Repent from Idolatry

This is the manuscript of a sermon I preached on January 10th, 2021.

We have a profoundly serious problem in the church today. This problem has infected every person and threatens to destroy everything we Christians ought to stand for. It not a problem with the outside world, for we cannot expect righteousness from there. This is a distinctly Christian problem, and it is not a new one.

All of us are guilty of breaking the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.” We have all committed the deadly sin of idolatry and continue to do so. Each and every one of us has turned our backs on our true God and savior so that we may instead devote ourselves to hollow idols. We all need to repent.

The problem with talking about idolatry in a general sense is that no one ever thinks you’re talking about them. We are all masters of rationalizing our way through these kind of things, convincing ourselves that we are innocent of the sin. It is therefore necessary when confronting the sin of idolatry to be specific about what idols stealing our worship away from the one true God.

            

This is something we hate doing. People tend to be defensive about the idols they worship. These are, after all, the things we have chosen to build our lives around. We identify with what we worship, and if that gets challenged it is tantamount to a direct attack on our own character and person.

            

So, we tend not directly challenge people’s idols. When we do denounce idolatry, it tends to be things held dear by the culture around us, but suspiciously never anything that people in the pews actually worship. We, understandably, fear the backlash and resentment that is sure to come.

            

This, I believe, is why we tend to never discuss politics openly and honestly from a Christian perspective. It isn’t out of some standard of decency, but rather because deep down we know that to do so is to challenge the very gods worshipped by our own people. Sadly, to say “let’s not get political” is often times to say, “let’s not get biblical.”

            

Well, let’s get biblical then, shall we? I do not have much time before you so I cannot obviously tackle everything under the sun. This means that I must choose what to engage with, and for that to be in any way meaningful and non-hypocritical, that means challenging the majority opinion.

            

The vast majority of white Christians, which is the overwhelming majority here, are conservative republicans. There is nothing wrong with being a conservative or a republican. That is not the issue. The issue is that we seem to have changed the definition of Christian to mean conservative republican.

            

I saw it hundreds of times on social media from Christians both abroad and right here in this congregation. It was stated simply that one cannot be a Christian and vote for a democrat. The two things were entirely incompatible. In fact, to go further than that, many said that anything less than absolute support of Donald Trump was not Christian.

            

The term “democrat” has become synonymous with “enemy.” Socialist has become a byword for heretic. We have made the very people for whom Christ died the enemies of his church.

            

It does not have to be this way. The church should be a place where people of varying political views on how to best run the country can come together and worship in Spirit and in Truth our Lord Jesus. A place where democrats, republicans, independents, libertarians, and even socialists can gather in unity. Are there disagreements among them in regard to policy? Of course. Recall that when Jesus called the Twelve, among them were both zealots and tax collectors.

            

The issue here is not your political alignment nor who you voted for in the last election. The issue is whether or not we all serve the Lord our God completely and totally. The issue is whether or not we have allowed our political leanings to hijack and replace the devotion and honor due to Jesus Christ.

            

God takes idolatry very seriously. It is the first commandment to worship God alone. In times past God’s people have turned from him and chased after false gods. Let me read from Jeremiah 2:5-13; 33-37.

            

We have done much the same as the ancient nation of Judah. We, God’s own people, have too often rejected the waters of life and instead try to hew our own cisterns that cannot hold anything. We chase after worthlessness and in turn become worthless. Yet even then we still have the gall to say, “I have not sinned.”

            

Idolatry is not a new problem for the people of God. Every generation faces the same struggle against sin and death. The idols themselves may change, but the temptation to turn our backs on God in pursuit of something lesser always remains. Politics seems to be a major idol right now in our lives. For some of our number it may not be, but even to them the message is the same.

            

Repent and come back to God. Turn away from your worthless idols and find true meaning, joy, and love in the presence of Jesus. We all need to heed this call. I need to heed this call. Repent and turn to Jesus.