Idol Formation, Finale

(Prayer note: In the past I asked you to pray for my brother, Chuck, who has myeloma, cancer of the blood. He was being tested for getting a bone marrow transplant and found out his myeloma count is still too high. He has to continue chemo. Please pray the Lord uses the chemo so that he can progress to getting the transplant. Thank you.)

Stephen describes the fourth aspect of idol formation, verse 41, “And at that time they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.”

We are just like those Israelites. We would rather have something impotent yet evident, instead of something powerful yet unknown. They could control, it seemed, a “god” which was a known entity. A calf they could see seemed safe. But Jehovah God is unpredictable. He wasn’t safe. He didn’t perform. And so they felt secure having a physical object where they could then offer a sacrifice and also “rejoice in the works of their hands.”

The calf was an object of their creation and their contribution. They had contributed their jewelry and other valuable metals to its creation. What they valued was in that calf.

How do we sacrifice to our own idols and rejoice in the works of our own hands? Don’t we contribute and create our own images and reputations as reflective idols of ourselves? For instance, what do you value being seen as? Do you value being seen as self-controlled? Loving? Easy going? Organized? Correct? Wise?

I value being seen as magnanimous and compassionate. I have “created” and “contributed” to this image of an idol by at times choosing to be that way with the hope that someone will notice. I offer a sacrifice to my idol when I’m feeling good that my efforts to be friendly stand out, especially to someone not well regarded.

I remember the day long ago that I was talking with a woman who was thought of as a kind of “irregular” person. We were in a group of Christians and I felt good about myself that I was reaching out to a needy person. I was sacrificing to the idol of my image when one of the men of the group came up to us. He took over the conversation and I don’t remember how, but in effect, dismissed me to leave.

Later in the evening, he came up to me and said something like, “I knew you’d want to get away from her.”

Only being in a group (after all, I had to keep up appearances), prevented me from yelling at him. But in a heated voice, I said something like, “I didn’t need your help. I was doing just fine.” I think I said some other angry things also.

He stared at me in amazement. He was completely caught off guard by my anger. In embarrassment he excused himself and turned away.

My reaction felt totally reasonable at the time but I wouldn’t have been able to tell you why I was so bothered by his actions. Only after I became exposed to understanding my motives did I know why his “rescue” made me so angry.

He had removed my opportunity to sacrifice to my idol and “rejoice in the works of my hands.” He was indicating through “rescuing” me that I wasn’t really being the magnanimous and compassionate person I wanted to be seen as. He was saying I didn’t really want to be talking to her, thus removing the value of my sacrifice. And I was mad because he had blocked my ability to be seen a certain way.

Knowing what I know now, and since I’ve been working on destroying this idol in my life, I believe I would have reacted differently in that situation today. And I’m grateful for that. But looking back I can see how insidious my idol was. I’m tempted to sacrifice to that idol even today.

Do you get upset when your opportunity to be seen a certain way is spoiled? Or maybe you withdraw from a relationship because your “preferred image” isn’t being acknowledged?

These are hard questions. But they go to the core of how even we Christians can have idols in our lives.

Idol Formation, Part 2

(A fast update: the latest surprise assignment from the Lord as we’re here in Greece is that I will be the Sunday school class teacher for the middle-school girls--three of them. Pray for me! This is definitely out of my league. The girls are Olivia, Lilly, and Angela. I forgot how much that age group giggles! Also, April and I will be starting a weekly women’s Bible study. I think I’m going to lead them through the book of Hosea.)

In a previous post, I talked about the workings of idols in our lives based on Stephen’s defense of the faith (Acts 7:39-41). So here’s point three.

3. Stephen continues with his description of the Israelites, “for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt--we do not know what happened to him.’” (verse 40).

As I mentioned, Moses is up on the mountain communing with God and he’s been gone too long--at least that’s what the Israelites think. They’re getting nervous. They’re on their own and their safety net--Moses--is out of the picture. So they are looking for security and demand that Aaron make an idol in the shape of a calf. You can just “hear” the Israelites grumbling, “Where is this Moses? He and the God he represents aren’t coming through for us. God must not care for us very much if He’s preventing Moses from being with us. He has stopped performing for us according to our expectations and we’re feeling mighty nervous. We demand something to make us feel better.”

The concept of "demands" was a new one to me several years ago. Of course, I'd always been making demands, I just didn't see it that way. A “demand” is anything we feel we need and if we don’t get it, we decide to take things into our own hands. Even if we can’t make it happen, we’re basically not trusting God and instead polishing our idol. That’s what the Israelites already had a pattern of doing. Psalm 78:18 says, “They [the Israelites] tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved.”

Is there a way God isn’t coming through for you and you’re wondering “what happened to Him”? Does it feel like you must have that “thing” or “person” or “experience” for you to be contented, happy, or fulfilled? We can rightfully ask God to supply our needs but we can cross over the line from asking to demanding very easily. We can tell when we stepped over that line by our reaction: if it looks like we won’t get our “need.” We’re nervous. We’re tense. We react in anger because someone isn’t cooperating with our plan(s). And so we look to whatever will meet our needs--and that’s called an idol.

For years in our marriage, my demand was that Larry should meet my needs. My marriage was my idol. It was supposed to be my “source.” I felt justified in getting angry at Larry because he wasn’t coming through for me. After all, why else did I get married than to have him meet my needs?

Only through anguish did I relinquish the demand for Larry to be what only God can be: my Source. I gave up regarding marriage as my idol. Gary Thomas says that marriage is not intended for our happiness but our holiness. That’s an important idea.

Does it sometimes feel like you don’t know where God is? Or it feels like He’s not coming through for you according to what you expected? Can you identify some “demand” in your life that reveals an idol? If you can, you just might be stepping closer to preventing some ungodly response like anger, discontentment, etc.

In the next post, we'll look at the fourth point for idol formation.

God's Work in Greek Bus Station

(I'll get back to my topic of idol formation most likely next time but wanted to share this Greece story with you first.)

In a previous post I mentioned that since we didn’t know all that we would be doing on our trip, it was a faith adventure. That felt strange, because most of the time when Larry and I minister overseas, we go into one country for one or two weeks and have seminars planned. So this six weeks in one country with only one seminar planned was unusual. Yet, we had been wanting to make a lengthy trip like this so that we could have more time with the people in country and see what opportunities God might open up.

Well, He started quickly after we arrived in Athens. We traveled with Taki from Los Angeles who is the Greek pastor we are ministering with in Greece. I plan to tell you more about the amazing Taki and his wife April in a future post. Traveling with your host is a great blessing. That’s security! When we arrived in Athens, we first slept for a few hours at the home of some of Taki’s friends and then were taken to the bus station to take a bus the six hour trip to Taki’s home on the island of Zakynthos. Originally we wanted to take the noon bus but it was filled. So we had to wait for the 4pm bus. We ate lunch at a little take out place and sat there talking.

About 2pm, I noticed two young women come into the restaurant and they looked like Americans. They were talking, looking around, and finally came over to our table. “Do any of you speak both English and Greek?”

Larry and I pointed to Taki and the gals began their tale of their friend whose back pack was stolen on the bus and in it was her insulin because she is diabetic. Taki was able to make some calls for them to Greek authorities and also find the phone number for the American embassy. Over several hours, they would come back to report what they were doing and how things were going. At times, I needed to walk around because of my back problem and as I did, I realized that I never heard anyone else speak English in the bus station.

At one point, we were able to tell the college students about how we shouldn’t have been there but that God delayed us leaving so that we could help them. One of the gals said she was Jewish and felt the connection with us. We told them the Lord loved them all.

Larry and I were encouraged to experience already God’s leading for the ministry He had in mind for us. We knew we’d begun a wonderful adventure.

Idol Formation--Part I

Thank you for your prayers for Larry and I while we’re in Greece. We are enjoying the beautiful island of Zakynthos and appreciate the ministry of Taki and April Korianitis who are pastors of a Baptist church. We are preparing for speaking at a Marriage Seminar on Oct. 7-9. As we’ve gone over our talks with them to get insight into the mind of the Greek people, it’s been fascinating to get to learn about the Greek way of life and thinking. And of course, many of the terms we use as Americans cannot be translated into their language. So it has been a challenge for Taki and April to find the concepts that will translate. Please pray for God’s wisdom and direction as we continue to work with our material. Also for interest in the community especially among unbelievers who will hear about the seminar. Please pray for airtime on the local radio and ads in the local newspaper. A concept of a marriage seminar is pretty unknown here and yet the needs are great.

While here, I’ve been reading through the book of Acts since some of what is chronicled there occurred not far away. As I came upon Acts 7:39-41, I was struck by Stephen’s sermon points. He says to those who will end up stoning him, “And our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him, but repudiated him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt--we do not know what happened to him.’ And at that time they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.” (NASB)

I saw in those verses four points about the formation of idols and how they work in our lives. An idol is anything that takes the place of God in our lives. It can be people pleasing, anger, worry, discontent, our reputation, or our image. It’s when we “worship” anything and it becomes our source for handling life, instead of trusting in God’s love and surrendering to Him. It’s anything that is more important to us than God. When it is threatened, we feel tense and respond in unholy and unloving ways--reactions which are the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit. Let’s look at those four points contained within the Holy Spirit’s words through Stephen.

1. The first point is found in verse 39: “And our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him, but repudiated him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.” The ground floor of idol formation is disobedience, repudiating God, and turning our hearts back to our old patterns. To repudiate means to “refuse to accept or be associated with.” The Israelites wanted to again be associated with Egypt and yearned for its leeks and onions. They forgot that they hated being there--and they were hated there. They were in bondage as slaves. While there, they whined and complained that God wasn’t delivering them. And when God did, they quickly forgot their former pain and wanted to return. Even though God wanted to lead them to a wonderful new land flowing with milk and honey, their hearts were focused on where they’d come from---not to where God wanted to take them.

2. Verse 40 tells us why we do this. The Israelites said, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us.” There’s something important in those three words “go before us.” The Israelites evidently felt they were on their own. There was no one to go before them. They must have felt unprotected and exposed. They were afraid something bad was going to happen to them without someone with them. Moses, their leader was missing in action. He was up on the mountain with God and they have no one to guide them or tell them what to do.

You and I do the same thing when we respond with or act in old patterns of solving our problems, relating to people, or trying to get our needs met. Maybe we grew in our ability to love unconditionally but when stressed, we returned to trying to change or manipulate the people around us. Such manipulation is an idol. But did manipulating people in the past benefit us or others? No. Did it represent the Lord or bring glory to Him? No. But we easily forgot that it didn’t work and we “turn our hearts back to” our old ways--our idols of the past.

The idols of our lives are revealed when we feel threatened and exposed and it seems like God isn’t coming through for us. One of my idols is my image. I don’t like to be seen without my makeup. As we prepared for our trip, I knew I would be traveling for a long time, about 40 hours (it turned out to be 46). After 30+ hours, we would be sleeping at a home before we headed out for the last leg. Knowing my make up wouldn’t last that long made me ask whether I wanted to even start with it.

That thought made me feel tense because I believe that people who look better get treated better. Maybe if I look good, I’ll get an upgrade into a first class seat. Maybe if I look good, I’ll get better service on the flight. That is one of my basic assumptions of life. And it feels threatening to think I’ll miss out on something good if I don’t look good.

But let’s look deeper into that. Is it possible that my assumption leaves out God? Where does God’s sovereignty and power come into that? If my assumption is correct, I’m saying what happens to me is determined by my makeup--not God’s will for me. It rejects His ability to fulfill whatever He desires. If He wants me in a first class seat, is He hampered by whether I look pretty? Is my treatment on a flight dependent upon how I look? Since I don’t believe God “will go before me,” I need an idol--my image.

Looking at the situation that way helped me to decide not to wear any makeup. I wish I could tell you I was upgraded to a first class seat or that I received special treatment, but I didn’t. But it was a good exercise in trusting God for whatever He wanted to do during our journey.

In my next post, I’ll share points 3 & 4 with you.

Don't Discount Your Steps of Faith

(Photo by Mark C. Miller)

We're talking about risk and I thought this photo of my four-year-old grandson, Raffi, shows what trusting God with taking a risk looks like. Raffi is running through the sprinklers getting wet and if you read my last post, you saw how he was hesitating getting wet. Here he is taking the risk and running through the sprinklers, holding his blue Star Wars Lightsaber high in victory and exuberance. He is the conqueror and loving every second.

That is how God wants us to believe He can empower us to take those risks. "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" Paul writes in Philippians 4:13. If God has called us to do something, then He will empower and equip us for all He wants to do through us.

After my last post, I heard from a few people who know me and I found their input interesting. One person said, "Kathy, I think of you as a risker. I've seen you do things I would have hesitated being courageous enough to do." Another said something similar. I was surprised. As I said, I really don't think of myself that way.

Then it occurred to me. I discount the ways I risk because I'm successful at it--even if it was a little scary or out of my comfort zone. I did it, therefore it doesn't seem like any big deal. For instance, this will be the last post I write from the United States for two months. Larry and I are leaving for Greece on Wednesday. We'll be there around six weeks and then take a transatlantic cruise home. As I mentioned in a post quite some time ago, we're going not knowing all the Lord has planned for us. We're going to be available and see the doors He opens.

Risky? I suppose in some ways. Greece's economy is not good and some bad things are happening there. Maybe I'll be homesick--it'll be the longest time that I haven't seen our grandson. Thank heaven for Skype. My brother who has blood cancer will be starting the process of getting a bone marrow transplant. Please pray for him. It's going to be hard being so far away and not seeing him and not being involved with the family. I guess I could think of several other risks if I dwelt on it. But God has called us on this adventure and He knows everything going on and what He wants to do.

I feel like Raffi running through the sprinklers getting wet. I trust God, holding my Lightsaber high and knowing that being wet can't hurt me. I am a conqueror in Christ and a Daughter of the King on a Royal Mission for His glory.

Is God calling you on a Mission but you've hesitated getting "wet"? Lift your Sword of the Spirit high and claim God's promises. Ephesians 2:10 promises, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." (NASB). Isn't it the most amazing confidence-building promise? God has prepared beforehand what He wants you and I to do. How great is that!!!!!?

Or maybe you have risked in God's power but since you were successful, you have discounted God's work through you. It doesn't feel very risk-like afterwards. But celebrate God's good work! Let it build your faith and confidence. Don't discount it. Praise God instead!

I'll keep you posted about God's work in Greece. Please pray for a safe trip. It'll take us around forty hours from our door to where we're staying on the island of Zakynthos. It'll include two flights, a bus trip and a ferry ride. Pray for my patience and resistance to irritation when I'm tired! Poor Larry! Thank you.

Risk in God's power! You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you!

Ready to Risk?

(Photo by Mark C. Miller)



My four-year-old grandson, Raphael, is attacking the water sprinklers with his blue Star Wars Lightsaber. When I saw this photo taken by our son I related to Raffi. See how he is bravely jutting forth the Lightsaber but also backing away at the same time, not wanting to get wet?

That's how I feel about risk. I don't risk well. I don't risk easily. I don't like risking. Can you tell I don't like risking? I may step out to risk but my body language and my heart are trying to back away at the same time. I don't want to get wet from rejection, confrontation, or crisis. It takes all my courage to do something risky like do something that might hurt someone's feelings, because then they won't like me. Or step out in faith to speak about Jesus, because if he/she doesn't accept what I say, I feel foolish. Did I mention I don't like risking?

I've been reading Risk by Kenny Luck. Even though it's a part of a men's series, I knew I needed to read it because I don't like risk. (I guess I don't need to say that again. Sorry.) It has prompted me to think more about risk and two different times since I started reading it, I have done something that felt like risk to me. I asked the Lord to empower me and He did. I won't say what they were because it might embarrass some other people and they might not like me. Oh, sorry. But at least I made the decision and followed through.

Maybe you can relate. Maybe you feel inside like Raffi looks as he attacks the sprinklers and yet doesn't want to get wet. Maybe what God is asking of you feels too dangerous. Or someone's possible rejection is too threatening. Could you fear appearing foolish or silly or stupid?

I can relate. Yet if I truly believe God intends everything for my good and His glory; in fact, if He intends everything for my holiness, then I can view risk as a step in faith that will draw me closer to Him. I may get wet but my heart will be warmed by His joy in my obedience.

How about you? What would you like to risk? It's worth it if God is inviting you into risking for His sake.

Would You Buy the T-Shirt?

On the news this morning, commentators were giving their opinons about JCPenney pulling off their shelves a girl's T-shirt that said, "I'm too pretty to do homework so my brother has to do it for me."

Their points were that girls were being encouraged to be selfish and self-centered by being described as pretty. They believed there was too much emphasis on girls being called princesses or encouraged to find "their value in their looks, not their brains"--as one blogger wrote.

Although JCPenney has evidently pulled the T-shirt from their website because of the uproar by many, an informal poll of Fox News audience members indicated almost 60% of them saw no problem with the t-shirt. Even the newscaster was surprised by that number.

As I listened to the comments, I wanted to shout, "And well, how about the integrity issue?" No one seemed to notice that one of the points of the T-shirt was that someone would lie and say that the homework was their own--when it was someone else's. That to me is even more important. I think you can tell a young girl she's pretty and she's a princess--a daughter of the King--without encouraging selfish and self-absorption. (Obviously, we Christians have a different perspective of being a Princess--because we women are!) But to indicate it's OK to have someone else do your homework and it's OK!? Isn't that something to get upset about? That's why I wouldn't buy the T-shirt. It's a character issue.

Which issue is more important to you? What do you think?