Tag: idolatry

The Peril of Prosperity

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There is a danger that we all face as Christians.  This danger is intensified when God tangibly displays His mercy in our lives.  The danger is that we might magnify the gift and forget the Giver.  As believers, there is great blessing in the gifts God gives us, but we must evaluate the real worth of such gifts.  The gift must draw us closer to the Giver.  We must magnify Ghannahod …make Him big.  The gift is a vehicle to do just that.

Hannah is an Old Testament example of just this (1 Samuel 1-2).  Hannah looked upon the gift of a son as an opportunity to magnify her God.  What can we learn from Hannah’s words recorded in 1 Samuel 2.1-10?

When we receive great gifts from God, it is because He is a great God.  There is none like Him (1 Samuel 2.2a-b).  There is no one as powerful as He is (2.2c).  There is no one who knows what He knows (3c).  There is no one who is just as He is (3d).  God is able to bring to bear a great reversal in our lives.  He gives great strength in our great weakness (4b).  The full are hungry (5a) and the hungry are fed (5b).  The barren woman has many children and the mother who has many children becomes feeble (5c-d).  The poor are made rich and the low are exalted (7-8).

God alone takes a life in judgment.  He kills but does not murder.  This is His sovereign prerogative (6).  He guards the feet of the saints or those set apart as His children (9).  But those who reject His King and Anointed One, the Lord Jesus Christ, are silent in eternal darkness.  By self-sufficiency, self-righteousness, or self-dependence, no man prevails.  Strength is found in Christ and in Him alone.  Don’t look at the gift but at the Giver.  Look to…

  1. God’s power and holiness brought to bear in the lives of those who trust in Him
  2. God’s wisdom and justice as comforts when inequity abounds
  3. God’s grace found in the benefits of prayer and His full revelation in the Scriptures

All benefits and blessings in this life point up the character of the God we claim to serve.  If these gifts from God become a means to an end, then we have practiced a very subtle form of idolatry.  We have vaunted up creation above the Creator.  If we do this as children of God, we may expect God to bring chastening instead of prosperity.

If you are like me, you’d rather have all of your needs met right away.  But it seems that we are inclined to stop trusting in God when this happens.  Prosperity is a place of peril for many in our country.  We fall into the delusion that our own hand has provided us with these things.

Our families must understand that suffering, difficult people and circumstances, and the crucible of a trial have the potential to be wonderful messengers declaring the glory of God.  Hannah’s great trial was a barren womb.  She pleaded for a child.  God gave her a baby boy.  She called him Samuel.  Samuel’s name means “asked of YHWH”.  When God grants her request, Hannah has the spiritual depth to magnify God and not the fact that she was no longer barren.

Who or what is magnified when God blesses you?  The answer to this question reveals how spiritual we truly are.

Worldliness – Chapter 4

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51qp2VlKXFL._SL175_“Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” (Luke 12:15)

Materialism is the dependence upon and stockpiling of stuff.  Consumerism (materialism) has powerful sway of us.  We remain ignorant of the warning Jesus gives in Luke 12.15.  Materialism is a problem in the human heart.  It is not so much the stuff around us as it is the stuff within us.

Coveting is desire stuff too much or desiring too much stuff.  Stuff can be a tremendous resource for God’s purposes.  However, covetousness is a form of idol worship (Eph 5.5; Col 3.5; Lk 16.13).  It’s not that we have stuff; it’s that our stuff has us.  The availability of stuff ignites covetousness.  We must battle this at the level of our desires.

God’s remedy for sin stands before us in the Person of Jesus Christ.  Covetousness is powerful but no match for a benevolent Savior.

“Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16–21)

The rich man, inspired by he own genius, comforts his soul.  But the only audit that truly matters is God’s.  His new name in eternity is fool.  He is completely impoverished.  Every object you see is confined to this world.  You cannot take it with you.

Four Chains Binding Us to Stuff

  1. My stuff makes me happy (Lk 12.19).  But stuff stokes desire and doesn’t satisfy.  Discontentment forges chains which binds us.  Purchasing becomes a very elusive pursuit to happiness.
  2. My stuff makes me important (the ‘I wills’ in Lk 12.16-21).  Pride and covetousness are intertwined.  This is inevitable and destructive.  We obtain our desire and then feel superior.  Our purchase is a sacrifice of worship we offer to ourselves.
  3. My stuff makes me secure (Lk 12.16).  The prosperity in our lives is a test of trust.  95% of believers who face the test of persecution pass it; 95% of believers who face the test of prosperity fail it.  Prosperity moves us away from depending upon God.  It fosters false security.  But where we fail, Jesus succeeds.  When we are tested, we can go to our Savior.
  4. My stuff makes me rich (Lk 12.16).  But you can measure wealth by what fits in your barns.  We accumulate more than we need to become blind and bloated by our prosperity.  Don’t make decisions that protect yourself or keep the best for you.  The stuff we own can soon own us.  We are not rich but impoverished.

A man finally gets what he wants only for it to become the source of his destruction.  Don’t allow covetousness to chain your heart to that which is passing away.  The Holy Spirit empowers us to resist the seductiveness of riches found in this fallen world.  “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32)

Jesus is the King of the Kingdom.  We must hunger for God more than stuff.  The Gospel is the key to seeking that which never passes away.  How do we cherish Gospel freedom by being on guard against the bondage of covetousness?

We must post a guard of gracious resolve:

  1. Consider the true riches you possess in Christ (2 Cor 12.9).
  2. Confess covetousness and repent (1 Jn 1.9; James 5.16).
  3. Express specific gratitude (1 Thess 5.16, 18).  Gratitude subverts greed.  It is not a feeling or based upon circumstances; it is a recognition of our dependence upon God.  God is always good and right in His dealings with us.
  4. De-materialize your life (1 Tim 6.18-19).  It is painful.  Take stock of your real needs and give away the stuff you don’t need.  Grace doesn’t make things easy, but it does make hard things easy.
  5. Give generously (Lk 16.10).
  6. Guard and guide your children.  Dig covetousness out when it appears in your children.  Don’t accommodate children to bring peace.  Defend children when it comes to branding and advertising.  Teach children to share.  “Let Johnny have it first and enjoy the act of sharing.”

Is your happiness so closely tied up with what you own?  Is Jesus Christ enough?  Perhaps he will put you in a place where you have nothing and no one and find out that He indeed is.  Jesus is not merely enough; He is abundantly more than we could ask for and think of.  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you…” (1 Peter 1:3–4)

 

Worldliness – Chapter 3

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51qp2VlKXFL._SL175_We are subjected to music in every public setting imaginable.  This music has consequences.  God created us to be musical beings.  It should be involved in our times of worship here in this world (Eph 5.19).  It will be a part of our eternal worship (Revelation).

The author maintains God likes all kinds of music.  No single genre of music is better than all the rest in reflecting the glory of God.  Music is more dangerous than we realize.  Listening to music without discernment is dangerous.

Melody, harmony, and rhythm are the three major components of music.  Music by itself is unable to communicate specific doctrine.  But music does greatly affect our emotions.  Listening to a playing music alters how are brains and bodies function.  Whether or not people choose to acknowledge it, music moves us in both negative and positive directions.

Music tends to move us more if our minds are focused on it.  Many times music in the background goes unnoticed by us.  However, music is a carrier.  It gets its meaning from that which surrounds it.  Music carries content, context, and culture.

Music conveys content (lyrics).  Philippians 4.8 should dictate content in the music we write and listen to.  Christians must know what songs mean and what the words are saying.  Tuning out words and simply enjoying the music will lead to a more worldly form of worship on Sunday.  Music with ungodly lyrics will bring us to love things God hates.  We are foolish to repeatedly expose ourselves to lyrics which are seductive and filled with sin.  Profanity, sensuality, rebellion , and other worldly attitudes must not even be named once among believers.

Music conveys context.  The past shapes the way we view music.  A traditional hymn may evoke memories of church during childhood for some and rigid formalism for others.  Some find it difficult to separate the music they hear from their particular background.  Music is so influential that it can carry us into a worldly context.

Music is different in many cultures.  Cultural associations and meanings may change.  While we can relate to our culture without being worldly, we must realize that every culture is worldly.  Many of the songs at the top of the charts are filled with ungodliness and worldliness.  Music and its associations do not create sin in our hearts.  These simply reveal what is already in our hearts.  The sensual man listens to sensual music.  The man filled with self-pity listens to melancholy music.

Jesus gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, (Galatians 1:4)  This present evil age has its musicians.  What might be fine for some will be sin for others.  Two significant questions:  1) Does the music you listen to lead you to love the Savior more or cause your affections for Christ to diminish?  2) Does the music you listen to lead you to value an eternal perspective or adopt a mindset of this present evil age?

The effect of ignorance is compromise.  God gave us music to make us happy and holy.  We must have discernment and examine the music we listen to or we will be influenced by a godless culture.  Does your music tempt others to sin?  How are you demonstrating love for others by the music you listen to?  He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed. (Proverbs 13:20)

Don’t worship at the altar of innovation and creativity rather than the foot of the cross.  Listening to music whenever you want is a form of bondage rather than liberty.  Obsession over cutting-edge music keeps us from Bible study, prayer, personal reflection, and serving others.  What does the time you invest say about the hold music has over you?  Music is more than a hobby, it has become an idol for many.  Passion for music increases while passion for Christ wanes.

For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame— who set their mind on earthly things. (Philippians 3:18–19)  Why would we associate ourselves with music loved by enemies of the cross

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)

  1. Evaluate your current intake of music.
  2. Evaluate the quality and quantity of music intake.
  3. Ask spiritual authorities to help you discern if this is a problem.
  4. Delete or throw away music you’ll listen to only if you backslide.
  5. Listen to music with others …your family.  Share it.
  6. Make music rather than listen to it.  Obey God’s command to sing.
  7. Go on a music fast.  It may show you the hold music has over you.
  8. What about the financial resources you commit to music?

Music that stands the test of time is worth giving our attention to.  The author believes we should experiment with different genres of music.  This betrays the fact that he believes that there is something redeeming about these genres.

Music is a precious gift but it makes a terrible god.  Jesus died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. (2 Corinthians 5:15)