Changing the Object of our Worship

By:  Dale Weckbacher

1 John 2:15-16

 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life^[a]—is not from the Father but is from the world.

(ESV)

God hates double-mindedness but loves those placing their hope in the Word of God and living lives of obedience to it (Psalm119:112-114).  As part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught us not to lay up treasures on earth but to instead lay-up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21).  While Jesus teaching on what we are to treasure is often used to encourage believers to give to the work of the Gospel, it also carries a broader call to guard our hearts against false idols or objects of worship that supplant God from the throne of our lives. 

When we think of idolatry, we often picture someone bowing down to some statue of a pagan god.  However, idolatry in our modern age is often reflected by placing our trust or treasure in something of this world, placing it above our trust of God.  The most serious threat of these objects is that they may appear good and even harmless on the surface but when we place them above God in our lives become serious threats for even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). 

Some seemingly harmless objects of worship that can supplant God in our lives include,

1)      Government and politics – As government’s size has increased, so has its influence upon the lives of citizens.  Unfortunately, this increase in government’s influence has brought about the encroachment of government into the religious liberties of citizens.  This has increased the necessity for Christians to become involved in the political process as a means of defending their Constitutionally protected right to freely practice their religion in the United States as protected by the first amendment.  (1)  However, we must be on guard not to place our entire trust in the first amendment or government to protect our religious liberties and remember to place our primary trust in God.  In many parts of the world Christians practice their religion under the threat of oppression and even death and yet Christianity thrives in these nations.  (2) (3)  I believe Christianity thrives under these circumstances because these Christians are forced to place their trust in God.  Prior to persecution in the United States escalating to this level, we must learn to place our trust in God while doing what we can through the electoral process to insure the election of representatives that will protect our Constitutional right to freedom of religion.

2)      Work and career – Most of us spend most of our waking hours engaged in our work and career and as a result these pursuits can dominate our lives.  Just as the increasing influence of government in our lives can cause us to place our trust in it to solve our problems, placing our trust in our work and career to provide for our financial needs can become the object of worship in our lives.  Scripture reminds us to trust in God to supply our needs (Philippians 4:19). 

3)      Family – While family is important with scripture reminding us to love and care for our spouses and children (Ephesians5:22-33, Ephesians 6:1-4), making them number one in our lives in place of God is dangerous.  Our spouses and children must see us living lives in obedience to God and His Word.  For this reason, we must insure we all make daily time with God a priority in our lives in order to lead our families according to Godly principles. 

The true test of what one treasures in their lives is in what they do when a crisis occurs.  In crisis do we treasure God in our lives by taking it to him in prayer or instead do we turn to some earthly source like government, work, or career, or even someone in our family.  While these things may be beneficial, we must learn to make the main object of our lives our relationship with Jesus Christ and knowledge of His Word. 

1 John 2:15-16 cautions us against placing our trust in the things of this world because in the end, these things will fail us and not provide for our needs.  Let us therefore learn to make the main object of our worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

1. constitutionus.com. The Constitution of the United States. constitutionus.com. [Online] [Cited: January 21, 2017.] http://constitutionus.com/.

2. Melchior, Julian Kay. China's Christians Thrive, Despite Increase in Persecution. www.nationalreview.com. [Online] National Review, February 4, 2013. [Cited: August 12, 2017.] http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/339709/chinas-christians-thrive-despite-increase-persecution-jillian-kay-melchior.

3. Brown, Elijah M. Minority Report: Christian Persecution in Muslim-Majority Countries. fullerstudio.fuller.edu. [Online] Fuller Studio. [Cited: August 12, 2017.] https://fullerstudio.fuller.edu/minority-report-christian-persecution-muslim-majority-countries/.