Drinking Sand

Last Sunday my wife and I were on our way to church. I had managed to forget, once again, to get gas in the car. Frustratedly I stopped at the Exxon by my house. It was a rainy and foggy morning. When I stepped out of my car I was immediately dropped into the middle of a conversation between two guys who knew each other and were getting gas.

One guy said to the other, "what are you doing up at 7:45 on a Sunday?" His reply, "I am going golfing!" "really? in this weather?" was the reply from his friend. The next statement would play in my mind for the next few hours. "Yeah man, I would play golf in a hurricane, I love golf!" I must admit my first response was, "if only people would be this excited about church! We cancel church for bad weather and this guy is going to golf in it." As that statement kept playing in my head it finally hit me. The problem was not golf, the problem was this mans joy was found in golf. This man had a worship problem. Golf is not a bad thing but to be so consumed by it was the issue. He was content with the joy of golf all the while missing the greatness of the God who created the game. He missed the creativity of the God who fashioned him in such a way that he could enjoy playing golf. He was worshiping the gift and not the giver.

The sad thing is that we who know this ferocious God, do the same thing. There are so many things that we find our worth, joy and contentment in other then Christ.

Jeremiah 2:13

"For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water. and they have dug for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water."

Here truly lies our problem, we would honestly much rather drink sand then living water!

We Become What We Worship

I recently watched the movie Hitch with Will Smith. In this movie Will plays a character named Alex Hitchens who is named in the movie the "date doctor." He meets with clients and helps them pursue the girl they are interested in by giving them pointers. At one point in the movie he is approached by a man named Vance Munsin. He is a very wealthy man and his goal is to sleep with a woman that he cant get off his mind. Hitch very quickly explains that he helps people who are actually wanting a relationship with the other person not simply to set up a one night stand. This sparks Vance to stand up and grab Alex arm and state, "you see this? This is what I am about, power suite, power tie, power steering. People can resist all they want but in the end they do what I want."

Here is the problem with Vance. He has worshipped power and pleasure which in the end have made him worthless and a people user. People are only good if they can get him those two things. He has spent his time pursuing power and pleasure and has himself become worthless. We become what we worship. In Jeremiah 2:5 God states that the people of Israel have pursued worthlessness and have themselves become worthless. Where we tend to have the problem is in the fact that power and pleasure are two things that people tend to want the most. Everyone loves to feel good and be in control.

How We Are Drawn Away

There are a couple of things that happen that turn our hearts from God to our idols. Jeremiah 2:13 ¹³"For My people have committed two evils:They have forsaken Me,The fountain of living waters,To hew for themselves cisterns,Broken cisterns

That can hold no water.

1. God becomes no longer good enough. We look at our desires and our wants and God pulls us from that or does not give them to us and so He becomes and obstacle and is no longer all we need.

2. We turn to what we think will give us those things. God is not giving you the money you want then you simply turn to what will. Money becomes God and you sacrifice family and church so that you can spend long hours at your job which is the temple worshipping the god of money. This seems to satisfy when the raise comes along or the promotion is thrown your way untill one night you go home and your wife is a shadow of the woman she used to be and your kids want nothing to do with you because all you care about is your money and your wife has had to take care of everything else by herself. Maybe your god is sex. God has given sex in the confines of marriage and within those boundaries it is beautiful, until suddenly your wife or husband is no longer good enough. So you turn to pornography or another partner and the room becomes a temple in which you worship the god of sex.

Often times when this happens we begin to ask God why we are in this wilderness and why He seems so far. Why is it that my family is gone and my kids want nothing to do with me? to which God responds, "did you not bring this on yourself?" Jeremiah 2:14-17 Often times we mistake God's silence for His consent.

How We Are Drawn Back

So how do we get back? We find our way back when he is our pursuit, when He is all sufficient, when we are consumed with Him then those idols fade away. There has to be a worship change. It is found in tasting and seeing that the Lord is good. It is in understanding that God is not an idol giver. He is far to concerned with our growth and our becoming more like Him then He is with what we think makes our life better. It is in trusting Him to provide for your needs. One of the things that I find very difficult is to work up a budget. The reason being that every month it changes. God has been very gracious to me and my wife and has given us more then we deserve. We have to understand that money is never given to us so that it can terminate on us. It was given to us by God to be turned around and used for His glory and the furtherance of the gospel. My money was not given to me so that I can keep it all to myself, it was given to me so that I could turn around and give it to help others. We have to understand that and when we do we can enjoy the gifts that God in His grace has given us rather then worship the gift instead of the giver.

White Knuckles

Why is it that we as Christians some how think that we can white knuckle our actions into submission without ever taking a closer look at the heart behind the action? We some how think that by cutting a computer chord we will no longer be porn addicts, or if we can stop going with our friends to the bar and getting wasted then things will get better. Jesus states in Matthew 12:34 that what fills our hearts comes out in our words. In Matthew 6 Jesus points out that looking at a woman with lust is like committing adultery with her. Why would Jesus say those words? Our mouths proclaim boldly what is in our hearts. What is in your heart will work its way out into your life. Sure you can cut the power chord to the computer and then you wont be able to view porn but does that stop the second glance at a woman who is jogging down the road? Does that stop the glance at the girl in the bikini on the other side of the neighborhood pool? 

The problem goes much deeper then surface actions. As Jesus has stated very clearly, our actions show what is in our hearts. The problem is lust not porn. Porn is just the outward action of the inward attitude.  The problem with trying to get rid of porn is you spend all of your time white knuckling your actions and in the end they find another way to come out and play. There are two key problems when we try to white knuckle our sin into submission. The first is that it will find another avenue to display itself, and second and just as equally dangerous is if we are strong enough to get the action under control we become self righteous and begin to judge everyone else and look down on them because they can't get theirs under control and we become self-righteous. 

So now what? What then is the solution? I think Proverbs says it beautifully in 4:23, "Watch your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life." We have to guard our hearts from the attitudes that stir up our actions in self-centered ways instead of God-centered ways. We have to be honest with ourselves and seek community. It never ceases to amaze me at how many Christians think they will one day stumble onto holiness. It's a day to day moment by moment surrender to God. It is full on reliance on the Holy Spirit for strength and seeking out community with those who will encourage, pray and hold you accountable. You have to bathe the attitude in scripture. What does God's word say about your heart. Then confess it, 1 John 1:9 says," if we confess our sin He will cleanse us from it all." (paraphrase) Think on this, don't spend all your time downstream trying to pick out the pieces of trash to make the water clean, instead head upstream to find out where the trash is coming from and stop it there.