On the one hand, there has never been a day like today for getting out the good news of the gospel message. On the other hand, there has never been a day like today when fewer people are interested in the real Gospel message.
Once again, it’s 4:30 am and the Holy Spirit won’t let me sleep. I grieved much of the night over the trend in America to get all hyped up about the trappings of Jesus junk rather than the person of Christ.
I know. I better explain. It can be confusing–obviously it is–or millions wouldn’t be confused about the difference between Vintage Jesus and the marketed Christ so prevalent in our culture. Would it help to know that this phenomenon isn’t new? There are examples of it all through scripture.
Exodus 32:1-6
“1When the people saw that Moses(A) delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him,(B) “Up, make us gods who shall(C) 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.” 2So Aaron said to them, “Take off the(D) rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4(E) And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden[a]calf. And they said,(F) “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron(G) made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” 6And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And(H) the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up(I) to play.”
In this first example, the Israelites grew impatient because, heaven forbid, Moses took more than five minutes to come down from his mountain meeting with the living God! So what did they do? They filled in the gap with a god fashioned with human hands.
Idol worship isn’t exactly rare in the Old Testament, but don’t miss one subtle difference in this situation. Look specifically at verses 5-6.
Did you catch it? Aaron actually decides to throw a little god stuff on this pathetically ungodly act of idol worship. He decides to give the one true God a shout out at the pagan party. I wonder if God appreciated the gesture?
To find out we have to skip ahead a bit..
“7 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’
9 “I have seen these people,” the LORD said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” (vs. 7-9)
Ok, mystery solved–God was not impressed.
But one thing remains a mystery. Why would the people so quickly and easily move away from God toward this empty, pagan form of worship? Why would God’s chosen trade God for junk?
Syncretism
That’s right, ‘Syncretism.’ If you don’t recognize that word, here’s what it means,
Syncretism is the attempt to reconcile contrary beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term means “combining.” Syncretism may involve attempts to merge and analogise several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, and thus assert an underlying unity allowing for an inclusive approach to other faiths.
Let me draw your attention to the last phrase, “and thus assert an underlying unity allowing for an inclusive approach to other faiths.” So, what the people were really after was a blending of several pagan forms and objects of worship combined with true worship for a sort of , ‘people pleasing/everybody’s happy’ approach to God. Today we call it somehting else…
Tolerance.
The forms and approaches may change with each passing generation, but the sin is still the same–man worshiping his own idea of God rather than God.
Thousands of years ago it was carved images of false gods–something that seems absurd to the average American today. These days, it’s Jesus junk and the show rather than God–something that would have seemed equally absurd to people thousands of years ago. It all depends on our perspective but this I can tell you for sure. Whether we’re talking carved idols or American idols, the end result is the same with God.
He’s not buying it.