Waxing the Unconnected Idol

Suggested Reading: Judges 6:11-16, 22-27 or the whole story - Judges 6:1-32

I was a kid when the original Karate Kid came out in the theater. I didn't get to see it until it came out on video, back in the days when you rented a VCR so you could watch your rented movies. (As I write this, I suddenly feel much older than I really am.) One of the best scenes of that movie was during Daniel's first karate training session when Mr. Miyagi has him wash and wax his cars. Showing him the particular motion he wants him to make with both hands, Mr. Miyagi repeats, "Wax on, wax off. Wax on, wax off."

One of the reasons that phrase made it into the mainstream of American culture was because, though Daniel couldn't see it, the audience knew exactly what was happening. Daniel was being taught karate without knowing it. Before Daniel could actually do karate, there were some foundations that had to be laid. Before he could get to kicking and punching, Daniel had to learn blocking and balance or the attacks would never work.

There is a character in the book of Judges that, I think, must have been just as confused as Daniel when he began his career for God. Gideon was the youngest member of the weakest family of Mannaseh. God appeared to him and called him to deliver the Israelites from their oppressors, the Midianites. After Gideon grudgingly accepted the calling, God's first command must have seemed like, "Wax on, wax off," to Gideon's ears: "Tear down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Build a well-constructed altar to the Lord your God on the top of this mound" (Judges 6:25-26, CSB). If I was Gideon, I would probably have asked, "God, how does tearing down an idol's altar bring deliverance to my people?"

But just like the audience of Karate Kid, you can already make a pretty good guess about what is really going on. In order for God to truly deliver his people, the original trap they had fallen into had to be removed. The worship of idols, which had brought God's wrath in the first place, had to go. As long as those idols still stood, any deliverance God might bring would be fleeting.

We each have something like that in our own lives. God has called us to do something, or we have asked God to deliver us and the response we hear seems unrelated. "Lord, help us get out from under all this debt," we ask, and God responds, "Bring the tithe into the storehouse." "Lord, help me get that promotion at work," we plead, and God responds, "Step up your commitment to my kingdom." Confused because we don't see the connection, we think, "God wouldn't ask me to do that," or "I'll get to that, God, but I need help with this first." And just like Gideon and Daniel, God may be trying to lay the right foundation in our lives.

Is there an area where you have been seeking deliverance or wanting God to come through for you? Do you seem to hear God speaking about something totally unrelated? Chances are, it's not unrelated at all.

Bashing Your Computer With a Baseball Bat

Suggested Reading: Deuteronomy 12:1-8

There's a scene in the movie Fireproof that is memorable for its radical nature. In the movie, Caleb Holt has decided to make one last ditch effort to save his marriage before throwing in the towel by following the daily advice in a journal given to him by his father. He commits to 40 days of actively loving his wife in an attempt to save their marriage. When he realizes that pornography is one of the things disrupting his marriage, he takes the computer outside and bashes it to pieces with a baseball bat, then leaves a note in the place of the computer that reads, "I love you more."

When God instructed the Israelites how to conduct themselves when they took over the Promised Land, God told them, "Destroy completely all the places where the nations that you are driving out worship their gods...tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the carved images of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place" (Deuteronomy 12:2-3, NLT). God didn't command this because he was afraid that the Israelites would turn to other gods, but because he knew they would. Anytime we allow anything a place in our lives that can compete with our devotion to God, chances are it will. The only thing we can do to remove that possibility is to completely remove the competition. You see, Caleb Holt didn't destroy that computer because he was following a journal's advice and just blithely decided he didn't need it anymore. He found himself in a place where the urge to go to that forbidden website was so strong he realized the computer was controlling him rather than the other way around.

No matter what it is that competes for our attention and affection, the only safe course of action is to completely remove it from our lives. Whether it is pornography, like in Caleb's case, or alcohol, or an unhealthy relationship, or that dream job, or your past, sometimes the only way to make sure it doesn't destroy your relationship with God is to completely remove it. And the thing is, you can't wait until it has control of you. At that point it is too late. You have to remove it from your life before it's too much for you to handle.

Don't wait to get rid of anything that threatens to damage your relationship with God. God will always have the power to bring you back, but life is a lot easier if you don't get that far.

Who Wants a Safe Lion?

Suggested Reading: Exodus 33:12-23

In C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, when Peter, Susan, Edmond, and Lucy meet the talking Beavers upon entering Narnia together for the first time, Mrs. Beaver begins to tell them about Aslan, the great Lion, the Son of the Great Emperor across the sea. When the children ask if Aslan is safe, Mr. Beaver responds, "Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you." Though the Beavers knew that Aslan was not "safe" they longed for his return anyway. Not because he was safe, or even because he was powerful enough to save them from the wicked White Witch, but because he was good.

In Exodus 33, Moses had just returned from the mountain where he had received God's law to discover that the people had already built themselves an idol and begun to worship it. Moses was rather harsh with the people, killing many of them in retribution for their betrayal and idolatry. After a time of uncertainty, Moses was reassured by God that God would continue to accompany them to the Promised Land, but then Moses made a request of God: "Please, let me see your glory." To which God responded, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name Yahweh before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." (Exodus 33:18-19, HCSB).

I don't know what Moses had in mind when he asked God to show him God's glory but the opportunity allowed God to teach Moses something very important. God's most magnificent attribute, God's glory, is not God's miraculous power, God's might, God's wisdom, God's sovereignty, or even God's perfect justice. God's most magnificent attribute -- God's glory -- is God's goodness, God's capacity for being gracious and compassionate.

As followers of Christ, we are called to be perfect, just as our Heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48), but even this command of Jesus is given in the context of loving enemies and tax collectors. Our call to be like Jesus, to imitate our Father in Heaven, is not just a call to be holy and just. Our call is to imitate God in all God's glory -- to be good and gracious and compassionate, to love the enemy and the sinner. We are to follow the example of Jesus from John 8 who, confronted with a woman caught in the act of adultery, did not condemn her, but saved her from the self-righteous and scheming mobs and then told her, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore" (John 8:11, HCSB).

If you want to be like Jesus, if you truly want to be conformed to the image of Christ, then do not be satisfied with being wise, or just, or even having Spirit-enabled abilities to heal and prophesy. Strive to be good. Then, maybe when the world sees us, they will know that we don't condone the sin they live in, that being around us is not "safe" because their world may be turned upside down, but they will also yearn for the Presence that comes with us because they can tell, through us, that God is good.

Worshipping Like You Marry

Suggested Reading: 1 Kings 9:1-9

In 1 Kings 9, Solomon had an encounter with God. Solomon had just completed the construction of the temple complex and dedicated the temple in a display of majestic splendor and overwhelming opulence. Thousands and thousands of animals were sacrificed in worship. The presence of the Lord came down so powerfully that the priests were unable to minister and perform their tasks. The day was a day of triumph and victory as God's promises to David had been fulfilled and the people were able to bask in the palpable presence of God.

When all of the celebrations and festivities were done, God appeared to Solomon by himself. God acknowledged the prayers that had been prayed in dedication of the temple and then God gave Solomon a warning: "If you go and worship other gods, then I will uproot the people of Israel from this land I have given them. I will reject this temple that I have set apart to honor my name" (1 Kings 9:6-7, NLT).

By all accounts, Solomon heeded God's warning for years. He did some things that were probably unwise for the wisest man in history (like marry 700 women and have three hundred concubines) but he heeded God's warning. For a while. But when Solomon was old, and when he reaped the consequences of loving so many women, he apparently decided that worshipping more than one God was not any more dangerous than having more than one wife, and his wives led him to worship other gods. Solomon,  at the height of his wealth and splendor, after he had accomplished spectacular feats, forgot the warning God had given him.

How often do we forget the warnings we have been given when things seem to be going well for us? How often do we decide that we are smart enough, or stable enough, or cautious enough, or just good enough that this particular rule really shouldn't apply to us? How often do we decide that we have been good enough for so long that we deserve to do what we want, even if it is wrong? About as often as we forget that there will be consequences for our actions and that God's warnings are for our good.

What warnings have you been ignoring lately? What rules have you decided shouldn't really apply to you? You might want to take a little time to think about the potential consequences and remember that God's commands are for our own good. You might save yourself a lot of trouble down the road.