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American Idols

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If someone would have told you that Harry Connick Jr. and…(ahem) Lady Gaga would one day share back-to-back performances, would you have believed it? Actually it sounds more like a set up for a joke to me, but that is just another ‘only on American Idol’ thing.

I suppose they are contrasting two true idols on a show that has made a billion dollar industry creating idols. Each year, literally millions of idol-wanna-be folks sign up for the dream of becoming the next Carrie Underwood or Taylor Hicks…wait a sec, who is Taylor Hicks?

Anyway, I’ll admit I’m a fan.  In fact, I think I’ve developed the spiritual gift of prophecy, because after every contestant I foresee non-existent phrases like ‘pitchy’ coming from Randy, nonsensical metaphors from Kara, and non-compassionate (but usually true) criticism from Simon.

Oh yeah, and Ellen talks too.

But something I am clearly not a fan of is something the show reminds me of every week, and that is idolatry.

How would you define idolatry?  Most people associate this word with carved images and freaky looking statues, and to be sure, that is accurate.  But I believe there are American idols in our midst that are just as deceptive and ultimately just as destructive.

Interesting, isn’t it?  We make fun of cultures that pray to gold statues, when at the same time we are locked up in the prison of materialism and the false security of money - you know, the green stuff that is our substitute for gold.  

I guess you make anything an idol.  Boyfriend, girlfriend, star athlete, academic success, Facebook, Farmville, sex, drugs, or even the person you look at in the mirror every day.

So what is wrong with idols and idolatry?  Is God jealous?

Well, yes…but not in the petty, immature sense that we experience.  Listen to His view:

You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods (Exodus 20:5).

You must worship no other gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you (Exodus 34:14).

The word for jealous in both of these verses should more appropriately be translated ‘zealous’ - as in zeal.  This is God’s intense passion to protect His children from anything and everything that would take His rightful rule and reign in life and ultimately destroy you.

In other words, when we make something or someone more important than God, we start a chain reaction that will transform us into petty, self-absorbed people who miss out on the incredible joy-filled life that can only come from worshipping the one true God of the universe. 

You’ve probably heard of a man named Jonah - you know, the whale guy right?  What you probably don’t know is that he was sent on a mission to help millions of people turn away from idolatry so they could find God and live life the way He designed it.  Ironically, Jonah’s idol was his Jewish pride, which God had to break in the belly of the whale. When he was taking his ocean journey, he turned back to God, and his statement is very interesting:

Those who cling to worthless idols
       forfeit the grace that could be theirs.

 But I, with a song of thanksgiving,
       will sacrifice to you.
       What I have vowed I will make good.
       Salvation comes from the LORD" (Jonah 2:7-10).

I think at the heart of idolatry is salvation.  People desperately searching for what will save them from what appears to be a meaningless and purposeless existence.  So when they find something or someone that gives them a temporary feeling of meaning and value, it becomes an object of worship that will ultimately disappoint and fail in that position.

Take a lesson from Jonah.  Don’t cling to worthless things that will never come close to the infinite joy, meaning, purpose, and value that comes from loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Jesus Christ made a way possible to worship God in spirit and truth, so find the grace that can be yours by trusting in Him as your only hope of salvation.

And finally - like Jonah, we are called to bring God’s message of salvation through Jesus Christ to the idolatrous culture we live in and to make disciples who make disciples. 

Remember these words from the Apostle John:

We know that Jesus Christ the Son of God has come and has shown us the true God. And because of Jesus, we now belong to the true God who gives eternal life. Children, you must stay away from idols (1 John 5:20-21).

Especially those American ‘idols’!

 

Talk to your friends about what they think is worshipped in this culture and how they would define “idol.”  Remember, you are on a mission like Jonah to take the message of freedom from idolatry to the people God has placed in your life.

 

Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:1-3).

What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people" (2 Corinthians 6:16).

The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia - your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead - Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:8-10).