Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Idol Worship Video - Skit Guys

Tension

This morning we are going to look into a very well known Bible story.

It is the story of the 10 plagues that God sent to Egypt so that they would know that He is YHWY, the LORD.

They saw His power over every aspect of their lives, and specifically they got to see how their “false gods”, the idols they worshiped were powerless against YHWY, the one true God.

As I was preparing for this message it occured to me that this story has a very distant feel to it.

It seems so far away as it happened in a far away time and a far away place, but the title of this message is “God Frees His People”.

It is not just that he “did” free his people way back then, but that he does bring his people freedom even today.

One of the ways that we are going to see God free his poeple is “by confronting false gods” and I got to wondering how that would land on our hearts and minds.

Would we be able to accept this as a true statement in our lives today, or would we just disregard it as something that happened a few thousand years ago.

That is why I wanted to show you this video.

I felt like I needed something to challenge our idea of what a “false god” looks like.

If our idea of worshiping “false gods” is limited to some weird looking tribal rituals from far away times and lands then we won’t really be able to relate to the freedom that God gives his people from “false gods” today.

“The 10 plagues was just something God once did, or maybe still does today in tribal lands somewhere else in the world but it has little to do with my relationship with God today.”

You see I believe that our culture struggles with “false gods” today as much as the Egyptians did in Moses’ day.

In fact, Idolatry might even be more of a problem today, because of how difficult it sometimes is to identify it.

Even people who would call themselves Christians are struggling with “Idol Worship” and they don’t even know it.

Let me try and explain what I mean.

First of all, let me just make it clear that I don’t think that sports enthusiasts are the only ones needing to grapple with this.

This is something for all of us.

As Christians, we live in this constant tension of being called to be in this world, but not of it.

While we rightly understand our need to run from evil things, sometimes we don’t really know what to do with good things.

As soon as we believe that something is not an evil thing, then we assume that it must be “good”.

But I think that there are other questions that still need to be answered first.

And don’t think I am just trying to pick

While I do have a level of concern over the priority that sports has taken in our culture, I don’t think that sports enthusiasts are the only ones needing to take some time and grapple with what they have oriented their life around.

Same level of desire, just aimed a different direction.

Listen to how Tim Keller defines Idolatry:

“Idolatry happens when we take good things and make them ultimate things” - Tim Keller

I know right?

How could I do this to you.

Challenge your thinking about the priority that something like sports can have in your life.

And on Superbowl Sunday no less.

At least the Packers aren’t playing or half of you would probably be walking out on me right now.

Who am I kidding, if the Packers were playing that half of you would still be home prepping for the pre-game coverage.

That is horrible…or maybe helpful.

Like it or not, one of my jobs is to come up front each week and challenge you on your pre-conceived notions.

But I don’t want to just pick on sports enthusiasts, we can struggle with idolatry in many different areas.

In other words, good things can become bad things when we put them in a postion in our life where they are our ultimate thing.

The ultimate thing is the thing that you live for.

The thing that your life is aimed at.

It is the center of all things you.

The thing that you spend the most on in time, money and energy.

We all have many good things that we enjoy doing in many different directions, but what is the ultimate thing for you.

That ultimate thing is your functional god.

So depending on what you find there, it could be your “false god”.

This is true even if you would say that you believe in Jesus.

This is why verses like are so scary

Of course I don’t want to just pick on sports enthusiasts.

I remember talking to this pastor who just couldn’t understand how other Christians could waste so much time on watching other guys sweat it out on some court or field and the whole time he was talking all I kept thinking about was how much time, energy and money I knew that he spent on his love for his motorcycle.

So sports might not be that important to you…but is there anything else that you go crazy over like someone else might over their sports team?

I remember having this conversation with another pastor once who was commenting on how ridiculous he found it that people could spend some much time, money and energy on something as useless as professional sports.

The whole time he was talking, all I kept thinking about was how much time, money and energy he spends on his racing motorcycle.

Same level of desire, just aimed a different direction.

The thing that you believe that you have to have in order to be you.

The thing that your life is really built around.

Every aspect of your life is really built around this ultimate thing.

Another time I had a conversation with a distant family member who was really into fishing.

I mean really into it.

He lived further south and registered for bass tournaments most every weekend.

I am sure his truck and boat together costs as much as my house.

We happened to be standing lakeside at a wedding so naturally I asked him about fishing.

I was surprised to hear him say that he gave it up.

He told me that it was getting in the way of more important things in his life.

I thought that sounded pretty smart to me, but in the very next breath he said, “So I took up golf instead.

By the way, since we have about an hour before the ceremony do you know where I can get in 9 holes.”

It appeared to me that he had just traded in one unhealthy obsession for another.

How do you know if something is the most important thing to you? Well there is a simple test for this.

So hopefully, as we move into this somewhat weird ancient story about how God confronting false gods, you won’t just be thinking about a far off time and far off land.

I think that God wants to free us from false gods in our lives today.

Of course the

So hopefully, as we move into this weird ancient story about how God wants to free His people by confronting false gods - you will be able to find some meaningful for our life today.

Then I remember this other time when as a youth pastor I was meeting with some parents about their childs involvement in the youth group.

They were sharing their concerns over their daughters involvement in the mid-week event.

They said that their daughter just couldn’t relate to the other girls because all she cared about was Jesus.

She wanted to be a part of a group where they would just read the Bible and pray and not spend so much time listening to other girls as all they seemed to want to discuss is the latest fashions, the latest movies and who was emotionally distraught over what relationship.

Of course no pastor would criticize someones desire to read their Bible and pray, but when I thought about how this teen interacted with other girls who were interested in things that she wasn’t, I didn’t see the compassion and concern that prayer and Bible reading are designed to develop.

her disinterest in the thingw I know that the girls who came to youth group came for all kinds of different reasons, but the the small group leaders.

to her God, not be distracted by all of that other stuff.

As they were telling me these things I was picturing in my mind the interactions that I had seen their daughter have with other girls, and I did notgot this sense that they were wanting me to told me this with a sense of

As Christians, we live in this constant tension of being called to be in this world, but not of it.

While we rightly understand our need to run from evil things, sometimes we don’t really know what to do with good things.

We think, well as long as it is a good thing then I guess it’s ok.

But there are other important questions to ask as well.

Understand I am not talking about evil things here, you don’t need me to warn you against doing things that you know are evil, but what about things that you enjoy doing that are not evil.

They are just good things that you enjoy doing.

What do you do with them when you come across verses like”

How do you keep them from becoming a “false god” or idol like the video proposed?

But what do we do with verses like

Tim Keller is well known to have said that “Every time you take a good thing and make it a “god” thing then it becomes a bad thing.”

-2

So it could be athletic sports, watching, playing or both

In other words, good things can become bad things when they become the most important things.

How do you know if something is the most important thing to you? Well there is a simple test for this.

Anything in your life that you have to have in order to feel whole and complete is your functional god.

Another way of saying that is that you have uncovered a “false god” in your life.

And I have seen many people who would call themselves Christians, but they have oriented their lives around “good” things that are not giving them the satisfaction that they are looking for.

These “good things” have become counterfeit gods in their lives.

They are “false gods pretending to offer what only the true God can.

God wants to free His people by confronting false gods.