Living in the Spirit

August 17, 2021

Scripture Reading:
Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18  

‘Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.’

Then the people answered, ‘Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.’ –Joshua 24:14-18.

When reading scriptures related to idols, I fear that our minds go to effigies that people venerated, laying gifts at their feet. Our idols are more subtle but not significantly different. We worship power, wealth, prestige, and anything that will put us ahead of others. While these are attributes of the world, we have adapted them well into our systems of faith. In-crowds oversee most houses of worship and denominational leadership.

 I was guilty of building such a system when I started supervising staff in my government role. In a training session on types of personalities in which all my staff participated, I was shocked to see that a third of them fit the same profile that I did. The designation was the least prevalent in the general population. I was partial to people like me. From that point forward, I intentionally tried to be opened to other types of viewing the world. It takes more work on everyone’s part to bring different perspectives together, but the results are worth the breadth of understanding.

That is the beauty of the USA. We have among our population people from all over the world with varied skills and talents. We are at our best when we recognize all our people’s vast talents and experiences, including those whose families arrived generations ago and those coming today. There is nothing in God’s divine plan that outlines a hierarchy of worth. All God’s children were created with something good to contribute to building a better world. Our job as Christ-followers is to do everything we can to enable all to fulfill their call to serve the Lord together.

Prayer: God, help us see the talents and skills of others and guide us in enabling all to fulfill your purpose. 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.