Ten Rules for Living (Keep Your Eye on the Goal)
Exodus 20:4-6
You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.[1]
Frankly, I have never been tempted to make an idol, especially if such an effort finds its origin in the realm of the artistic which requires a carved image—or an image of any kind. I can honestly say that I have not been severely tempted to make images of anything. It is a mistake to ask me to attempt to draw a picture—rabbits look like dogs and elephants look like rabbits in my best efforts.
Few of us are artists, and we might therefore conclude that this second rule for living has nothing to say to us; but, You shall not make for yourself a carved image, really does have something to say to each of us. The rule only appears to have nothing to say when I content myself with looking on the outer surface. The inner meaning, the unchanging application, has deepest meaning to any conscientious individual, especially to the conscientious Christian, even in this day far removed from the days of the wanderings in the wilderness. Little children, keep yourselves from idols [1 John 5:21] is excellent advice still.
Why We Make Idols — How did men first come to make images of their gods? Did you ever question what must lie behind this whole business of idols? At the first, all mankind knew the living God; there was no other competition for the heart of man. Our first parents walked in the garden with the Lord God, communed with Him in the cool of the evening, and enjoyed sweet fellowship with Him—until sin entered the garden.
Whether long time or short, they fell from that secure position when they chose to rebel against grace. Our first mother was deceived and our first father rebelled, choosing fellowship with the one created for him instead of fellowship with the Creator. Driven from the garden in disgrace, the couple nevertheless knew none but the true and living God and they worshipped Him alone. There is an enigmatic ending to the fourth chapter of Genesis. At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD [Genesis 4:26].
The fourth chapter tells how Adam and Eve had two sons—Cain and Abel. It seems evident from reading the text that Adam and Eve placed undue hope that their elder son, Cain, would be the deliverer God had promised before they were driven from the garden. Instead of being a fulfilment to their hopes, Cain was a disappointment who only dashed their hopes and left their hearts raw and bleeding. Though Adam and Eve had other children [Genesis 5:4], the Bible focuses on Seth as being in the lineage of Messiah, the promised deliverer. After Seth was born and grew to manhood, we read that strange verse: At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD [Genesis 4:26].
Was there no worship before that time? Did men ignore God before that time? What was going on? We may rightly assume that Adam and Eve knew the fundamentals of worship; God Himself had slain the first animal to make garments for the rebels. They had witnessed firsthand that blood would need to be shed because of their rebellion and because of the exaltation of “self” against the will of the Creator. In order to approach God—atonement, propitiation—would be required to make the rebel acceptable to Holy God. So, there lingered the knowledge of the unseen God, willing to fellowship even with His fallen creature, as that creature approached Him through worship.
During the interim between that concluding verse of the fourth chapter and the expulsion from the garden, it appears that the most of mankind began to ignore worship, or perhaps they began to seek to make the worship “more meaningful.” You may take it as a given that anytime man attempts to make an act more meaningful, the potential for disaster is immediately present. Anything touched by the hand of man moves toward apostasy. Without doubt, it is accurate to say that idolatry began during this interim and the verse therefore indicates that Seth and his descendants initiated a movement to recapture worship of the true and living God. What happened during this interim?
I think it is safe to say that those who first made images of their gods were not doing so in order either to destroy or to degrade religion. They had a purpose in view that was superficially worthy when they crafted these images. When they first created their idols, they rationalised their actions by saying that they merely wished an aid in worship. Isn’t this the excuse of the Israelites when they created the golden calf [Exodus 32:1-5]?
When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.”
Having made the calf, Aaron announced there would be a feast to the Lord. The calf, he would no doubt have argued, was an aid to worship. The people would have likewise have argued that the idol was but a visible help in worship, much as those educated in the Catholic system of worship argue for their idolatrous statuary in this day.
Verse Six is the telling verse in this account, however. They rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play [Exodus 32:6]. The people began with what appeared to be a proper religious purpose, offering burnt offerings and bringing peace offerings; but their worship quickly degenerated into grossest licentiousness. As is always the case when aids to worship are employed, the people became so absorbed in the means that they forgot the end, so concerned in the picture that they lost sight of the reality.
The worshipper becomes like that which is worshipped. The Israelites degenerated almost immediately into sensual, lascivious, licentious actions so often associated with idolatry. The story is repeated in the account of the brass snake in later days in Israel [2 Kings 18:4].
The Effect of Idolatry on Worship — We create idols because at the first the purpose seems worthy, seems somehow to honour God, seems to invite the blessing of the unseen God. However, all idols are condemned regardless of how noble the purpose appears while the idol is being crafted. Whenever we seek an aid to worship we have taken our eye off the goal and we are following the degenerate path which leads to wreck and ruin described in the dark pages of the first chapter of Romans. Listen once more to those dark words recorded in Romans 1:21-32.
Although they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonouring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to dishonourable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
Idolaters will in time become unthankful, self-centred, foolish; and eventually God must surrender them to their own dark passions. An idolater is immediately and readily capable of the vilest, most despicable sin imaginable—and will commit those sins while justifying every action. No wonder God condemns so soundly the sin of idolatry. Having removed our eyes from the goal, we are susceptible to every form of wickedness.
Follow the downward progress of the idolater carefully for a moment longer. Idolaters fail to glorify God and grow progressively unthankful. If a person will not give thanks to God for what she receives out of His bounty, she will not give thanks to others who show her common courtesy. She may fulfil a form, but there will be no heart in her words or actions. Progressively, the idolater grows ever more foolish, ever more darkened in her ability to see purpose in life. Finally, she is surrendered to her own desires and she becomes a slave to those desires.
Our desires are a gift from God to bless us; but should those desires begin to master us we will discover them to be dreadful taskmasters. The individual serving his desires will never find peace or security in this life. That person will be unfulfilled and frightfully insecure even as he ardently pursues security and peace.
As I have already stated, the idolater is capable of the grossest sin and can justify that sin to his or her own mind. What is worse, as a society becomes more idolatrous, that society will not only engage in the vilest forms of wickedness, but that society will attempt to make the wickedness practised the norm and attempt to enforce conformity!
Adultery is justified on the grounds that a person deserves happiness. An individual, or a congregation, demanding accountability is censured and condemned as intolerant and dismissed as evil. Homosexuality is justified on the grounds that it is another lifestyle and woe betide the individual with courage to condemn the vile practise as worthy of God’s judgement, for such a one has committed the heinous crime of intolerance. So, the idolatrous society not only calls good evil and calls evil good, but that same society will seek to enforce conformity in the whole of the populace by condemning anyone that worships God and speaks out of conscience against wickedness.
Idols Held Dear in Our World — It seems appropriate at this point to speak of some of the idols we hold dear. Few of us have a shrine in our home, but I should imagine that some of us know people who do have such shrines in their home. At one time we had neighbours who were Hindu. These neighbours maintained a shrine in their home where the household gods were kept—a room devoted to their idols. I doubt that any of us have such an idol in our home, although I wonder if we have idols, nevertheless. I wonder if there are actions or aspects of life which have assumed the position of idols and which cause us to turn our eyes from the goal of life, which is to please Christ the Lord?
The idols of our day are not crafted of wood and stone, although they made have a material aspect. The more common idols of this day are power, position, pleasure, popularity and possessions. Power, the subtle, ever present desire to control others, is a frightful idol which lures many to take their eyes off the goal. I struggle in my soul against well-intentioned Christians who think to tell the church what to do. They are so used to exercising power in their daily world that they consider it normal to exercise such power in the church. After all, they have the best of intentions and they are assured that they know best. Therefore, instead of appealing to reason, they order compliance with their will and command others. Everything within me resists such a spirit since it is the expression of an idolater. Power, if you possess such, is to be used for the benefit of others and not to compel them to fall into line with your will. The naked use of power is incompatible with the Spirit of Christ who taught us to serve others and to esteem others.
Position is akin to power since position normally implies that an individual possesses considerable influence. I know of people who refrain from open prominence in the political world because they can accomplish their will behind the scenes by virtue of their position—all without jeopardising their reputation. Such individuals are power brokers. The same is true in the church. There are people who quietly occupy positions of authority. In a church I briefly pastored I was once confronted by a man who said, “There are three people in this church who, if they want something, they will get it; and if they don’t want it, it won’t happen. I am one of those people.” May I say as graciously as possible, just as I said to that man, such an attitude is antithetical to the Spirit of Christ. Such an attitude which permits the misemployment of position denies the grace of God and demonstrates that the speaker has lost sight of the goal.
Pleasure can be legitimate in its place; but out of place, it can destroy the seeker. Everybody needs to enjoy some pastime. All work and no play really does make Jack a dull boy; but all play and no work inflicts upon Jack a greater penalty even than dullness. When joy is sought as an end, it always eludes us. Again, when seeking a good time becomes an end, what was meant to be recreation becomes dissipation.
Consider as a marvellous truth, that no pleasure is sinful except sinful pleasure. However, only that recreation is legitimate which re-creates. If after play, whatever that play may be, you have a better body, a clearer head, a finer fitness for the task, you are not in error. If, however, after your play you find yourself less fit for service to the Master, you have erred. What you sought as recreation has become in that case dissipation. This means you have failed to keep your eye on the goal.
I should caution that mere recreation is not in view when we consider the transformation of pleasure into an idol, for some pleasure is sinful of itself. Surrender to immorality is clearly sinful and can never be justified no matter how hard one may try. However miserable your marriage, there is no excuse to seek another. You will only carry yourself into the next union and make someone else miserable. Infidelity, exploring for pleasure outside the marriage bond, finds no warrant in Scripture and can only invite disaster for the practitioner. Vicarious thrills such as viewing lascivious and salacious pictures posted on some web sites or obtained through reading pulp fiction, can only frustrate, since your spouse will never measure up to such an artificial standard. Whenever you attempt to gratify yourself at the expense of another, you have created an idol of your passions, having taken your eyes off the goal.
Popularity is a powerful idol in this day; and pursuit of popularity is communicated to our children almost unconsciously. The pressures on the youth of today are incredible, and youth feel those pressures acutely. Children are enrolled in music lessons, in ice-skating or dance classes, in sporting activities, in fitness classes—all in an attempt to insure that they will be popular. Children are taunted if they do not wear designer clothing or if they are in the least bit different from other children.
It is idolatry to pursue popularity at the expense of character. Listen carefully to that statement. Character is that precious commodity lacking in far too many lives today. Reputation is what people think you are, character is what you actually are. Character is what you are when no one is looking.
Within the Faith, we Christians have become guilty of elevating popularity to the position of an idol. We are willing to listen to anyone, however outrageous their doctrine or however foolish their message, if that person is deemed popular. We have transformed the Word to ensure that prominence becomes the mark of godliness. Thus, if an individual has a television show or is heard on radio or if they have a large following, they must be more godly than others and they thus merit our most careful attention. Perhaps we need to again hear Moses on this issue: Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong [Exodus 23:2].
Righteousness, godliness, character—is never determined by a majority vote. Had the churches learned this lesson we would never had had the scandals revolving around the televangelists in the late eighties, and we would be less prone to follow error in this day. It is because we want heroes of our own making, and because we have become the worst types of idolaters, that we suffered through these disgraceful scandals and are compelled to endure the scorn of the watching world. We Christians took our eyes off the goal and exchanged popularity for character. Instead of men who lived up to the standards of 1 Timothy 3:1-13, we thought that greatness was measured by the number of suits in a wardrobe or by the number of automobiles in the driveway or by the number of mindless, adoring sycophants in attendance at a given meeting.
I fear say that our children—the children of this church and the children in our homes—are dying because we do not give them an appropriate model to pattern their lives by. What would it be if we determined that we would insure that our youth received a proper role model for their lives, a role model which was less concerned with popularity than with character? Although the world would be terribly confused, we would raise a generation able to resist the pressure to conform to evil, and they would possess character.
Possessions are the last great idol of this generation I wish to consider today. Wealth and the acquisition of goods top the list of modern idols, I suppose. Power is usually accorded those with possessions. We defer to those with wealth since they quickly grow accustomed to having the ability to dictate to others because we have almost unconsciously associated wealth and power. Those with an abundance of possessions usually occupy positions of influence—in our minds and in reality.
Too frequently, positions on the boards of our churches are occupied by those whose primary qualification is their wealth. On one occasion, I was briefly considered for recommendation as pastor to a prominent church, until the Area Minister reconsidered. He said to me, “Mike, I will never support you in this effort. You don’t respect money.” By that statement, he meant that the prominent people of that congregation were moneyed people and used to having their way by virtue of this sole criterion of their possessions. He feared that I would ask their spiritual qualifications.
Those with sufficient wealth will frequently seek to amuse themselves, and they have the ability to do so. Their pursuit of amusement never results in permanent satisfaction and never results in peace. Everyone is a friend of the one who has wealth. Even the prodigal had friends—so long as his wealth held out. So, possessions have become a primary idol in this day.
The acquisition of wealth is not of itself evil. It is when the wealth begins to possess us that we discover that we have created an idol. Money is not the root of all kinds of evil; it is the love of money which is a root of all kinds of evil [1 Timothy 6:10].
Money, rightly made and rightly used, may be a source of endless good. Money can feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Money can build schools, colleges and universities. Money can erect churches to the glory of God and advance the cause of Christ at home and around the world. Yet, there remains this caution which we do well to remember: those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction [1 Timothy 6:9].
I can take a dollar and use it in such a fashion as to make the loon upon it turn into a vulture to tear at somebody’s heart. I can take that same dollar and use it so that the loon upon it becomes a thrush whose sweet song makes music in somebody’s soul. Money is neutral; it is whether I master it or whether I am mastered by it that determines whether I shall be blessed by God or whether I fall under His curse, for with my possession either I am serving God or serving Money [Matthew 6:24].
It is my stated conviction that few people who have made money quickly have managed to maintain their Christian convictions. The reason for this is that wealth gives us a false independence, and such a plethora of possessions absorbs our interest. I believe that the love of money kills about as many individuals as does liquor or illicit drugs. When people cease to use wealth as a means to an end and make that wealth an end in itself, nothing can be more deadly.
The Cure for Idolatry — There can be no question but that we are responsible to avoid assisting others in making idols, but the command actually cautions each of us against making an idol for [ourselves]. Did you take notice of that personal emphasis in the text? You shall not make for yourself… Nothing is to obscure the goal of serving Christ. Nothing is worthy of devotion, of worship, save for the Lord God of Heaven and earth. Therefore, if we would avoid idolatry, we must first determine that we will serve God and Him only.
I am compelled to say that you are in grave danger of violating this commandment if you are outside His grace, for you most assuredly have your eye focused on some goal which must cease with your own passing. If the goal of life you have chosen is inferior to the living God, and all is inferior to Him, you have become an idolater.
Neither family, nor profession, nor security, nor education, nor any other aspect of our being is worthy of our worship or devotion. We must give first attention to the Lord God, to Christ the Lord, being determined to worship Him alone and being determined to serve Him only. You cannot worship Him if you are not submitted to Him.
The message of life is succinctly summarised and powerfully presented in Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians. You will no doubt recall that he writes early on, that while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us [Romans 5:6-8]. It is on this foundation of faith that we discover intimacy with God and find our true purpose in life. It is because God gave Himself as a sacrifice for His fallen creation that life and all that life might offer, is ours, and that the destruction of idolatry has been made possible.
Again the great Apostle states, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Romans 10:9-13].
The invitation to each outsider is to believe this Good News and to discover the joy of worshipping God. There is a freedom in knowing God and in worshipping God, but that freedom will never be discovered until God alone is worshipped. Either we possess God, as we saw in our previous message, or we possess nothing at all.
This is nothing less than a plea for each of you who share this service to discover the love of God and keep His commandments. It is an invitation, not merely to discover love in general, but it is a plea for you to discover His love in particular and personally. The love of God is a love which not only saves the sinner, but which keeps that individual and invests the one so loved with peace and security such as is unknown in this world. Be a Christian. Be free. Be a worshipper of the true and living God.
If you are a Christian, if you have personally discovered that love which sets the captive free and which endows the humble with spiritual power and grace beyond human imagination, the cure for idolatry will mean that you must cease from living as the world lives. I do not mean that you are evil in the sense of committing grievous sins, but I do wonder whether some have possibly begun to think like the world thinks. Quit it!
I challenge each Christian to take inventory of his or her life to see if there is any quality unworthy of Christ. If you have begun to value power for the deference which power obtains for you, you need to ruthlessly destroy that idol. For you, it may mean a startling withdrawal from the halls of power to humble yourself before God so that you can again take up the reins of power at another time in a way pleasing to the Father.
If you have begun to value your position, either within the broader society or within the church, until occupying that position has become the greatest thing in your life, you have become an idolater. Understand that position is to be used to the glory of God and not for any other purpose, however noble that purpose may appear at first glance. If your position is hindering your Christian testimony, it may be necessary to surrender it until you are again fitted by grace to serve. It will be necessary for you to again seek and discover the humble heart of a servant before you can occupy any position.
If you have found yourself pursuing hard after pleasure, whether legitimate or illicit pleasure, especially if that pleasure is pursued to the exclusion of service to God, you are engaging in idolatry and need to admit the same before God. Some pleasures need to be sacrificed on an altar of our own making. If we will please God, it may be necessary for us to openly confess our sin and ask forgiveness both from God and from others who have been injured by our idolatry. Some of us perhaps need to take stock of our pastimes to insure that they truly re-create and that they have not become only idols.
For some of us, popularity is of greater value than character. If maintaining popularity within our peer group or before an admiring world means that we must engage in lying, deceit or other infamous action, we must recognise that are willing do so because our popularity has become an idol. In that case, we need to perhaps retire from the popular scene and again seek to please the Lord our God. We need to determine that character is of greater value than any other characteristic we possess.
Possessions, the pursuit and the acquisition of wealth, have perhaps become for some of us an idol which is even now searing our soul. Taking inventory of your life, you may discover some aspect of life which brings such great comfort that you cannot imagine surrendering that holding, even if it means surrendering your closeness with Christ. You have become an idolater, if that describes you. If so, you need to sacrifice your love of wealth to God that He might transform your heart and enable you to again use your ability to create wealth to His glory.
Perhaps you think that I am castigating you without confronting myself. Ministers can be idolaters, as should be self-evident. When a minister becomes an idolater, the potential for evil is magnified. Pastors can idolise power and think that their word is sufficient to quell any disturbance. Ministers occupy a position of respect and influence and therein lies a subtle danger. Elders can succumb to pleasures as can any parishioner. Ministers are as susceptible to the pursuit of popularity as is anyone. We all want to be liked, and the desire to be popular has caused many ministers to trim the message and to avoid giving offence through confronting sin in the life of parishioners.
Ministers can be lovers of money as much as anyone can. Woe betide that minister who is bought, for he has become a mere plaything of those who bought him and has ceased to serve Him who appoints to the sacred office. I am speaking from a heart which has been compelled to confront each of these idols in their turn in my own life and I speak to warn you as one who loves you.
For the Christian to fail to cease from idolatry is to invite the discipline of a Father who will neither ignore our sin nor permit His child to destroy himself without intervention. To refuse to cease from idolatry is to invite God’s correction. To cling to our idols is to testify that we know neither God nor His grace and to acknowledge that we are controlled by something else. I am convinced of better things of us, and I therefore invite us to take inventory of our lives, taking no pity upon those simpering idols which beg us to hold them just a little longer. Let us determine that we will serve the True and Living God and Him only; then do it!
I invite each of us, in light of the Scripture before us and in light of the will of God, to review our own heart in the quietness of the moment that we might discover whether there is an idol lurking in the dark recesses of our mind. If discovered there, revealed in the light of the Word and by the power of the Holy Spirit, perhaps it is time for you to come here to this altar and before God surrender that idol for destruction.
Every idol captured by Israel in battle was to be burned, offered up before the Lord; and every idol we thought we possessed, but which actually has possessed us, must be offered up to God if we will again have a clear vision which permits us to focus clearly on the goal—pleasing God. Perhaps the reason we are weary and perhaps the reason we have begun to cease from the conflict and perhaps the reason we are unfruitful in service is that we have set our heart on that which cannot please God and because we have focused our vision on lesser gods. Let’s keep our eyes on the goal. Amen.
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[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Ó 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.