Deconstructing Idols

 A couple of Fridays ago I was listening to Bill Arnold's radio program as he interviewed a former pastor at Willow Creek.  I don't recall the guest's name but I was struck by the verse they discussed.  They only talked about Psalm 106:20 for about 25 minutes.  Their conversation caused me to meditate on that verse off and on since.

"They exchanged their Glory
for an image of a bull, which eats grass." Psalm 106:20 NIV

"They exchanged the glory of God
for the image of an ox that eats grass." Psalm 106:20 ESV

Psalm 106 is a retelling of some of the history of the people of Israel.  Verse 20 refers to the golden calf that the people worshipped when they had quite literally seen the awesomeness of God, the glory of God first hand.  This verse highlights the utter stupidity of what they did.  I know not every translation does this, but I love that my NIV Bible has the comma before "which eats grass", because I can just hear the sarcasm dripping from that statement.

The people of Israel exchanged the glory of God Almighty for an ox... an ox that eats grass.  See, Yahweh is the God of the burning bush, the God that is a fire that needs to consume nothing in order to exist.  Our God is self-sufficient and these people exchanged Him for an image of a bull, that eats grass.  What the psalmist is doing is deconstructing the idol.  

I think a healthy exercise we should all do is deconstructing idols.

I have things, good things, in my life that I desire to make idols.  John Calvin said, "the human heart is a perpetual idol factory" and mine is no different.  I can turn my job, my kids, my wife, my pleasures, my self into idols.  I have found deconstructing these idols a helpful exercise to keep them in their place and off the tabernacle of my heart.

Let me give you an example.

I love doing play-by-play.  I strive to do my best in describing the action.  I want to excel in bringing people the action they care so much about.  It is my job to be contagiously excited about sports and I rarely struggle to be excited about what I'm seeing and doing.  My passion for this aspect of my job and any praise I get from those listening can easily go from being a good thing to a god thing.  It can become an idol.

So, I deconstruct it.

I pull the thing apart until I realize how small it is in comparison to God Almighty.  I think about how what I'm doing is really just describing high school and college kids playing, let's say, football.  It's really just me talking in a room with another guy talking about what I see.  It's really just me watching and describing people playing football  It's really just me talking about kids playing a game.  At its core it's me talking about kids playing outside.

I have considered filling the space in the tabernacle of my heart with me talking about kids playing outside.  How much less stupid is that than an image of a cow, that eats grass?

All that's not to say I then walk away thinking my job is pointless and I should quit.  No.  I'm going to be the best at it that I can be and I'm going to serve all the grandmas and moms and neighbors and community members that want to experience the game.  I'm still going to strive for excellence but I'm not going to let it be an idol in my life.  When I deconstruct my idols I realize that I don't necessarily have to love it less, most of the time, but I have to love my God so much more.  Christ is my all-in-all, not a bull that eats grass.  Jesus is supreme, not talking about kids playing outside.

Israel wasn't commanded to get rid of bulls or oxen, but to stop worshipping these things that eat grass and then poop it out their butts.  Bulls are bulls, God is God.

Right now think of a good thing that threatens to become a god thing in your life.  Take that idol and deconstruct it.  Mentally rip it apart until you chuckle about how silly it would be to dedicate your life to that thing as a god.  Think about what you're prone to worship and realize how utterly meaningless it is, to steal from Ecclesiastes.  In fact, read Ecclesiastes if you need help learning how to deconstruct idols.  Then compare that thing you've deconstructing to the Almighty God who created the universe with His Word.  

Deconstruct your idols and then run to the One worthy of our worship today.

I Saw the Sign

 

My wife recently lamented that 3:30-7:00 p.m. is the longest 3 and a half hours of parenting.

Between 3:30 and 7:00 the kids have begun to get on each other's nerves, they've gotten hangry, dinner had to be prepared while shouts were heard in the other room, appropriate vegetable to meat ratios had to be negotiated with them, and that's all before bed time.  Bed time too often consists of reminding the little ones of the value of peeing and hand washing while convincing them to stand on the stool and brush their teeth.  Then there's the crying that occurs when we call our daughter Anna instead of Pharaoh.  And the worst part of: Joshua, take off your clothes and put on your pajamas; Joshua, take off your clothes and put on your pajamas; Joshua, take off your clothes and put on your pajamas; Joshua, take off your clothes and put on your pajamas; Joshua, take off your clothes and put on your pajamas; Joshua, take off your clothes and put on your pajamas; Joshua, take off your clothes and put on your pajamas... and all this noise wakes our baby who cries in his crib.

Some nights getting them to bed and going downstairs alone feels like our reward.

Not every day is as exhausting as that sounds, but too many days are.  There are some days when we wonder why on earth we do this parenting thing.

Then, I look at the sign our friend Alyssa made for us when our oldest was about to be born.  I see the sign that reminds me of the days, weeks, months and years of begging God to allow us to be parents.

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." Proverbs 13:12

That sign helps me remember what blessings my kids are to me.  It reminds me of the very goodness of the LORD that I had grumbled about in my heart.  In that moment I'm aware that I am very much like the Israelites in the wilderness that stupidly remembered their slavery fondly every moment they didn't have things easy.

That sign, that verse, has helped me be a better parent.  I used to not see it so clearly, but then my friend Paul helped me assemble bunk beds.  Tucking Joshua into the top bunk draws my eyes to the Word of God in the form of beautiful art every night I get the blessing of putting them to bed.  

The blessing: that verse helps me see being their dad as a greater blessing than the blessing of finally getting to the daily finish line of bed time.

Do you have signs that point you to the truth in your home?  Do you have physical reminders of spiritual truths that catch your eye and your mind's attention?  Perhaps you should or perhaps you should actually notice them.  

I'm thankful for the sign that points me from frustration to gratitude today.