Maybe the hard thing is to recognize that all of us have "idols"... What is an "idol"?
You could say it this way... an idol is anything that you put in place of God in your life. Something you expect to meet a particular need that you have that only God can really meet. Something to which you give yourself, your passion, your time, your resources, your heart & soul above all else. Something you..well... worship.
And, it doesn't always start out with a bad thing. Sometimes "idols" are simply good things turned into ultimate things.
In Genesis 1, God made man and woman in his image and gave them a role to play in the ongoing creation story. He creates them and then says to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
Two important verbs... subdue & rule
Subdue... the Hebrew word is "kabash"... You know that word, right? "I'm gonna put the 'kabash' on that thing...that idea... that proposition." If may seem negative to us, but it wasn't then. It carries the idea of structure, hierarchy, keeping order.
The other verb..Rule. The Hebrew word is "radah". It means to lead, direct, govern with authority. "Radah".
God was giving them authority to rule, govern, lead, direct, order the world around them. They were the only creatures in all of the creation story that got to partner, in a sense, with God. They were given "power" over all the rest of creation.
Maybe what's interesting is what ISN'T included in that role... power over each other. Politics, you might say. (Things that may you go... "Hmmm.")
Notice God's thoughts about it when he steps back to evaluate what he's created. In the verses following the charge to "radah" and "kabash", the Bible says this: "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good."
Very good. Subduing. Ruling. Man partnering with God to help the creation efforts move forward with structure and order, under their leadership and supervision... "very good".
Is that how you see it? "Very good." Or would you say that something's changed... gone south. That "power" has become one of those good things turned into ultimate things?
The other thing about idols is that they can never deliver what they promise. They just can't. They fall short somewhere along the way because they were never intended to be the "ultimate" thing. They're finite. Temporary.
So... what's your thoughts about "power" as an idol? How does one seek to de-throne that idol? You can listen to my thoughts here, but I'd be interested to hear yours too.
Thoughts on power and it's draw AND disappointment. Thoughts on how we, as Christ-followers, should respond, reflect, restore, redeem the "good" that was originally a part of "radah" and "kabash".
Love wins!
Dave
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Saturday, October 31, 2009
It's BACK... "How To Tip A Sacred Cow"!!
Well, if you're joining this conversation for the first time...a little background.
In 2007 I did a series of talks entitled "How To Tip A Sacred Cow". The general idea was that, as a community of faith, we needed to talk about some stuff that was going to be pretty risky. We had come to realize that many people, somewhere along the way, had either rejected the church (as in the "idea" of church or church in general) or become disallusioned by it for a number of reasons. We had also come to believe that some of the perceptions that led them to feel that way had some very real truth to them. For example, some of those perceptions, the reasons for their rejection or disallusionment were things such as: the church being too judgmental; the church being too hypocrital; the church being too political; or the church being anti-homosexual.
We felt like it was time to open up an honest conversation about those statements and acknowledge that we, as Christians, had blown it in numerous ways and needed to own whatever part of those perceptions was true. So, we did. We spent a couple of months walking through those issues, as a community of faith, and encouraging people to offer their thoughts here.
A number of people shared there thoughts, hurts, and disappointments with us - and we were grateful for their honesty and trust. I also believe that it helped us grow - both in our awareness and in our authentic efforts to be more like Jesus. In fact, that's probably the best way to "sum it up". There are lots of people who, if you asked them, would say that they had great respect or even appreciation for Jesus, even if they weren't ready to fully put their faith in him. But those same people, when they looked at us - the church - felt that somehow we'd missed it if our mission was to be like Jesus, to carry his message and model his lifestyle. And they were right. It's not like we ever expect to be perfect, but we had to acknowledge that there were some pretty significant discrepancies between the things we said and did and who Jesus was and how he taught and lived his life. Thus, the conversation.
So.. here we are again. We figured if it was helpful then (even if it was a bit disappointing - kind of like looking in the mirror can be sometimes) that we needed to do it again from time to time... if for no other reason so that we would have to continue to be authentically self-aware in how we're doing in our efforts to be followers of Christ.
So, the conversation starts up again tomorrow. You can join us here, for some thoughts and commentary following my talk or you can join us live to hear it for yourself and, if you're so inclined, to add your thoughts and commentary about it here. Your call.
If you're interested in joining us "live", stop by tomorrow at Newsong Fellowship in Edwardsville, IL. We have two gatherings: 9:15 and 11:00 a.m. We're in the heart of downtown at 201 St. Louis St. Or, just come back later in the week and I'll point you to where you can hear the talk online. Either way, I hope you'll join the conversation. What you have to say matters and we might just need to hear it as much as you need to express it.
"How To Tip A Sacred Cow"... begins Nov. 1st. Hope to see you back here.
Love wins!
Dave
In 2007 I did a series of talks entitled "How To Tip A Sacred Cow". The general idea was that, as a community of faith, we needed to talk about some stuff that was going to be pretty risky. We had come to realize that many people, somewhere along the way, had either rejected the church (as in the "idea" of church or church in general) or become disallusioned by it for a number of reasons. We had also come to believe that some of the perceptions that led them to feel that way had some very real truth to them. For example, some of those perceptions, the reasons for their rejection or disallusionment were things such as: the church being too judgmental; the church being too hypocrital; the church being too political; or the church being anti-homosexual.
We felt like it was time to open up an honest conversation about those statements and acknowledge that we, as Christians, had blown it in numerous ways and needed to own whatever part of those perceptions was true. So, we did. We spent a couple of months walking through those issues, as a community of faith, and encouraging people to offer their thoughts here.
A number of people shared there thoughts, hurts, and disappointments with us - and we were grateful for their honesty and trust. I also believe that it helped us grow - both in our awareness and in our authentic efforts to be more like Jesus. In fact, that's probably the best way to "sum it up". There are lots of people who, if you asked them, would say that they had great respect or even appreciation for Jesus, even if they weren't ready to fully put their faith in him. But those same people, when they looked at us - the church - felt that somehow we'd missed it if our mission was to be like Jesus, to carry his message and model his lifestyle. And they were right. It's not like we ever expect to be perfect, but we had to acknowledge that there were some pretty significant discrepancies between the things we said and did and who Jesus was and how he taught and lived his life. Thus, the conversation.
So.. here we are again. We figured if it was helpful then (even if it was a bit disappointing - kind of like looking in the mirror can be sometimes) that we needed to do it again from time to time... if for no other reason so that we would have to continue to be authentically self-aware in how we're doing in our efforts to be followers of Christ.
So, the conversation starts up again tomorrow. You can join us here, for some thoughts and commentary following my talk or you can join us live to hear it for yourself and, if you're so inclined, to add your thoughts and commentary about it here. Your call.
If you're interested in joining us "live", stop by tomorrow at Newsong Fellowship in Edwardsville, IL. We have two gatherings: 9:15 and 11:00 a.m. We're in the heart of downtown at 201 St. Louis St. Or, just come back later in the week and I'll point you to where you can hear the talk online. Either way, I hope you'll join the conversation. What you have to say matters and we might just need to hear it as much as you need to express it.
"How To Tip A Sacred Cow"... begins Nov. 1st. Hope to see you back here.
Love wins!
Dave
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