The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
July 23, 2006
In
This Issue:
A
Good Report
by
Steve Klein
The
Sin of Idolatry
by Jeff
May
A Good Report
We are obsessed with bad news. The news media seems to delight in supplying us with it. Just this past week in our area there have been numerous television and newspaper reports of murders, sexual predators, church vandalism, violence in the Middle East and the death toll from a Tsunami. With our minds being constantly focused on such human tragedies, is it any wonder that so many folks are living in fear and depression?
While we cannot stick our heads in the sand and ignore reality, I am convinced that we would be much better off if we would spend more energy seeking and speaking things that are of good report. The wise man said that "a good report makes the bones healthy" (Proverbs 15:30) and that, "As cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a far country" (Proverbs 25:25).
The apostle Paul understood that a good report has the power to comfort and encourage those who received it. He was often the beneficiary of hearing good news. In 1 Thessalonians 3:6, he recounts to the Thessalonians how that "Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us, as we also to see you; therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress we were comforted concerning you by your faith" (cf. 2 Corinthians 7:6-7).
Paul used his understanding of the power of hearing good news to benefit others. He purposely sent messengers with good reports to brethren in order to lift their spirits. In Colossians 4:7, he assures the Colossians that "Tychicus, a beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts."
Good things are happening around us all the time. Someone you know did a good deed today. Perhaps a child you know said something that made you smile. Maybe someone else got well, or caught a big fish, or saw a rainbow, or picked a prize tomato, or won a ball game, or read a good book, or ate at a new restaurant, or found a bargain, or went out of their way for you, or told a funny story. Or maybe a prayer was answered, a new spiritual truth was learned, or a sin was forgiven. These things need to be reported! "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy; meditate on these things" (Philippians 4:8).
--Steve Klein
When the Old Testament prophets spoke, they were the mouthpiece for God. In their words, you could hear God's joy and His pain. His greatest pain was the pain of their idolatry. For us to understand His pain, we have to understand the marriage relationship He had with Israel.
Even casual readers of the Bible recall God bringing Israel out of Egyptian bondage. God saw more than a simple journey. He saw Israel in Egypt as a baby who had been savagely thrown out to die as it wallowed in its own blood. He picked that baby up, cut her navel cord, cleaned her up, watched her grow up to be so beautiful, adorned her and then married her (Ezekiel 16:1-14). Then to His horror, He watched His bride commit harlotry and adultery against Him. In the most graphic language imaginable God said of her, "You trusted in your own beauty, played the harlot because of your fame, and poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it" (Ezek. 16:15). If you are married, dear reader, can you sense the hurt God must have felt?
God's heart is like the heart of any right thinking husband. He will tolerate no rivals! He made that clear at Mt. Sinai. The first of the ten commandments said, "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:2). His glory He will not give to another.
I suppose the part that grieved God's heart the most about Israel's idolatry was the stupidity of it. The prophet Isaiah shows the senselessness of idolatry in the greatest way. Isaiah says a typical Israelite man would go to the woods and cut down a tree for his idol. He realizes he doesn't need all of the trunk so he cuts it in half. With one half he makes him a god and the other half he burns in the fire to cook his food and warm himself (Isa. 44:14-20). Silly man!! Idolatry had made him so foolish that he cannot even stop to think, "If I burned one half in the fire, I could do the same with the other." His idol was made of the same stuff. Some god; a stick and a stump (Hosea 4:12).
Here was a living God who was so awesome He could measure all the waters of earth in the hollow of His hand, pick up mountains to weigh them as in scale, and measure the universe with just His hand (Isaiah 40). To what other god shall we compare Him? He had saved this lady Israel, loved her, and provided for her. Then she leaves him for a block of wood which cannot talk, hear, smell or taste. That is as absurd as if my wife came home one day and told me that she wanted a divorce because she had fallen in love with a manikin at Sears!
God yearned to save his roaming wife. He would send prophets to Israel like Hosea, who understood God's pain since his wife also was unfaithful to Him. You can hear the agony in God's voice when He says, "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred" (Hosea 11:8). When she failed to return, God divorced her and left her to her lovers. How sad it is to read of Israel being invaded by the Assyrians and Babylonians and her idols were powerless to do anything about it. God did all He could. "But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy" (2 Chr. 36:16).
Idolatry is not something that happened only on the pages of the Bible. If we as Christians are not careful idolatry can grow in our own hearts. We don't have to have stumps and stones in our homes to be guilty of idolatry. Idolatry is anything that takes first place in my life over God. That's why the New Testament calls covetousness "idolatry" (Col. 3:5).
We may not see stone idols under every green tree and atop every high hill, but idolatry is all around us and has gripped the hearts of people everywhere. Think about it. We have teen idols, sports idols, rock idols, and even more recently the American Idol. In many cases, the word fits. Many have become "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" (2 Tim. 3:4). I once read where someone in the first century said to Roman authorities, "If we will build an arena in every city, these Christians will forget about their God." It's sad to say but that has surely happened in my country.
We heard it in the 1960's when a member of Beatles said they were more popular than Jesus. It caused an uproar but in the hearts of millions, he was right. We see it when a kid kills another kid for a pair of tennis shoes endorsed by an NBA player and we see it in a commercial with the theme, "I wanna be like Mike", speaking of Michael Jordan. Where are those whose supreme aim in life is to be like Jesus? Is idolatry not real in our lives? Indeed it is.
Idolatry might be found in your fishing boat, your hunting lodge, your beach house, your recliner. Your idol could even be yourself. Some are "lovers of themselves" (2 Tim. 3:2). It's not wrong to enjoy music, sports or recreation but, when they are loved more than God, they are rivals and will not be tolerated by Him.
One day all the things of this world will pass away and then One will sit supreme to be the Judge of all that we have done. It will be easy on that day to see where our attention and devotion should have been. So, what about you? Does God reign supreme in your life? Is there anything competing for the top spot in your life? Tear down the idols in your life, make a clean sweep and enthrone God in the sanctuary of your heart. It is the place He rightfully deserves.
--Jeff May