Wednesday, May 16, 2018

American Idols: Safety



“But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.” Deuteronomy 17:16

When you think of idols, you typically think of an image or animal, fashioned from gold, as an object of worship.  Outside of American culture, idol worship (in that sense) is still alive and well.  However, American idols, take on a different forum or no forum at all.  That said, American idols receive all the reverence and worship as the golden ones.  American idols (really, all idols) are born out of our carnal ideals, wants, and needs.  They resonate deep with our humanity, and permeate far into our culture.  This can make our worship of them difficult to discern and hard to eradicate.  Only the Holy Spirit can perform either function (both discernment and eradication) in our lives.

Long before the prophet Samuel anointed King Saul, Moses prophesied of the day when the children of Israel would demand a king.  They wanted a king because they wanted to be like the other nations.  The other nations had a king to govern them, provide for them, and fight their battles for them.  A king to keep them safe.  This was the agreement between the royal and his subjects.  You give the king your subjection and adoration, he gives you safety.  Moses told them, when you do this, when you reject God and set a king over you, make sure it is one of your brethren; and when he is king, he should not multiply horses (along with wives and gold) to himself.  In that day, horses were incredibly useful.  They were weapons of war, a mode of transportation, investments, and valuable for trade.  The horse was quantifiable prosperity and safety.  What would be considered in our day and age as a well-diversified investment, real-estate, and insurance portfolio.  The king with armies, horses, land, and gold, is one who is safe; and the people under such king are safe.  Furthermore, Moses told the people, don’t let the king cause the people to return to Egypt.  Egypt was no picnic for Israel, but at least it was familiar and familiar is safe.  Canaan land was not going to be safe, Canaan land is a land of unknown.  They were never to go back to Egypt; Egypt was not their home, it was not their promise, and though familiar, it was so much less than what God had in store for them in Canaan.  They had to trust God in Canaan land, they had to rely on God in Canaan land, and they had to believe God in Canaan land.  Therefore, the temptation to tangible safety was powerful.  They wanted to “see” their king, “see” his horses, “see” his chariots, and “see” his coffers full of silver and gold.  They wanted to “see” their safety.  In this, is the idolatry of safety.  God never wanted his people to be safe, he wanted his people to be His.  To depend on Him, to trust Him, and to love Him above all else.  A sanctified life is a life of hazardous faith, consistently met with abundant blessings (the kind that doesn’t show up in any portfolio).  We leave off safety but gain “blessed assurance.”

The American idol of safety has been commoditized and marketed broadly.  We want to live in the safe neighborhood, drive the safe car, and get a good education so we can work to gain a safe and stable income; in hope to maintain our safety.  Is this all bad?  I leave that to you and the Lord, but consider if we spend our lives “getting horses” and striving to serve the false idols of safety, then we will reject the providence of God in our lives and lose out on the blessing of a spiritual Canaan land.  God may not want us to be safe.  Mission work is not safe, preaching the gospel is not safe, outreach is not safe, and serving the Lord is not safe!  Search your heart, would you rather live in temporal safety or complete fellowship?  Would you rather have a king, or the King of Kings?  Would you rather worship an idol or the one true God?  Lord help us to be abandoned to God and His Christ, and leave of the notion of safety.           


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