Thursday, April 16, 2015

Worship Corner: People Make Terrible 'gods'

I had a mentor in college who used to tell me that I "chase girls like a dog chases a firetruck." I think there was deeper meaning to what he was saying that goes beyond a simple college dating scenario.

I've been reading a book lately called Look and Live by a guy named Matt Papa. He is the writer of a song I love to hear Westchester sing called Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery. Granted I've only read the first chapter but I feel like he has some incredibly profound things to say. This book is about Glory. He explains a couple of different facets of glory. The first he calls glory-within which he describes as the qualities someone or something possesses. The second he calls glory-given which is the response we have when we see glory-within. This is what happens when we worship-- we marvel at the magnificent Glory that is found in God-- his goodness, majesty, holiness, and justice-- and we respond with praise, awe, and obedience.

Our response of giving glory is something innate within us. We were made to see glory and respond to it. The problem that comes with being fallen people is that we take things created by God and expect them to hold the entire weight of glory given to them. Created things will only crumble under the weight that comes with glory given to them. (A recent example would be how University of Kentucky's basketball team eventually crumbled under the weight of being an undefeated team in the NCAA tournament---never mind even the crushed dreams of Iowa State's team)

The author of this book takes common idols we make and explains the letdown of idolatry:
    "Money isn't secure enough. Sex isn't thrilling enough. Entertainment isn't interesting enough. Food isn't satisfying enough. People aren't reliable enough... Only God, the highest and greatest good, the infinite holy One, is finally enough"

What my mentor in college was trying to get me to realize is that I was treating girls in this way. Before even going on a date I built up that girl I had seen from a distance to be someone who could hold all of my baggage, give me a name or a label that I desired, and fulfill all of my hopes and dreams. Like a dog chasing a firetruck, I was disappointed and lonely when what I chased did not meet my expectations. When I finally got into a relationship, there was eventually the disillusionment that this created being could never hold the weight of glory I put on them. They were crushed under that weight, and the false god I gave that glory to would die.

The realization we have to come to with the idols we create is that only our One True God can hold the weight of our baggage: to be acquainted with our sorrow, to be the unchanging stability we can rely on, and to be the one who can show us love in a way that honors who we are created to be, and brings Glory to our magnificent creator.

 
Austin Hilmer

About the Author:
Austin serves on staff at Westchester as Associate Pastor of Corporate Worship