Living in the Spirit

September 28, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

Then God spoke all these words:

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. For six days you shall labor and do all your work. — Exodus

What idols do we worship? The Hebrew Bible prophets write a lot about idol worship. I think most of us perceive idols as objects, and thus classify them as something from the distant past worshiped by people who did not know any better than to put their faith in inanimate statues. Idols are anything we treasure more than God. What idols do we worship?

N. T. Wright, in his online Bible study, Worldviews, the Bible, and the Believer, discusses the worldviews that impacted the writing of the Bible and its interpretation today. He explores four areas of worldview: story, symbols, practices, and questions. The real issue is how much worldviews impact our ways of being. Jesus talked about being of the world. For example, in Matthew 13.22: As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.

Problems arise when those worldview stories, symbols, practices, and questions cross that line of being more important to us than God. We see that all the time with wealth and the accumulation of things. We also see it in lust for power when people put themselves above God or worship someone else more than God. Sometimes we may even place our Christian symbols above God. There is nothing innately wrong or right about our worldviews. We just need to recognize them for what they are. If we find they are taking a higher place in our lives than God, we need to realign our priorities.

Prayer: God, who is Love, guide us to see ourselves more clearly and understand the influences that may be pulling us away from you and correct our courses. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.