for yourself Joshua’s question in Joshua 24:15. If you find the idols of this modern age desirable and pleasing to you, serve them, but if not, choose “for yourselves this day whom you will serve.” Giving weight to idols will never lift you up while they have you bending down, but giving weight to God’s loving-kindness, goodness and power towards you, will lift you up and out of your situation.