Sermon Brief
Date Written: June 1, 2006
Date Preached: June 4, 2006
Where Preached: OZHBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Sermon Series: Idolatry in the Church
Sermon Title: The Idols We Serve!
Sermon Text: 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 4:3-4 READ PASSAGES HERE
Introduction:
When Paul wrote these verses to Timothy, he was speaking of sinful human nature… of those outside the salvation of Christ.
But I see more and more today… that even WITHIN the walls of the church; these words apply more and more to those who CALL themselves Christians…
Do you know why our world is NOT being turned upside down for Jesus, like it was on the day of Pentecost? It is because of the idolatry of those who are in the church today!
What is IDOLATRY? – Encarta’s Internet Dictionary defines Idolatry as…extreme admiration or fanatical devotion to somebody or something…
The great church father of the 4th century, Augustine of Hippo once said, “… IDOLATRY IS WORSHIPING ANYTHING THAT OUGHT TO BE USED, OR USING ANYTHING THAT OUGHT TO BE WORSHIPED…”
But ultimately, idolatry is an expression of arrogant human pride. It is a direct by product of the self-deception that is within our sinful and selfish nature.
We often think of idolatry as bowing down to a statue of wood or stone! We think of it as being done by heathens and pagan of other countries!,
But the Bible tells us that idolatry is anything that takes 1st place in our heart apart from God and warns us against it… 1 Jn 5:21 says, “…Little children, guard yourselves from idols…”
Our sinful nature naturally directs us to trust in things that appeal to our carnal senses and because of our sin nature… we seek approval from carnal one rather than from the eternal One.
In our world we have many people who have ‘idols’ in their lives… like Robbie Williams, a British pop singer, spoke on BBC Radio in July 2001…
Williams said, “…I haven’t had a drink or done drugs for seven months, and I’m feeling good. I’m enjoying it… Instead of drinking I pray. Not for long. I ask Elvis to look after me. I’ve got the tattoo on my arm: "Elvis grant me serenity." Before the gig we all get in a huddle and pray to Elvis to look after us while we’re onstage…”
Now to me that is about the CRAZIEST thing I have ever heard, but understand that this British musician is not alone… there are idols in ALL of our lives!
And the sad thing is that We KNOW these are idols are there, but we simply refuse to acknowledge them for what they are – idols…
Now, preacher you are losin’ it! I don’t worship idols in my house… I am NOT affected by idolatry in my life… why R you wasting your time and mine by preaching on this?
Don’t misunderstand me here! I do not believe that there are any of us here who have a problem with bowing down to stone idols, golden calves, or praying to Elvis… or anything like that...
But take that away and we, as believers, still have "other gods or idols" that we bow down to each and every day! I find that we devote our entire life to the pursuit of the things WE desire, and we leave God to settle for the ‘back seat’ of our lives…
We have become a fellowship that is willing to live our lives however we please and then try to fit God into OUR plans and desires… We try to make what is carnal…godly!
A Wheaton College professor, Dr. Leland Ryken once said, "Earlier in this century, someone claimed that we work at our play and play at our work. Today the confusion has deepened: we worship our work, work at our play, and play at our worship."
Have you ever heard the old African proverb that says, "The man who tries to walk two roads…will split his pants." This is just what Jesus taught when He said that we could not serve two masters… that we would love one and hate the other…that it would literally rip us apart…
So…What are some of our idols today, …
Money, I believe money to be the most heinous idol in our churches today… THE LOVE, WORSHIP AND PURSUIT OF MONEY IS OVERRUNNING NOT ONLY OUR SOCIETY BUT IT IS LITERALLY TEARING THE CHURCH APART AS WELL…
I have long said that if all the believers who were members of the church would tithe as God’s Word commands… the institution of the church would NEVER have a financial issue… building funds and capital fund raising campaigns would be a thing of the past…
But in the fellowship of the church today, more people are thinking about what they owe and what they want… and so their tithe or offering is an afterthought… God is not a priority in the pocketbooks of many believers today!
Movie,TV, and Sports Celebrities, this is a relatively old phenomenon but with a new face. For years all over the world people have put people of high visibility on a pedestal. The Kings and Queens, Dukes and Duchesses’ were the Movie stars of their day… The Knight has long been revered and he represents the sports star of his day…
WHY IS IT THAT WE ELEVATE THESE PEOPLE TO LEVELS OF INFLUENCE FAR BEYOND WHAT ANY NORMAL HUMAN WOULD BE? Why do we listen to them as if their very words were the words of great enlightenment?
Several years ago the basketball star, Charles Barkley was publicly ridiculed when he said, “…I am NOT your kids role model, nor do I want to be…” There were many who believed his statement was terrible… because as a NBA star, many looked up to Barkley and he should aspire to be a role model for them.
But Barkley’s statement is DEAD on when it comes to biblical teaching… Barkley should NEVER be our role model but our children should be looking to their parents and their parents should be pointing their children to Jesus Christ!
Material possessions HERE IS AN IDOL THAT I CAN GUARANTEE IS PRECIOUS TO US OR VASTLY IMPORTANT TO US…
It could be jewelry, a car, a house or a boat, or your TV… it really doesn’t matter what IT is… but there are things in our lives that distract us from serving God…and take us away from a deeper relationship with Him…
However, I believe THE WORST IDOL WE COULD EVER WORSHIP IS THE SELFISH PURSUIT OF OUR OWN HAPPINESS!
Now, I know this goes against everything you have heard in the world today! But I find it to be truly amazing at the things we are willing to do that we know are wrong: but we justify them by telling ourselves, "Well this makes me happy!" Regardless of the spiritual consequences it may have in our walk with Christ… or our relationship with our fellow believers!
Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. It is not a sin to want be happy, but to worship happiness and the pursuit of happiness is a sin! The pursuit of our happiness is not worthy of our devotion!
The problem is that we look for happiness in all the WRONG places, when true happiness can only be found in knowing God! Psalm 97:11 says, "Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart." Real happiness is only found living a life of devotion, worship, and service to God.
But what about our church… let look to answer the question…
What idols do we have in our church today?
When we think of idols in the church we tend to look at ‘churches’ like Buddhism or Hinduism or other esoteric and mystical religions that place a heavy emphasis on the statues and icons of their faith…but idolatry in the church is much closer than you think!
I heard this story from the pulpit at the LBC Pastor’s convention last November. There is a church in Florida refused to tear out a commode (even though it was broken and leaking and could not be repaired) because it had been donated by a elderly church member who had since died
… SO SOMEWHERE IN FLORIDA THERE IS A SHRINE TO A DONATED BUT BROKEN COMMODE…
I have heard terrible stories about churches splitting, families leaving and pastors being fired because of things that are carnal and of this world. … stories like the color of the carpet… or what type of light fixtures are being used…or whether or not they should use the hymnals or have project the words on a screen …
And regardless of what you may think, there is idolatry in the church today and Old Zion Hill Baptist Church is NOT immune to this evil that seeks to destroy and mutilate the fellowship that Christ would have us to be…
And I am here to tell you that we have idols in our church! And we need to recognize those idols and turn away from them…
WELL PASTOR, JUST WHAT ARE OUR IDOLS HERE AT OZHBC?
I believe there are 4 specific idols that we here at Old Zion Hill Baptist Church need to deal with and rid ourselves of… before God is going to bless us and grow us into the church He wants us to be…
1. Our Dismal Fixation on the Past:
Our church is the oldest church in our association and one of the oldest Baptist churches in the state of Louisiana. We have been around for a LONG, LONG time.
Our church has done many great things in the past… we have been on mission trips, and we have had great revivals and years of great success…
Our church has given so much to the Cooperative Program and Missions that we have been recognized by the LBC and SBC for being a mission minded church in the sense of our giving…
Our church has been lauded in the past for baptism, SS and worship attendance…
Our church has been stable for many years without a terrible scandal or split to mar our fellowship…
Now let me say that there is nothing wrong with any of these wonderful things, but when it all comes down to it… what we, as a church, have done in the past does not and will NEVER help anyone come to Christ now or in the future…
Our pride in what we USED to be is nothing more than an idol we place before ourselves and proudly say…WOW! Look how good we used to be!
The Bible shares that the one who lays his hand to the plow and looks back is NOT worthy for the Kingdom... if we want to grow as a church… we cannot look back… we have to look forward!
We also must realize that our success as a fellowship is NOT about our accomplishments, but it is ALL about our obedience to God’s call on our fellowship. No matter how noble our deeds may seem they are like trash to God if we are not obedient to His call.
In our fellowship we must put the past in the right perspective… as the Apostle Paul says, “…but one thing I do [know]: forgetting what is behind [in my past] and reaching forward to what is ahead [in my future] I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus…”
In other words, Paul is saying that it is his desire to put the past behind him so that he would not rest on his own deeds, but he would strive to reach the goal set by Jesus Christ…
We must rid ourselves of the idol of our past, but there is another idol that we must rid ourselves …it is
2. Our Distressing Fear of Change.
As a middle aged pastor, I see this mostly in the older generation of our congregation… although that is somewhat of a stereotype and not totally accurate…
But those who bow at this altar… seems to think that NOTHING outside the pattern and precedent set 50-60 years ago is church worthy! And therefore should not be tried by our fellowship!
So these people see NO need for OUR church to try anything new… their idea is to take what worked 50-60 yrs ago and simply try harder!
Now in defense of those of our congregation who kneel at this altar… change is a hard thing for anyone to accept or apply to their lives.
If you don’t believe it, try changing something in your life… it takes great effort and desire on the part of the one doing the change…it takes stepping our of our comfort zones into an area of UN-comfortablity
I do NOT believe in change, simply for the sake of change… because change for the sake of change is just as much of an idol as the fear of change…But change to serve God is the change that must seek and accomplish in our hearts and minds.
I know that we serve an UNCHANGING God! I realize that He is the same yesterday, today and forever. I understand that the message of Jesus will NEVER change and it stands unmovable against the tide of this world.
But I also know that we live in an ever-changing culture… and about 40-50 years ago the culture moved a lot slower and change came about in almost a begrudging way…
However, in recent studies done about how fast our society changes... it was said that our culture flips every 3-5 yrs… that means that our culture is NOW in a constant state of change.
So for us to meet that changing culture with the unchanging Gospel… we need to meet them where THEY are… we cannot require them to meet us where WE are…
In Matt 28:18-20 Jesus simply said, “Go and tell…” Jesus did not give a certain method, but He did give direction… we are to move forward.
I believe Paul had the right idea in 1 Cor 9 when he said, “… I have made myself a slave to all, in order to win more people. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews…To the weak I became weak, in order to win the weak... I have become all things to all people, so that I may by all means save some…”
Paul understood that the Great Commission was not about the method but it was ALL about the message… He was willing to meet people where they were so that he could share the unchanging message that Christ was crucified for their sin and He rose again for their salvation…
And until we as a fellowship are willing to shed our fears, and fully embrace the Great Commission [to Go and tell…] and Great Commandment [to love God…love people]… we are NOT going to reach the lost or grow as a church.
We must not continue to bow at the altar of fear of change… what we must do is always seek to follow Christ and move forward in the kingdom!
We must stop bowing at the altar of our past and the altar of our fear of change, but there is another altar I find us bowing at… another idol we worship here in our church and it is…
3. Our Dreadful Failure to Submit to Leadership
This is an idol where many Baptist church members bow! They bow at this altar and in doing so… they run off the road and become bogged down in apathy and bitterness. Here in OUR church, we have too many of our members who are worshiping this idol and bowing at this altar of refusing to submit to the leadership God has set in place.
I once read this about pastors…
The pastor teaches, though he must solicit his own classes. He heals, though without pills or knife. He is sometimes a lawyer, often a social worker, something of an editor, a bit of a philosopher and entertainer, a salesman, a decorative piece for public functions, and he is supposed to be a scholar…
The pastor visits the sick, marries people, buries the dead, labors to console those who sorrow and to admonish those who sin, He is on call 24 hours a day, and is constantly asked for godly counsel on a myriad of matters. And he also tries to stay sweet when scolded for not doing things just their way...
He plans programs, appoints committees when he can get them, spends considerable time in keeping people out of each other’s hair…
And between all these efforts he prepares a sermon and preaches it on Sunday to those who don’t happen to have any other engagement. Then on Monday he smiles as some fun-loving person says to him, "WOW! WHAT A JOB—YOU ONLY HAVE TO WORK ONE DAY A WEEK!"
Now we recognize that Christ is the HEAD of the church, but there IS an order by which we must submit, and whether you agree with it or not… the pastor of a church… according to Scripture is the under shepherd and leader of the local church.
A pastor is called by a church based on the pastor search committee’s prayer and supplications to God to lead them to the right person… it is based on the belief that God will send them the man He desires to lead their church…
But what so often happens is that pastors are called to churches and then they are told HOW they can lead and what their boundaries are going to be… and if they refuse to stay within those boundaries… then they are simply replaced by the church…
In Eph 4 Paul describes what a pastor must be like and what their function is according to God. In v.11-13a Paul says, “…and He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son…”
In 1 Tim 5:17-18 (HCSB) we find Paul writing about the elder or the pastor of a church…
“…The elders [pastors] who are good leaders should be considered worthy of an ample honorarium, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says: You must not muzzle an ox that is threshing grain, and, the laborer is worthy of his wages…”
Now understand that Paul was NOT placing pastors on a pedestal, but he was confirming that the pastor was worthy of honor and respect simply because God has called them and set them aside for a special and difficult purpose. And when God calls someone, you don’t try to suffocate or muzzle what God is leading them to do…
Pastors deserve respect… NOT because of WHO they are but because of who they serve and the fact that pastors will be held MORE accountable…to a higher standard… than the regular believer as well. The book of James shares this …
Let not many of you become teachers [or pastors], my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment [or held to a higher standard]
James 3:1-2 (NASB)
The calling of a pastor is a sacred trust between God and the pastor and in that trust pastors are held responsible for your souls…We see this evident in Paul’s writings to Timothy as he began to pastor the church at Ephesus…
“…Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you [speaking of the congregation God placed him over] avoiding irreverent, empty speech and contradictions from the “knowledge” that falsely bears that name.
1 Tim 6:20 (HCSB)
In other words, pastors are entrusted by God with a sacred trust to teach and reveal His Word in a way that brings the congregation or the fellowship into a mature walk with Christ…
Pastors are human and they are prone to mistakes and they do make wrong choices. But pastors should be allowed to lead and be the leader God desire them to be…Pastors are NOT perfect people…
But, if a church has called a pastor, then that church should EXPECT that pastor to take a major leadership role in the body!
They should NOT be surprised or offended when he begins to take charge… When God places someone in a position of leadership and authority, God expects them to fulfill what He has called them to do…
Here at our church we bow at the altar of our fixation on the past, our fear of change, our failure to follow godly leadership, but finally this morning I bring to you the worst of all the idols that we as a body… and that is…
4. Our Deadly Folly of Ignoring God
When this year began I posed a theme based on the direction I believed God to be leading our fellowship. The theme was “Submitted to His Authority” and I asked members to fill out a form committing themselves to submitting to God’s Authority in their lives for this year…
And as a pastor, I am ashamed to say that out of over 200 members on our mailing list and an attending membership that averages around 150-175 each week in our worship service… I received approximately 25 responses to that request. That is roughly 14% of our attending members… and that is a sad statement about our membership…
Now understand that I know filling out that form does NOT make you submissive to His authority… just like NOT filling out that form makes you NOT submissive to His authority…
But my point here is that even with a simple exercise in confessing your allegiance to God before man… There were over 150 attending members who chose to ignore this request…
Maybe they thought it was unimportant or trivial… or maybe they thought I was silly to ask this of them...
Maybe people did not fill out this request because they thought that I would hold it over their heads and MAKE them do things they did not want to do…
Whatever the reasoning… a vast majority NEVER filled out a “Submitted to His Authority” form making a commitment between God and themselves for 2006.
I bring this up NOT because it was my idea because I thought it was a neat idea… but I bring this up because it is a symptom of a spiritual sickness that permeates our fellowship today!
God has commanded us to be obedient to Him… to listen to Him… to submit to Him… in Mark 12:30 we read…
“…Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength…
Mark 12:30 (HCSB)
God and His plan and purpose should be our FIRST priority in this fellowship, but I can tell you right now…Our congregation is IGNORING God!
Let me repeat that statement and let it settle into your brain… Our congregation is IGNORING God!
How could you say that pastor? How DARE you say that pastor? Who are YOU to say that to us? You are not our judge?
Well when it comes to the spiritual health of this flock, I am the ONE God is going to hold accountable… and so as the spiritual leader of this congregation… it is MY duty to reveal when the flock is going in the WRONG direction!
Now I want you to understand, I know that there are many in our fellowship who are living the lives that God wants them to live… HOWEVER we have so many more who are playing games with God and ignoring His call on their lives… and I’m telling you folks right now…that is dangerous territory!
As a fellowship, as a congregation, we are in a rut, we are in a slump, and we are spiraling DOWNWARD and away from God’s plan for our church!
PAUSE HERE…
Not too long ago we put out a call for a Sunday School director and Bro. Donnie Goodwin stepped forward to take that position, and we are so glad that Donnie has submitted to God’s authority…
But there have been many other calls for various needs within our fellowship that have gone UN-MET over the past 3 years, such as…
• An RA helper and leader…it took over a year before someone stepped forward to help Jason…
• A College and Career teacher and leader…we have been looking for almost a year and still NO ONE has stepped up…
• And, just recently I attempted to start a prayer ministry in our fellowship… BUT other than myself only ONE person signed up to pray… and the list sat in the lobby for over 6 weeks!
For whatever reason… in our fellowship… it seems as if everybody thinks that somebody is going to do the job that nobody is willing to do…and in the end the job goes undone and the needs go unmet… and the lost people are unreached…
This happens all because we are too cowardly to MOVE out of our comfort zone and serve God…
This happens all because we fail to recognize that we are NOT serving God as we should…
You see, we have a bad habit in our church of thinking that all of God’s work can and will get done if we give our money… but God doesn’t want or even NEED your money… He wants your heart… He wants your devotion… He wants your obedience!
Conclusion:
I have been terribly harsh this morning and I know that I have… and when I was studying, praying and preparing this sermon… a quote came to mind that I had heard about…
A pastor cried to God and said… “God I am NOT worthy to chastise and rebuke this congregation!” And God answered the pastor saying, “You are right, YOU are not worthy, but I am and I am using YOU as a vessel to deliver My message!”
Today I stand before you an unworthy vessel… a sinner who is in need of the grace of God. I am disobedient and prideful. I am lazy and slothful. I am haughty and proud… but God can and will use me when I submit and surrender to His call!
Now the harsh words you have heard this morning have been difficult to hear but know this… they have been TRUE words. God is calling Old Zion Hill OUT…
He is calling for our unconditional surrender to His plan and purpose…
God is calling for us to die to self and be raised again in the likeness of Christ…
This morning you have heard the call of God… the question remains what are YOU going to do about it!
God has thrown down the gauntlet and has challenge our congregation to get up and get in the game… how are you going to respond?
I call on you to search your heart… tear those idols down… begin to seek and serve the TRUE GOD!
