Oct 12, 2020
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Today I'm going to challenge you to identify something that is demanding a lot of energy, time and emotion from you which is, at the same time, something you have within your power to reduce or eliminate from your life. I'm going to ask you to be honest with yourself about exactly how much this thing is demanding of you, why you're letting it take up some much of your life, what harm it's causing, whether it qualifies as an idol, and to think about what you could replace it with if it were removed from your life and the potential consequences of doing so. And along the way I'll refer to what God's word says. This is one of those topics that definitely has applications to our workplace but goes beyond the workplace.
Since I
can't sit down and talk one-on-one with you to hear your story, I'm
going to tell you mine and go through this process of identifying
and analyzing a potential idol and developing a plan to
change. While I have more than one idol, the one I'm going to
focus on is politics. If you listened to this podcast for a
while, you've heard me bring this up before. My concern about
focusing too much on politics has been on my heart for some
time. Recently, several things occurred to jar me, to shake
me, to the point where I'm taking a hard look at this issue.
I'm hoping and praying that this episode will be something that
will shake you up and lead you to take a hard look at what may
be an idol for you.
The first
thing that shook me up was the interview I released last week with
Jeff Jerina, where we talked about how to share your faith without
fear. What shook me up is how little I'm sharing my
faith, other than through this podcast, which is mostly likely
being heard by fellow believers. That's painful to admit,
because it makes me feel like a hypocrite, but it's true.
Most of my closest relationships and social interactions are with
believers who are very like minded. While I won't know until
heaven how I may have influenced people and we can certainly plant
seeds that are watered by others, I have to be honest and admit I'm
not intentionally sharing the Gospel nearly as much as I should
be. The next thing that shook me up was a conversation I had
with my middle daughter. She watched the VP debate with my wife and
I, where I was very much "animated" or to put it better
"upset". Later she and I talked about several political
issues along with the bigger issue of how politics should be a part
of our lives as Christians. Then later in the week I talked
with my Mom about the issue. Despite the difference in age
and life experience, my daughter and Mom have several things in
common. First, neither my daughter nor my Mom know even
a fraction of what I know about the current political issues or the
key players in politics, but they both have an awareness of the
harm that can come from devoting too much attention to politics.
They also both attract others to them and are friends with others
who share different views than they do (much more than I do), and
as such they both have the ability to influence those people.
Finally, they are both focused pretty heavily on showing love to
others.
Now let's
get back to the questions I mentioned earlier that I want to answer
for myself. As I do this, if politics is a big part of your
life, you may be able to relate specifically to what I'm going to
share. If not, I invite you to follow this process and answer
these questions for the thing that's taking a lot from you and your
life.
First,
how much is this thing demanding of me. For me, politics is
demanding a lot. While I have taken saabaticals from time to
time, my norm is to listen to Rush Limbaugh at lunch time and to
listen to political podcasts especially when I'm driving in the car
and since we live in the country that means a lot of drive
time. My podcasts most often listened to are Al Mohler's The
Briefing and The Ben Shapiro show, both very political. I
frequently check Donald Trump's Twitter Feed, and though much less
than I used to I check in on the The Drudge Report, which is
basically a bunch of links to other political stories. For
over a year I was actively involved in the Convention of States
effort which took a lot of time. In my email inbox, I
get notices from the AFA, American Family Association, The Babylon
Bee and others, all focused on politics. Because my wife and
I are both interested in politics and like minded, we spend a
decent amount of our conversational time talking about
politics. I could go on, but you get the idea.
The next
question is why am I letting it take so much from me and my
life. I think there are several reasons men have idols.
One is that they are not taking seriously enough the reality that
God exists and that his Word is true. The world and the
natural things around them are more real to them than God and the
things that are unseen. Another reason is because they place
importance on that particular issue. They think it's
important and worthy of spending time on. A final major
reason is because the thing provides them pleasure and they are
drawn to the pleasure the thing provides them.
For me, I
think all 3 reasons are factors for me and politics. I'm not
trusting sufficiently that God is in control and what He is doing
in the world and in my life. Second, I mistakenly place too
much importance on politics. I think about the impact on our
society of who is President, who is on the Supreme Court, and who
is running the Congress and how the political events and decisions
will impact all of society. This second reason is probably
the biggest obstacle for me. I really do think politics is
important and I believe that a functioning republic such as the
U.S. demands an active and informed people so that they can self
govern as the founders of our country envisioned. I also
believe the United States is overall a force for good. The third
major reason men have idols is because of the pleasure it provides
them. There's no doubt, I truly enjoy listening to, reading
about, and talking about politics, so much so it can be addictive
at times.
Now
before I go on to the next question, I wanted to bring up a few
scripture verses that may be relevant to our discussion so
far. The first reason was about not believing in and trusting
God with what is going on in our lives and on earth. Prov 3:5-6
NKJV says "Trust in the Lord with all your
heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all
your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall [a]direct
your paths." Psalm 50:10 NKJV says "For every beast of the
forest is Mine, And the cattle on
a thousand hills." Proverbs 21:1 NKJV says
"The king’s heart is in the hand of
the Lord, Like the rivers of water;
He turns it wherever He wishes." What these and
other verses say to me is that God is in control and we should
trust Him with our lives and with the affairs of men. If we
are struggling with unbelief and doubt remember the prayer from the
man in Mark 9:24, spoken in tears, " “Lord, I
believe; help my unbelief!”
The
second reason for idol worship is placing too much importance on a
thing, in my case politics, which includes keeping up with the news
and current events. Jesus came to earth, took the
form of a human body, and lived among us, experiencing our world as
we do. He was aware of current events, as shown in Luke 13:4,
where he made a point to his disciples referring to a tower in
Siloam that had fallen and killed 18 people. In
Matthew, Mark and Luke it records that Jesus was asked by the
Pharisees whether it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. When asked
whether we should pay taxes, Jesus said "“Render to Caesar the
things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are
God’s.”" What I take from these passages is that we should be
engaged with our government and aware of current events at some
level, but our primary focus should be on God and His
Kingdom. Colossians 3:2 NKJV says " Set your mind
on things above, not on things on the earth."
The third
reason for idol worship is for pleasure. Many people are
turned off by the church because they think God just wants to take
away their fun. The truth is that true pleasure and joy comes
only from God. Proverbs 16:11 says "You will show me the path
of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At
Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." But
God warns us to be balanced in our pursuit of pleasure and more
importantly not to seek after pleasure outside of His will.
Proverbs 21:7 NKJV says "He who loves pleasure will
be a poor man; He who loves wine and oil will not be
rich." In Luke 8:14 in the parable of the sower of the seeds, Jesus
in Luke 8 says that the seeds that fell among thorns are like
those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares,
riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to
maturity. In 2 Timothy 3, Paul warns that during the last
days which I believe we are in right now, men will be lovers of
pleasure rather than lovers of God.
So the next question we're going to answer is
what harm, exactly, is this thing doing in our lives. For me,
it's easy. By focusing too much on politics, I get angry,
irritated and anxious more often and to a greater degree. It
takes joy away from me and it negatively affects my
relationships. It also makes me more judgmental of others,
namely those in politics I disagree with, but I've found that I
inevitably think about all the people in our country who disagree
with me on political issues and then I get mad at them as
well. Matthew 9:36, referring to Jesus, says "But when He saw
the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for
them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no
shepherd." That is the attitude I want to have towards
others. Dan Mohler says that rather than being mad at people
we should be mad for them. While dying on the cross, Jesus
said "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do".
The Jewish people have throughout the centuries recited daily
a prayer called the Shema. It is taken from Deut 6, Deut 11,
and Numbers 15. The first part in Hebrew is She-ma
yisrael, adonai eloheinu, adonai echad Baruch shem
kavod malchuto l’olam va-ed. This means Hear O’ Israel, the
Lord is our God, the Lord is One. Blessed is the
name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever. The prayer
goes on to say "You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Take to heart
these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them
upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you
are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a
sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead,
inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your
gates."
The prayer goes on further to describe the consequences
of obeying or not obeying the Lord, and commands the wearing of a
tzitzit or fringe on the garment corners to remind them of God's
commandments.
The Shema reminds me of how important it is to recognize God
as the one and only God and to honor Him by obeying His
commandments every day, all day. Jesus said in John 14:15 "If you
love me, keep my commandments"
The next question we're going to answer is whether the thing
we're considering is in fact an idol. We read about the
Israelites worshiping the golden calf and other idols and think how
silly that is and how we're not doing such things. When we do
that, we miss that an idol is anything that competes for our
attention and love toward God. Remember the command from God
as recited in the Shema.
So the final question I want to answer is what could we
replace this thing with if we were to remove or reduce its
influence on our lives.
I was amazed when I went through this exercise. I
thought specifically about the positive things that could come from
taking politics out of my life. I thought about more
important activities I could be doing. I thought about an
improved, more joyful attitude. I thought about better
conversations I would have with others, including sharing the
Gospel using the steps described in the interview last week with
Jeff Jerina. I won't go through all those details with you
but will ask you to do this exercise for yourself for the thing
that may be an idol in your life.
E
Check out Youtube Channel Assembly of Called Out Believers if
want to learn more about what it means to be a Torah
follower. Will include a link in show notes for a particular
video called "The Final Timeline"
which talks about why are in the end times and are between the 1st
and 2nd seal. It's the best teaching I've seen yet about the
the end times.
L
-1 Peter 2:17 NKJV "Honor
all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear
God. Honor the king."
A
email if interested in prepping course support@christianmenatwork.com
H
don't ask more than one question, and don't ask more
than one person a question