there's lots of things i've wanted to write on lately, but just not had the time. in our sunday services we've been studying 1 Corintians for a while now. recently we studied chapter 10:1-14 where Paul lays out for the Corinthians the topic of idolatry. we had a lot of feedback and real heart-searching on this topic in our home fellowship discussions so i thought i'd post the main thoughts from the sermon here:
Paul begins the section by drawing a parallel between the nation of Israel and the Church. figuratively speaking, Israel also had a baptism both in water and Spirit. they, too, partook of bread and drink as a form of unity with God. Paul goes to the trouble to make the analogy lest we miss the point: Israel was no less God's covenant people than the Church and nevertheless they entered into idolatry which led to death.
the Corinthians, like us, were probably inclined to think, "of course i'm not an idolator, i recognize that Jesus is Lord, i'm baptized, take communion, etc.". Paul's point is, "so did Israel but it didn't make them immune from idolatry". The fact is that idolatry doesn't mean theoretically pronouncing you have settled on a new favorite deity. As the Israelites did, we might acknowledge the true God the whole time, but when it gets down to how we live we run after idols. idolatry is putting anything or anyone in the place Jesus should have in your life. it is, despite what you claim to be the case theoretically, turning functionally to something else as your savior. much of what you make your functional savior has to do with how you define your personal hell. if being alone is hell to you, you're likely to make relationships (romantic or otherwise) into your savior. if your hell is being seen as worthless, your savior might be achievement, be it professional, academic, etc. it is fair to say that the essence of any sin is idolatry. martin luther implied this when he said that if we humans would keep the first two commandments, love God and avoid idols, we'd never break the other commandments.
in every sin there is a false god and a false promise. for example, in fornication that god is sex and the promise might be "you'll feel loved, accepted when you give yourself to these people". if it's drunkenness, the false god is alcohol, and the promise is "come unto me, you who labor and are burdened, and i'll give you rest." sins don't "just happen" or "the devil made me do it". to be sure he plays his role as tempter, but there is something in us that buys the lie before we enter sin. without identifying that, "just don't do it" will most likely be small comfort and smaller help when we continue to be drawn back to the same mudhole.
it is important to deal with not just the action but the lie and the false god offering itself as a solution if we truly desire to be free of that sin. it's worth mentioning as well there are often multiple layers of idols. i'll use an example of a man i know who has now recognized this pattern in his life. this man is a binge drinker. he would get clean, stay clean for a few months and go right back at it. he went through an extensive rehab program and within 5 months of finishing, was in the next binge. at the latest episode, after he got off the binge, i went to see him and asked him what it was that kept drawing him back to getting drunk. what was the lie? his answer: "to escape". escape what? the conversation revealed that he had been fleeing a sense of frustration, even depression, because he wasn't able to make as much money as he longed for at his job and not able to significantly increase his material status. this is a perfect example of dual-layered idolatry: on the surface, the man's idol is getting drunk, escaping. but the deeper truth is that he had put material prosperity in the role of savior in his life. when that false god let him down (mammon is a cruel idol), the next false god, alcohol, popped up offering consolation by getting smashed. we need to be aware not only of the idol in any given sin, but also the possibility of that idol as a consolation after disappointment from the first. without realizing and repenting of the root idol, that man might get clean of alcohol but will always come back (or find a new consolation).
but if the root of sin is idolatry, the root of idolatry is lust. Paul mentions this in the passage, "let us not lust as they did". lust is not merely sexual desire. the greek word in the NT literally means to pant after, to long for. it is lust, ultimate desire that turns a thing into an idol. what we must see is that the things we make into idols are in themselves good. sex is good, created by God for enjoyment and intimacy in marriage. but when made a god, it rips hearts and lives apart. wine is a blessing of God (as the OT often talks about), Jesus himself used it as a symbol of blessing in His first miracle. but when it's put in the role of a god, it breaks apart families, stability and everything good. cs lewis writes "they are all in themselves good, but when lifted to the level of a god, they become demons." idolatry takes a blessing of God and puts it in place of God, which turns that blessing into a curse.
now, Paul lists 4 stories from the desert wanderings of Israel in this section to show us ways that idolatry begins and how it leads to death.
1) the first story mentioned is that of the golden calf. Moses had gone up on the mountain of Sinai to receive the Law. after some time the people grew impatient and demanded that Aaron make them a god. Aaron makes the golden calf and the people being to have a drunken, gluttonous orgy in front of it. Moses comes down and stops their wickedness. as a result 3,000 people die.
the first path Paul points out to idolatry is impatience. the fascinating thing about the story of the golden calf is that Aaron told them "this is the Lord who brought you out of Egypt." they had convinced themselves that this was the real God, though in reality they had created a false god of convenience because they weren't willing to wait. too often we allow our own impatience to lead us into idolatry. we make a decision based on our own logic and impatience, rather than waiting for God. the worst part is we then convince ourselves that this is "God's will", when somewhere deep down we know it's not.
2) the second story Paul mentions is when Balak, king of Moab, sent the women of Moab to the Israelite camp to sexually entice the men of Israel and through their fornication to worship the false god Baal. the Israelites fall for it and as a result a plague breaks out that kills 24,000 people.
in this case, the road into idolatry Paul brings out is loneliness and the false god is human relationship (in this case sexual, though not always.) because we are empty and haven't allowed Jesus to meet our deepest heart-needs, we turn to people to seek the love, intimacy, close communion we lack and end up with a false god. often that false god is a romantic/sexual relationship, though possibly it might be seeking to be loved by many people (popularity).
3) the third story is when the Israelites made a long journey and grew weary on the way. they began to complain against God and that He brought them out of Egypt at all. God sends fiery snakes among the people and many of them die before the plague is stopped.
in this case, the road to idolatry is through discouragement. they were facing a difficult time and allowed that to create bitter resentment in their hearts. in this story, there is no visible idol the Israelites are worshiping as a result, but it is idolatry nonetheless. in their complaining, as with any complaining, there is an implication: "i deserve better." their idol was their own self-righteousness, expressed in complaining. when we allow a trial to cause us to complain against God, we are implying that we deserve better, when in reality the only thing we deserve is eternity in hell. we know too well how easy it is to allow a trial, some discouraging situation to be the door to complaining. what we need to realize is that this is a door to worshiping our own worth.
4) the final story is the story of Korah and his rebellion against Moses. Korah thought that Moses and Aaron had too much power and wanted a slice of the action. his statement was "aren't we all holy to the Lord?" God destroys Korah and the small group that rebelled with him, causing the ground to split and swallow them alive. rather than fear and repent, the people of Israel the next day accuse Moses of killing God's chosen people. a plague breaks forth and 14,700 people die before it stops.
the final road to idolatry here is independence from God's authority; rebellion. this is perhaps the most deceptive path because it sounds really spiritual to say "i don't want to follow any man, but God alone." well, that sounds spiritual, but if God has told you to follow someone's leadership in a given area and you don't, it's not spiritual, but proud. we can at times allow our love of independence and autonomy to lead us into the idolatry of worshiping our own pride. we lie to ourselves and convince ourselves we're being spiritual, but really we're being rebellious. (there are plenty of caveats here like if the given authority is contradicting God's Word, or if they are attempting to lead outside of their sphere of proper authority, then rebellion is actually something God might rightly call us to.) but the point being that we allow a pseudo-spirituality that thinks we need no one to lead us to the idolatry of our own pride.
so what do we do with all this? are we just doomed to be "perpetual idol factories" as John Calvin put it? no. there is hope. in each of these stories, the plague and death that came as a result of idolatry didn't stop on it's own. in the golden calf incident, Moses went to pray for the people, saying, "if You do not pardon them, blot my name out of Your book as well." in the case of the Moabite women, when a man and woman had come to commit fornication right in the tabernacle, Aaron's son took a spear and thrust it through the two, putting an end to the plague. in the case of the snakes, God directed Moses to make a brass serpent, lift it up on a pole and all the Israelites who look on it would be healed. in the rebellion of Korah, Scripture says that Aaron took the censer with incense and stood between the dead and the living and so stopped the plague.
each of these stories ends with a picture of Jesus. not only did Christ in response to the death we brought through our idolatry pray "blot Me out.", He was blotted out of the book of life, the book of God's favor on the Cross. He did not pierce those who were guilty with a spear, but was Himself pierced with spear and nails, the One who was innocent, to stop the plague of our idolatry. He literally came between the dead and the living in dying and rising again. and, as He Himself prophesied of His own death, that as Moses lifted up the brass serpent in the wilderness, so He would be lifted up. brass was a symbol of judgment, the serpent a picture of evil and sin. Christ was lifted up on the Cross and bore the judgment, became sin for us, that we might be freed, healed from the death of our idolatry. the answer to overcoming the idols in our lives is to see this amazing Savior, the one true Savior. not merely to know the story, but to believe that He has done everything already to set us free. to be so enraptured with the beauty of such a Savior as this, that our hearts are satisfied in Him and seek no second-rate substitutes.
i didn't actually intend this to be a transcript of the sermon, though it more or less came out that way. so for those of you who don't speak russian (which it was taught and recorded in), now you have a chance to hear it. if this strikes a chord with you or perhaps reveals some new things about your heart, or you just have a question on something here, please feel free to comment. have you allowed one of these roads to lead you to idolatry?
