Ps 115:4-8 says of idols (things we set up to worship):
Their idols are silver and gold,
The work of man's hands.
They have mouths, but they cannot speak;
They have eyes, but they cannot see;
They have ears, but they cannot hear;
They have noses, but they cannot smell;
They have hands, but they cannot feel;
They have feet, but they cannot walk;
They cannot make a sound with their throat.
Those who make them will become like them,
Everyone who trusts in them.
It's a two-way street. We create "comfortable" gods or versions of God that we then worship. Then, we become like the gods that we create. The problem is that this is fantasy, and only really works if there is no actual, real God out there. But God is real, He has actual attributes that He has told us about, and we make up things about Him at our own peril. We can't hurt Him with our lies, but Ps 115:8 says that we hurt ourselves. How? Here are a few examples:
If our God is not omnipotent and good, we end up fearful. Why stick your neck out if you can't really depend on His goodness, or if you think that He is not able to help. Heb 11:6 "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." 1 Jn 4:17-18 "By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love." - 9-11 certainly put the lie to the assertion that "theology is unimportant, as long as you believe in God". The theology of those 19 misguided men was the direct cause of the terrorist attack. They believed that God would be pleased by the murder of tens of thousands of innocents. Theology is unimportant?? Hah! John 16:2:b "...an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God."
In many eastern religions the socioeconomic and health status of individuals is earned in previous lives. Therefore, the caste systems and the huge amounts of misery in many countries is institutionalized. Not only is there very little attempt to relieve human suffering in some places, it is actually seen as a good thing. If you alleviate the suffering of a sick or poor person or elevate him to a different caste level, you actually can keep them from paying their karmic debt and guarantee more suffering in future lives! James 1:27 "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." If God does not hate and judge sin, we feel no need to improve or even to control our personal behavior. Hebrews 9:27b "...it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment" - If God does not love us, we will not have any particular reason to love others. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." 1 John 4:19 "We love, because He first loved us."
If your God is stingy and mean, you will not contribute money or resources to the needs of others (Matt 25:14-30 parable of the talents) If God is not personal and/or so different from us there is no possible connection, we will not seek to understand or know Him and we will wander in our own thoughts. Genesis 1:26 "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness'". Jeremiah 31:34 "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
Let me propose a slight modification of what your thesis, "What you believe determines who you are."
ReplyDeleteI would add, "What you DO reveals what you REALLY believe." This doesn't contradict the thesis, but it reminds me that I fall far short of being the kind of person that my faith says I should be. While I believe God loves me with His whole heart, I fall far short of exemplifying this.
But I don't mean by this that Christians never do anything right. Far from it! There are thousands of examples every day of people doing some act of kindness that proves that "God so loved the world." For example, the church I call home will have its Thanksgiving outreach to the homeless in a few weeks. Over 1,000 homeless men, women and families will be transported to the church campus by buses. A host or hostess will greet each person or family and become their guide. Their belongings are tagged at a secure area so they don't have to trudge around with them, and they'll get a free backpack already filled with useful hygience and basic clothing. They can pick out additional clothing, shoes, blankets, jackets. They can get a haircut, care for the feet, medical care, showers and dental care, all for free. They'll be treated with dignity and respect, maybe for the first time in a decade. And of course, they'll get the full Thanksgiving dinner. They can just hang out and listen to music, or they can have a resume typed, call their mom in Arkansas for free, or watch a football game. A computer crew matches skills (not all homeless are skill-less!) with jobs and tries to set up interviews. One or two employers hire on the spot. Kids go on the jumpy rides, have their face painted or get a teddy bear.
Many people are totally overwhelmed. Why are you doing this for me? I aint' ever seen anything like this! I hope this goes on forever!
This has been going on for 20, maybe 25 years and the total number of volunteers is probably 1,000 which is more than typically shows up for the first worship service on Sundays. Personally, I can't think of a better way to show thanks to the God who made me who I am than to serve these homeless people each year, certainly better than watching TV for 6 hours! We eat our family Thanksgiving meal - usually Vons or Marie Callendar reheated variety - around 5PM, since the outreach is over at 3.
Getting back to the original point, I guess I find that doing stuff in a big group can be so much easier than just me, myself and I. "What you believe determines who you are" and "What you do reveals what you really believe" applies to groups as well as to individuals.
John
It's certainly a two-way street. We were talking in Sunday School this week about "practical atheists", like in Titus 1:16 "They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed." How about this - theology drives behavior, and behavior shows internal reality. (James 1:22-2:26). In this article, though, my particular emphasis was aimed squarely at the common societal belief that "it doesn't matter what you believe, so long as you are sincere", which drives me nuts. I love the verse in Hebrews about faith which says "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." (11:16) Just believing in His existence without a conviction of His goodness will not only sap our enthusiasm in praise and service, it also makes it impossible to please Him.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment - good point!