On Idolatry

I have been talking to a few friends over the past two months about something of a revelation/conviction God hit me with, and it appears that this issue is far more common than I originally thought. I have had four others confirm it so far, thus, I am now fulfilling my intention to put these thoughts into a blog.

When many of us think of idols, we tend to think of Old Testament times during which many of the neighbors of the Israelites (not to mention the Israelites themselves, at times) fashioned for themselves physical idols to worship. And then there are those who have been enlightened by good preaching or Bible-reading who realize that in the U.S. today, we may not have this type of idol per say, but we do have many things that we put before God and worship with our time and energy; some examples are sports, school, work, celebrities, video games, etc. Well, God convicted me, in October, I believe, of worshiping another sort of idol. It is difficult to describe really, but I will give it my best, as I now believe that many reading this will relate.

Do you find yourself always looking forward to things? Are you constantly thinking, "If I can just make it to the weekend," or "It's only three weeks until my family comes"? We do this with all kinds of things like retreats, vacations, holidays, graduations, and the list goes on. I found myself thinking these kinds of things about graduation, vacations, and eventually just weekends, but the times when I went in with that mentality, I always came out frustrated and discontented. The problem was a sort of idolatry. I was looking to an event or experience to provide me with contentment and fulfillment, and you should all now know where this is going. ONLY God can provide the contentment that we long for. Only he can satisfy that longing that runs soul-deep. There is nothing wrong with looking forward to something, but there is wrong to expect that something to provide you with joy. God is a jealous God, and he will let you become frustrated and unfulfilled if you try to fill his place with other things.

My good friend Matt Roe informed me that Pastor Mark Driscoll has spoken to this topic as well with good advice. When you plan, and when you look forward to things, always plan and look also to the day after. That helps put things in perspective. Graduation was great, but part of the reason I enjoyed it so much was that when I woke up the next morning, I wasn't surprised or disillusioned because graduation was over; I didn't expect anything from that day that it couldn't give me. What I woke to the next morning was the peace and joy of knowing an immutable God.

What happens when we live our lives looking forward is a cycle of disappointment that leaves us constantly counting on the next thing to sate us and constantly missing out on the present. It is a rather ingenious scheme (also mentioned in The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis) used to keep us from living a meaningful life.

Guatemala in my cup

I am now sitting comfortably on my couch with my back against three or four pillows of my wife's making. Beside me sits the wonderfully rich cup of Guatemalan coffee on which I have been sipping. And within me rests a deep-seated joy.

I have just eaten one of the best meals in my short 22 years of life. WOW. I came home tonight to the smell of quartered, butter-herb red potatoes cooked in one of the cast iron skillets Emily got this Christmas (boy do I benefit from that gift). While I was reading God's Word tonight, she finished up supper by grilling some fresh salmon she found on sale at the grocery store (she actually had it cut and then skinned it herself) and then cooking up some buttered green beans. On my plate at the table I found half a lemon from which I was to squeeze juice all over the beans, potatoes and fish. I was blown away. I got seconds and then some. It was certainly one of the best meals I have ever eaten, and my dear little wife was the chef. This was the first time she has used the cast iron skillet given to us by her parents and the really neat herb-chopping knife from Alaska given to us by Roy (I think that I had that up as a decoration, but it is apparently really sharp; who knew?). To top it all off, after I got up and took out the trash, she pulled freshly baked ginger bread out of the oven and starting heating up some apple cider with mulling spices. WHAT A WOMAN! WHAT A WIFE! If she did nothing else but cook like this and read her Bible and pray, I think I would be happy (ok, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much).

I am so amazingly content. And thank the Lord for Guatemalan coffee. It is my new favorite.