Dear Faith Family,
When you hear "idol," what images pop into your mind? I'd imagine one of two things. Either you think of some deity of the ancient or unlearned world or the more modern notion of "inordinate desires," good things that we make ultimate things--whether a career, a person, a pleasure, etc. While both images of idols are valid representations, I don't think either is what God had in mind when He spoke the second of "The Ten Words,"
You shall not make for yourself a carved image...You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:4-6)
The carved images of old were not pocket gods nor possessed vessels (though I am sure some thought they were), but mainly, they were visual representations of the stories of reality, tools for telling the stories of how things really are in the world seen and unseen, including where we fit and how we get what we need and desire. Like their physical representations, the stories were forged in the pain of daily living and the felt absence of conflict with transcendence, though some were crafted in the chase of pleasure, of some life more. In this way, they were images submitted to and served in the struggle to live and live abundantly.
The problem, we know, is that, like the carved images themselves, the stories behind them were fashioned from a limited perspective, in the shape, "the likeness of" something real but not of reality itself. And so, even the best stories made for a false image of the world, of others, and even of self.
It's this false story of who we are in relation to others, the world, and ultimately God that puts us in conflict with what is true. Conversely, its submission and service not to an image of God, but in relation to God for us and God with us, responding to His presence and voice, that ensure the blessing of becoming ourselves truly.
Our propensity to craft stories of reality, even of ourselves, means we are just as prone today to submit and serve a false representation of reality rather than God for us and with us. In this way, we are just as inclined to remain bound, not by love--God's steadfast love towards us and our love for Him--but rather by our false selves.
So we must ask, what story(s) are you crafting out your experiences in life? What images of life--of how it works, your place within it, and how you get what you desire--are you submitting to and serving?
While it might be easy to fly by the second word as something from another time or for another place, the truth is we haven't advanced much beyond our early ancestors. While the carving methods have developed over the centuries, and the specifics of the stories have been tweaked from generation to generation, you and I are no less prone to bow down to the meanings we've made from our experiences in life, which is why we need someone else to tell us our true story.
Take a few moments today or this week to let God examen your story. I think doing so will help us better discern what images we are crafting, put those aside, and continue our movement towards living free by keeping it simple.
Love you, faith family! God bless.