Our Idols Can Consume Us

Our Idols Can Consume Us

            Two thousand years ago, the Apostle Paul arrived in the city of Athens.  He had not planned to be there.  In his previous missionary adventures, he had been opposed by mobs, and the believers sent him down the coast to Athens to escape. 

            All alone, he is walking through Athens, and the text says that he was “greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols…” (Acts 17:16)  This prompted a discussion with the philosophers of the day and subsequently, with the city leaders on “Mars Hill”.  This weekend in worship, we are going to listen to how Paul handled that discussion, but as an introduction, note that all of it began with Paul’s distress over the idols in the city. 

            What is the big deal about those idols anyway?  Aren’t they just statues?  Besides, we don’t do that today.  We don’t have stone images of gods and goddesses, and we don’t find ourselves bowing down before those images.

            But as Timothy Keller highlights in his great book, “Counterfeit Gods”, though we don’t have idols made of stone, we still have plenty around.  He speaks to three premier ones: money, sex, and power.  Idols are, after all, the things in which we ultimately place our trust and hope.   Perhaps some may find the claim overstated but in his book “The Wounded Healer, Henri Nouwen reminds us how dangerous the idols of our own creation and abilities really are.  He retells a tales from Ancient India:

“Four royal brothers decided each to master a special ability. Time went by, and the brothers met to reveal what they had learned.

"I have mastered a science," said the first, "by which I can take but a bone of some creature and create the flesh that goes with it."

"I," said the second, "know how to grow that creature's skin and hair if there is flesh on its bones."

The third said, "I am able to create its limbs if I have the flesh, the skin, and the hair."

"And I," concluded the fourth, "know how to give life to that creature if its form is complete."

Thereupon the brothers went into the jungle to find a bone so they could demonstrate their specialties. As fate would have it, the bone they found was a lion's. One added flesh to the bone, the second grew hide and hair, the third completed it with matching limbs, and the fourth gave the lion life. Shaking its mane, the ferocious beast arose and jumped on his creators. He killed them all and vanished contentedly into the jungle.”

As pastor Nathan Castens says, “We too have the capacity to create what can devour us. Goals and dreams can consume us. Possessions and property can turn and destroy us--unless we first seek God's kingdom and righteousness, and allow him to breathe into what we make of life.”

And so, perhaps we can understand Paul’s distress over the city of Athens and its idols.  Sometimes the pride of our human ability and achievement can consume us.  Come join us this weekend and we are going to hear how Paul spoke of the Gospel to this cultural center of Athens.  See you there!

Pastor Pete