“The Right God, the Right Way” (Exodus 20:4-6) - The 10 Commandments for Today III -

“The Right God, the Right Way” (Exodus 20:4-6)

- The 10 Commandments for Today III -

What Is an Idol?

In his book The Wounded Healer, Henri Nouwen tells a story about four brothers. Each of them decided to master his own special ability. Time went by, and the brothers got together to find out what they had learned. The first said, "I have mastered a science. I can take but a bone of some creature and create the flesh that goes with it." The second said, "I know how to grow that creature's skin and hair if there is flesh on its bones." The third said, "I am able to create its limbs if I have flesh, the skin, and the hair." The fourth concluded, "And I know how to give life to that creature if its form is complete." Then, the brothers went into the jungle to find a bone so they could demonstrate their specialties. They found one, and it was a lion’s. One added flesh to the bone, the second grew hide and hair, the third completed it with matching limbs, and the fourth gave the lion life. Immediately, the ferocious beast arose, jumped on his creators, killed them all and vanished contentedly into the jungle.

How do you define an idol? Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word “idol” as “a representation or symbol of an object of worship.” It is a man-made representation of some divine being. Idols are the work of human hands. There is no life in them, but when we make idols, we become like them. In the end, the idols destroy us as we have heard the story just before. There are two forms of idolatry. God gives the first two commandments to his people: “Do not have other gods” and “Do not make idols.” They are two different regulations. The first commandment forbids us to worship false gods, and the second commandment forbids us to worship the true God falsely. At Sinai, the Israelites made the golden calf. It did not represent other gods. It was precisely intended to represent the God of Israel. The Israelites worshiped the true God falsely. After making the golden calf, the people said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Exo 32:4). There is another story about false worship in the Bible: the story of King Jehu. He refused to worship other gods. He eliminated Baal worship from Israel. He put the wicked queen Jezebel to death. He also summoned all the prophets of Baal and destroyed them. So far, so good. But the Bible goes on to say, “Jehu did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin--that is, the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan” (2 Kg 10:29). Jehu enforced the first commandment, but he allowed his people to break the second commandment: worshiping the true God falsely.

What Is False Worship Today?

The golden calves are still standing today in many forms. Then, what are some of the ways we worship our God falsely? One of the most notable examples of false worship is “self-centered” worship. We make an idol whenever worship becomes self-centered. The Bible says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). But too often we put God in a box. We try to remake God into our image. We pick and choose to worship some of his attributes, but not others. We think that it would be unfair for God to allow things like famine, war, suffering, crime, disaster, and disease exist in our world. As we hear the news about Nepal Earthquake or Baltimore riots, we become angry with God because he has violated our image of him. We assume somehow that it is in God’s character to give us only joy and happiness. Then when things begin to fall apart, we either lose our faith in the image or pick and choose the attributes of God that we want to accept. Some Christians deny fundamental doctrines like Jesus’ substitutionary atonement, the divine judgment and hell in order to include everyone and every religion. Some feminist theologians deny the Fatherhood of God in order to elevate the status of women in the Bible. When we say, “I like to think of God as…” we are remaking God in our image.

We also make an idol whenever we turn God into something that we can manipulate. This was the whole point of the golden calves. King Yehu and his people did not think that God actually lived in the golden calves, but they did think that the idols gave them the kind of spiritual contact to manipulate God. God commanded the Israelites to worship him at one place. He said to them, “Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you please. Offer them only at the place the LORD will choose in one of your tribes, and there observe everything I command you” (Deut 12:13-14). But Rehoboam made two golden calves in Bethel and Dan, built shrines on high places, and appointed priests from all sorts of people who were not Levites. It was a user-friendly god. It was a god who can be adapted to suit their purposes. Both Rehoboan and Jehu tried to use God for their political purposes (cf. 1 Kg 12:28). The golden calves are still standing today. We say “If I do this, then God will do that.” If I say the right prayer every day, I will have God’s blessing. If I fulfill my vow, then God will make my family prosperous. But in fact, if God chooses, he may withhold our breath. If he likes, we may become poor. Death may come to us unexpectedly, or sudden wealth may become part of our lot in life. But all of this is in God’s hands. God will not be contained, managed, or manipulated by anyone or anything, for any purpose. God wants us to trust him and obey him, not use him.

How Can We Worship God in the Right Way?

Then how can we worship God in the right way? John Calvin said, “The human heart is a perpetual factory of idols.” Our hearts constantly make idols and worship God the way we want him to be, rather than the way he actually is. Who can save us from our own private idolatries? The answer is simple and clear: Jesus Christ our Lord! In order to come to God in true worship, all we have to do is come to him through Jesus Christ. Colossians 1:15 says, Jesus is “the visible image of the invisible God” (NLT). Hebrews 1:3 says, Jesus is “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (ESV). In Athens the Apostle Paul was deeply troubled to see the city full of idols. Then, he preached Christ crucified. Some laughed at him, and others said, “We will hear you later.” Only few people joined him and became believers. If I were Paul, I would change strategy and deliver milder message. But at the next city, in Corinth, Paul preached the exact same message: Jesus Christ and him crucified. He knew it was a stumbling block and foolishness to the people. But he preached Christ and him crucified, because he knew that the message of the cross of Christ is the power of God to save them and transform their lives forever. When we come to Christ, the one true image of God, all the other idols, false gods, in our hearts will be broken into pieces one by one.

How can we know Christ personally?

Then, how can we come to Christ? How can we know Christ personally? Jesus Christ is the living word of God (John 1:1, 14). We can know Christ by reading the Word, hearing it, studying it, memorizing it, and meditating on it by faith. In the 1940s there were two famous evangelists, Charles Templeton and Billy Graham. They were close friends. At that time Charles Templeton was older and more well-known. Everyone thought he was going to overturn the world with the gospel. But Templeton ended up leaving the Christian faith and became an atheist. Just before he died in 2001 at the age of 86, he published the book titled, Farewell to God. In the book he told us about a crucial conversation he had with Billy Graham. Templeton said to Graham that he couldn’t believe the biblical account of creation. And he raised many other difficult questions. After this, Billy Graham faced the spiritual crisis about the authority of the Bible. One night, he went to the woods, carrying his Bible and prayed. The Holy Spirit said to him, “Trust the Bible and proclaim it as the word of God.” Since then, whenever he stood on the pulpit, he always said, “The Bible says.” And the Holy Spirit was able to use him in a mighty way, smash idols in people’s hearts, and turn many to Christ.

Pick Up and Read!

The second commandment, “Do not make idols” is spiritual. It applies to the heart. We may not worship something we can see or touch. But in our hearts we may be busy fashioning God in our image, our own golden calf. Our golden calf can be the God remade by our own experience, wounds, false arguments, lofty opinion, and ignorance. Probably many of you remember St. Augustine’s conversion. Although he had a brilliant mind, his golden calf – false arguments and lofty opinion – had blinded his mind. He was not able to see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. But one day in the garden he heard children chanting, “Pick up and read. Pick up and read.” And he opened the Bible and read Romans 13:13-14. He felt like his heart was flooded with light. Later, reflecting on this experience, Augustine wrote his famous prayer: “You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” My prayer is that as we pick up and read the Bible each and every day, the Lord may restore us, remold us, remake us into his image, so that we may rest in him and live for his glory forever. Amen.