Waiting For God's Salvation Series

Whatever our names I’m comfortable in saying that there will be idols that we need to face if we are going to continue being available to Jesus. Since I doubt any of us have a statue in our living room to which we burn incense let me give you a quick definition of what an idol is. An idol is anything, anyone, or any activity that we’d place on an equal footing or ahead of Jesus. If you have to choose between following Jesus and being with that special someone you love you are wrestling with idolatry. If Jesus told you to vote for the opposition party and you balk at it you are wrestling with the issue of idolatry. If Christ has the freedom to do whatever He wants in your life as long he doesn’t make you tithe, or remember the church in your will then this has become an area of idolatry for you.

Gideon asks the angel “Why has this happened?” and the answer is as clear as the altar to Baal and Asheroth pole. It’s because the nation has not remained faithful to God. We give Job’s friends a bad rap for blaming Job’s problems on some hidden sin but the fact is that sin does bring calamity and what’s worse it removes us from the place in which we can be blessed by God. This is what happened to Israel.

When we recognize God’s call to us but refuse to deal with the sins and idols in our lives we find that we are actually worse off. For now we know what we should be like. We understand what God wants to do in our life. We get a taste of the blessing of God in our life. And all of this comes to naught when we try to live out that name holding on to our sins.

As we tear up the idols understand that we will be misunderstood and often hated. When we deny the “name” the world has given us in favor of Christ’s name there will be those who want to put us in our place. We will be accused of being intolerant and haters. We will be thought of as uncaring people. We may well be treated as if we’ve lost our mind. Yet if we tear up those sins in our lives that have made us unreceptive to God’s voice we will find ourselves in the place where we are able to be used by our Lord in marvelous ways.

In the Academy Award winning film Chariots of Fire there is a telling scene in which Eric Liddle, a Christian who refuses to run an Olympic race on Sunday, meets with members of the British Olympic committee. During this meeting one of the British “gentlemen” says to Eric, “In my day it was King first then God.” To which Eric responds, “Yes, and you have your Great War to thank for that.” Here was a man who had heard God’s call to run and run fast and had made it clear in his mind and to others that he was not going to run on the Sabbath. As a result he’s placed in a race that he’s not ready for but wins anyway. Why? Simply because he is willing to go along with God’s plan instead of the world’s plan.

God’s plan for Gideon consisted of taking an army of 32,000 down to less than 1% of that total (300) men. Why? So that God would get the glory and the people wouldn’t think they were so great. Now there is no way that I can tell you what God’s plan for you is as you live out your calling but I can tell you a couple of things I’ve learned from God’s word and from my years of following Jesus. First it will bring glory to God and not you. If you start thinking “you did that well” then you’re probably off target. Second it will be a surprise at how God manages to do what He does. The unexpected and unlooked are the norm for our Lord.