One
of the highlights for each year is our annual creative arts outreach event,
"Saturday Night Alive." Each year, we focus on one theme and find
creative ways of presenting this theme using drama, dance, art, video and
music. The night draws over 1000 students from the community including many who
have never heard of the gospel before. At the end of the night, there is a
gospel presentation. I've posted this year's one below. Thanks to everyone who
prayed for me before and during the night. It means a lot to me and without it,
I'd be sunk before I even got started. I'll post more on SNA2011 in future
posts, but happy reading for now.
What is the Orb in your life?
The Orb of
Avaskus is a made-up object, but what it represents is very real. Every single
person has an Orb of Avaskus. Joe, Sheldon and Brianna had one. Indiana Jones
has one. What’s yours? It’s your one thing. It’s the one thing your heart
craves. It’s the one thing that you think will change your life. It’s what you
look to for satisfaction, contentment and peace. It’s the one thing you believe
you can’t live without and the one thing you daydream about.
What’s your
one thing?
In the
Bible, the word to describe this is “worship.” We all worship something (not IF
question, but a WHAT question). A
Harvard professor was defined a full and meaningful life as having these four components: (1) Enjoyable
work (2)
True experience of loving and being loved (3) Satisfying recreation and... (4)
Meaningful worship.
How do you
know what you are worshipping? It is
whatever you’re giving your primary attention to (mind), whatever you’re giving
our primary affection (heart) to and whatever you’re giving your primarily
abilities to (body).
For some,
it’s your schoolwork. For others you worship money and material things. Some
worship sex. Or another person that dominates your life – your total attention,
affection and ability go to that person. Some people worship religion (i.e. doing
things to earn God’s favor) and some worship irreligion (i.e. defining what is
right/wrong through self-made morality). Some people worship work; or even
their family.
Consider
Harry Potter’s “Mirror of Erised” (“desire” backwards). It's a magical mirror
that Harry stumbles upon as he's exploring the castle. And when he looks into
it, he sees his parents. Ron - his best friend - however, sees himself as a
high school sports champion. Of course, they can’t figure why they’re see, so
they ask Dumbledore, the headmaster of the school. Dumbledore tells them this:
“The mirror shows you’re the deepest and most desperate of your heart." We
all have desperate desire of your heart; “If I have that…then I’ll be okay.”
What’s the one thing that would make you say that? Whatever that thing is, one
thing is for certain: It controls you; re-directs your entire life. And
whatever controls us is your god; is your king. That’s what worship is.
Psalm 95
1
Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let
us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and
extol him with music and song.
3
For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all
gods.
Why does it
matter what I worship? Jesus was asked this
very question (Matthew 22:34-39)
One day
Jesus is walking down the street, and along comes this guy (lawyer) and he asks
him: “Teacher, what is the greatest command in the Law?” (Torah = way =
life; “What is the most important thing in life?”). Jesus replies, “Okay,
here it is. This is the most important thing you’ll ever learn: Love the Lord
your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. This is the
first and greatest command” (v. 38).
Why would
Jesus say that? Is it because he’s a egotistical maniac? It is for God’s glory,
but also for our joy. The two are not at odds. God
is the only thing in the ENTIRE UNIVERSE worthy of your worship.
If you visit the Grand Canyon in the USA, you don’t say: “Look
how big, awesome and powerful I am.” When people go there they often say
they are in “awe.” There is a sense of humility and astonishment at how
majestic the landscape is, and how small you are. You may say that nobody acts
that way, but we do it every single day of our lives. We take small things
and make them into big things. And in North America, we do that really
well. We take things that are good and
have a role to play in our lives and we
make ultimate and have them play the central role in our lives.
• Money and Possessions: We
all need to use money and to own possessions, but in our culture, it seems
these two things occupy the role of God in our lives: They give
us our worth, value, satisfaction, pleasure and acceptance. We live in a “consumer culture”: It makes us constantly aware of what
we do not have. It constantly tells you that what you have isn’t good enough.;
it’s not fast enough; not trendy enough. Marketers continually push new
items in order to make last year’s trends old news. Our
modern lives are based upon this idea of the “Deification of Dissatisfaction”
(Rodney Clapp), so we keep chasing after things that never satisfy our souls,
all the while, ignoring that which is the only thing that can satisfy us: God
himself. A relationship with the living God is what’s going to satisfy your
living soul.
• Academics and Career:
We all should work hard, be responsible and provide for our family, but in our
culture, we’ve made our career the single most important thing in life. What’s
wrong with this? At the heart is the issue of self-reliance: To assume that you
have the ability to control your life and that whatever good comes your way was
because of your hard work is making a god out of Self. But here’s the reality:
If you have worked hard for your career, God has somehow orchestrated all of
it. He gave you the mind to study hard; he put you in contact with the right
people; he gave you enough money to go to school; he allowed you to walk safely
to your first interview for your job. We should give praise to God and be thankful
to him, but instead we seek glory for ourselves and ignore Him.
• Sex and Relationships:
God created us for relationships and to have sex within the boundaries of
marriage, but instead we have made relationships and sex our gods. Don’t
believe me? Just look at the latest magazine about this topic (e.g. FHM, Maxim,
Cosmopolitan, Seventeen). What is the message of these magazines? If you look
and behave a certain way, you will get the woman or man of your dreams.
Workout. Dress up. Flirt. Talk smoothly. Be daring. Be cool. Be sexy. And you
will fall in love with the right person and you will be happy. These magazines
aren’t selling products as much as they are selling the concepts of love,
sexuality, and success. They tell us who we are and who we should be. You and I
spend enormous amounts of time, effort and money striving to achieve this
persona and feeling ashamed when we fail. And failure is inevitable because
this cannot be achieved. Models in these magazines are flawless (i.e. airbrushed,
photo-shopped, retouched). Cindy Crawford once said, “I wish I looked like Cindy
Crawford.” We’ve people into products that are supposed to make us happy and
complete. And anytime you do - historically - it’s the first step toward abuse.
These
are all surface idols. They are easier to spot. But if you dig deeper, there
are root causes that drive all other idolatry in your life:
(1) Approval Idolatry: “Life only has meaning if I am loved and
respected by ___________” (Brianna’s story, Sheldon’s story). We were all
created with a desire to be loved, but the problem with the person with an
approval idol is they are not ultimately satisfied with God’s love for them and
seek love from those who they deem important. So you will do anything to win
the acceptance of others (boyfriend, parent, friend, etc.). You constantly
worry about what others think of you and your greatest nightmare is rejection.
(2) Power Idolatry: “Life only has meaning if I have power and
influence over others” (Joe’s story). A person with a power idol gains their
identity in competition - the bigger the challenge, the better. Competition is
helpful, but when you want to gain glory and power over all things, that’s when
it becomes sin. Do you have a power idol? One of the ways you’ll know is by
reflecting on how you lose? People with this idol cannot lose, because losing
exposes their deep insecurity. Losing often brings anger towards others or a
hatred of self.
We
spend most of our lives pursuing things that do not last and do not satisfy.
That’s called worship (worth+shape). What we deem as worth shapes us for either
good or bad; restoration or ruin. In Scripture, idols are always pictured as an
attractive mistress that seduces us into enslavement, and intoxication. They
always ruin us. Even J.K. Rowling admits this: After Harry and Ron explain what
they see to Dumbledore, he says: “"Men have wasted
away before it, not knowing if what they have seen is real, or even possible."
Let me give
you a few examples of how these things only damage and distort your life.
God-Substitute
|
Consequences
|
Relationship
|
Repeat
this pattern (1. Find the right person; 2. Fall in love; 3. Fix your hopes
and dreams on this person; 4. Repeat)
|
Family/Children
|
Try to
live vicariously through them; resentment form children; in extreme cases,
emotional and physical child abuse
|
Work/Career
|
Become a
workaholic and shallow person; alienation from family and friends; depression
from poor career development
|
Money/Possession
|
Constant
worry and jealously about money; willingness to engage in unethical
activities in order to maintain lifestyle
|
Pleasure/Comfort
|
Addiction
to “escape strategies” in order to avoid the hardness of life
|
When we
worship something other than God, it leads to enslavement and intoxication.
Even the devil knew this, and that’s why he tried to tempt Jesus this way. If
he had a better tool for temptation, I’m sure he would have used it. Matthew
4:8-10, it reads:
Again, the
devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the
world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said,
"if you will bow down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away
from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him
only.’
The biggest
and greatest temptation in your life is to give you attention, affection and
ability to something other than the Creator who made you.
Do you ever
wonder why some people break up with their boyfriend and recover, while others
sink into constant unhappiness? Do you ever wonder why some people lose money
or their possessions get destroyed, but they bounce back up, while others feel
like their life is over?
The Bible
says what you worship is the real problem.
If you put
your hope and trust in any other kind of love besides God’s love, sooner or
later, that love will disappoint you, because it’s not pure and not perfect.
If you put
your value in money or career or school achievements instead of being God’s
child, sooner or later, that value will depreciate. Something is going to
happen, and you’ll lose it.
What
happens when the Orb of your life shatters?
The answer
in the gospel. The gospel is the good news of Jesus, available for everyone:
That we are completely sinful and unable to save ourselves (i.e. we are
enslaved by our idols because we wrongly find our love and acceptance from
them), but we are completely accepted by God because of Christ’s work on the
cross. The answer is transferring the
hope and love that we place in idols onto God, because God can give us all the
hope and love we need. When Jesus came, he said this: “Repent and believe
in the gospel.” Turn from the idols in your life and put Jesus in the center.
• Money:
2 Cor. 8:9, “For your sake, he became
poor, so that you, by his poverty, might become rich.” When you recognize that
Jesus gave up everything to make you his treasure, you will want to him your
treasure. Money will cease to play the role of security and significance in
your life.
• Power:
Philippians 2 tells us that Jesus “made himself nothing.” Jesus gave up all
power to serve us and to save us. When you see your own sin and the gravity of
it (i.e. you are completely powerless to do anything about it), you will cease
to lust for power. You will serve others and love them even if you do have
power over them.
• Approval:
When God came to earth in Jesus, he was a person nobody wanted. He was born in
a manger; he wasn’t rich; he became friends with those everyone shunned; at the
end of his life, everyone abandoned him. Why did Jesus do all of this? Because
he took upon himself our sins and died in our place. If we truly see this kind
of love for us, then it will shatter our idols. We will stop trying to win
approval from others, because we are accepted and loved unconditionally by God.
Notice
there is a sense of joy to this process. You can’t just repent out of fear. You
repent because you also rejoice. You rejoice in God’s sacrificial love for us.
God gave up his wealth, power and suffered for us. We repent of sin because we
see how much it cost God, but also because we see how much God loves us. That’s
why - for Christians - worship is a response to God’s love. It’s loving God
back for all that he is and all that he’s done for us. Knowing that though you
are completely sinful, yet you are completely loved by God shatters the idols
of our lives.
When we
truly worship God with our mind, will and heart, God says, “I’ll take care of
everything else. You don’t have to worry about it. I will provide. I will take
care of your career, family, reputation. I may not give you exactly what you
want you, but I know what’s the best plan for you and what will make you the
most joyful.”
Where are
you in your journey with God?
1. “This
is the first time I’ve heard anything like this before.”
2. “I’ve
been to church before. I’m a Christian. But I need to have the gospel sink in
deeper.”
3. “I’m
a Christian, and I love God with all my heart, soul and mind.”
You need
the gospel. You need the gospel to sink deeper, and grow wider. Why? Because
our hearts are constantly tempted by Orbs of Avaskus. We think we’ve set our
idols down and reached a place where’s we’re good with God, but we should never
assume that. We have to be people who are constantly working at it and getting
closer to God. We need the gospel every day and every year.
How do I
respond to the gospel?
Belief
that you are a sinner in need of salvation (Rom 3:23). God created you for His
glory, but
in your thoughts and actions you have sought glory for yourself, and in other
things. “The wages
of sin is death” (Rom 6:23a). God’s holiness and justice demands payment for
sin. Do you
believe that?
Trust
that God sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to save you; to be your substitute
on the cross; to win for you all the benefits that He earned from His life of
perfect obedience (John 3:16-18). Jesus died the death you should have died,
and lived the life that you should have lived. Do you trust in Him?
Calling
upon Jesus to save you. Nothing, and no one, else can save (Rom 3:20). Being a
Christian doesn’t mean doing good deeds, going to church, giving to the poor,
or living a moral life. All of those are important, but none of them result in
salvation, because you cannot possibly do all that God requires. Christians,
therefore, repent not only of the bad things they’ve done, but also the good
things that they’ve done from a sinful motive; namely, thinking their good
deeds could earn them salvation. Only Jesus can save. Have you asked Him to?
