American Idol

What is idolotry??

As I hinted at in my last posting, I think idolotry is focusing on anything that takes your attention away from God. Those things I listed from Romans 1 can be odolotry.......

greed-the desire for greater wealth, power, attention. gossip - The desire to know something another person does not know and then have that "power" over them. boastful - making yourself better than others. heartless - God is love; without heart you are without God.

Colossians 3:5 has 5 sins we must put to death....fornication, impurity, lust, coveting, and greed. That is four sexual sins and then greed. Was life int he 1st century focused on sex as much as life in the 21st century. Now we can get any kind of fantasy fulfilled 24hrs a day. In the Left Behind books, one of the last books had a character turning on the TV in the middle of the day. There was graphic sex right there. His comment was interesting..."I guess since all the kids are gone, there is no reason for them to be sensored."

I guess if we ask the question "what's best for our kids?" we are on the right path to get "what is most God-like (and therefore not idolotry)". BUt I think our kids have become scapegoats for politicians (and others) to push thru agendas. "we have to raise taxes to pay for better teachers and schools for our children." "We have to clean up the CO2 (that's the air you exhale) so our kids will have a better future." "more green space and less building for our kids for the future." OK...off the soapbox. The better question would be "what would Jesus do" (or any variation there of). Jesus would want us to teach our kids the best we can and the whole time to focus on the Father who created the heavens and earth. Jesus would want us to take care of the environment (because we are called to have dominion over it), but not to the detriment of God's children whom he loves more than anything else.

Do you notice how each one comes back to God?? You are (God's) light to the world - Matt. 5. I think Jesus talks about everyone at least once in the Beatitudes (I like the way The Message puts some of these....
3"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
4"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
5"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.
6"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
7"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.
8"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
9"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.
10"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.

In vs. 6 he says "you are blessed when you are content with just who you are". MercyMe has a great song called No More, No Less that really hits this on the head.
I'm not trying to hide anything
I wear it on my sleeve
I wear it on my sleeve

I'm not trying to be something I'm not
This is all I've got
This is all I've got

I'm not trying to re-invent the wheel
Just trying to be real
Trying to be real
I'm not trying to say follow me
I'm not the one who leads
I'm not the one who leads

Let me introduce myself to you
This is who I am
No more, no less
I am just a man who understands
Because of You I'm blessed
No more, no less
I'm not trying to prove anything
It's all about the change
It's all about the change

I hope you stare just long enough to see
The heart that's beating here inside of me
Beyond all the things you may think you know
I'm just a kid trying to make it home, that's it
No more, no less
Lord, I want to go home
Nothing more, nothing less

God has a special plan for each of us, but we cannot sit around waiting for it to happen. Your life has a purpose, but your purpose is in God. Are you trying to lead? Are you trying to make it home? Who is your American Idol? Keep your sight on the light of God.