Idols of Our Time: What Does the Church Have to Say?

From The Forum Magazine, Fall 2014 - view the full issue here

In his FORUM article, Professor John Cooper persuasively argues that “seeking after pleasure” is one of the key idols of our age. This culturally approved idol mis-shapes lives, relationships and society; but how does the church begin to re-shape lives, relationships and society?

The Biblical framework of creation, fall, redemption and consummation is the larger narrative in which the mis-shaping and re-shaping of lives, relationships and our society is to be placed. Living under the rule of God’s Kingdom is to change how we live life today even as we anticipate that God is at work in forming a “new heaven and new earth.”

I have had the honor and the challenge of preaching on money, sex and power (places where people seek pleasure) to people who expect the church to pile on guilt when dealing with these hot topics. From various surveys it is clear that the message many people, especially young people, expect to hear from the church is that having money is bad, sex is dangerous and power is illegitimate. While this is a simplistic characterization, the preacher who brings a message on any of these three topics is entering into a field of landmines.

What are some ways that the church can frame the conversation so those who have ears can hear? How do we help people live wisely and well in keeping with a relationship with God?

Placing the Conversation Within a Covenant Framework

“Thou shalt not …” is still a phrase that dominates our understanding of the Ten Commandments. People expect the church to say—“thou shalt not” have premarital sex. “Thou shalt not” have affairs, steal or take advantage of people. Good preaching and good pastoral care will place the conversation in the context of covenant. Exodus 20, for example, cannot be read apart from Exodus 19. God rescues His people and then invites them into a relationship. Exodus 20 recalls that rescue and then the framework of that relationship is developed. The Fall has occurred, but the story of God’s ongoing grace continues.

One result of this understanding is that Christians should not expect people who are far from God to act like followers of Christ. For example, when a Christian comes across a couple living together, the first step in the conversation is to get to know them as people before exploring what they know of their need to be “rescued” by God followed by a call to live in God’s framework when they have a relationship with Him. Such a sequencing in the conversation of evangelism and discipleship can make people nervous and you will even hear the statement that we are “soft on sin,” with such an approach but we are in good company. What do you think it meant to have Jesus be identified as a “friend of sinners?” It did mean that he was accused of eating and drinking with them even while they were living a lifestyle contrary to God.

Placing the Conversation Within the Reality of Wisdom

Another avenue to explore is what Professor Cooper identifies as wisdom. Wisdom literature looks at the world and identifies themes for a fruitful life. In our current age that is dominated by post-modernism, we are individualistic in our judgments and focused on our feelings as the ultimate measure of what is “good” for me even if it is not “good” for you.

At the same time, the experiences of others can still serve as a testimony to the created order.

A recent summer television show that our family has watched is “Married at First Sight.” In this reality show, three couples are matched up by four identified experts. The first sight of each other for these couples is when they meet before an officiant. They meet and get married and then proceed to a honeymoon and begin living life together. After thirty days, these couples get to decide if they will remain together or will they seek a divorce.

During the course of this particular show, “wisdom reality” is shared. For example, the show highlights the statistic that couples who live together before marriage are twice as likely to divorce than those who do not live together. Another wise insight is given after one of the couples becomes physically intimate before they really know each other. In response, the experts share that physical intimacy is no substitute and it can actually get in the way of life-long intimacy. There is also a statistic that notes that married persons rate a higher satisfaction in the area of sexual relationships and intimacy that those who are not married.

What is particularly striking is that this show is not on a “Christian” network, but on mainstream television. The wisdom of our created reality is shining in a place where one might not expect it. That wisdom can become the basis for conversations and has even helped me as a parent talk to my own children about relationships.

Another place where I recently encountered wisdom at work was in a New York Times op-ed piece by Arthur Brooks. In the article “Love People, Not Pleasure” (July 18, 2014) Mr. Brooks starts by uncovering the wisdom of a 10th Century Spanish Prince. Thearticle begins by noting the elusive and exhausting search for pleasure. The article goes on to note that the quest for fame, fortune and sexual variety is like getting hooked on drugs; once you have a little of it, you want more. The author then notes that numerous academic studies are under-scoring what faith communities have taught for generations: it is better to give than to receive, and satisfaction does not come from extrinsic benefits like material wealth but from intrinsic ones, such as better relationships with others.

The Church can use the wisdom that is still in the created order to point people to the Creator. 

The Church can use the truth contained in the world to point people to the truth of Scripture.

Placing the Conversation Within "Corrected" Biblical Knowledge

When Jay Leno was hosting “The Tonight Show,” he did something called “Jay-Walking” where he asked people on the street to answer questions ranging from current events to history to even questions on Bible knowledge. “Leno may ask, “Who was the wife of Noah?” Answer: “Joan of Arc.”

One Scripture passage that is consistently misunderstood is 1 Timothy 6:10. In this text, Paul warns that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” The usual twisting of this passage is to conclude that “money is the root of all kinds of evil.” As Jamie Smith has so insightfully argued in Desiring the Kingdom, we are shaped by love and our discipleship is a matter of developing appropriate loves.

As part of my journey of life, I was an attorney in Palm Beach, Florida. This playground of the rich and famous is where I could see six Rolls Royces in a “ten-minute” period while picking up mail from the post office. It was while a member of Lake Worth Christian Reformed Church that I heard a guest preacher “put down” people who owned Cadillacs. What that guest pastor did not know is that a member of the church ran the body and repair shop for a Cadillac dealer. He felt that the pastor, but also the church had judged him and his vocation.

Churches need to affirm that the “love of money” is easy to hide. This “love of money” danger is something for all people, no matter their socio-economic level, to be alerted to and to be discipled about. The church must spend more time correcting misquoted and misunderstood Scripture and helping people understand the fullness of Scripture.

One particular area that the church needs to correct is the perspective that sexuality has been “repressed” by the church. The church can rightfully note that sexual desire and expression is part of the created order as designed by God even as we also note the brokenness of our sexuality since the Fall. God designed sex for certain purposes and fulfillment comes by following that design.

Framing a Picture of a “Better” Life—Full Life vs. the Fleeting Nature of Pleasure

Pastor Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City consistently asks what is “the sin underneath the sin?” By that he means that we must understand what is going on underneath the surface and even the sin we see.

In the case of misuse of money, sex and power as tools to seek pleasure, the reality is that people are using created things to fill an ultimate need— connection to God and to one another. A person may use the greedy gathering of wealth to fill a gnawing sensation that their worth and well-being is not secure. As a result, that gnawing sensation causes them to “gather more” even though the more will never be enough. In an age of anxiety, where will there be security and certainty? In an age that seeks pleasure, where will there be satisfaction? The Rolling Stones sounded the cry—“I Can’t Get No Satisfaction”—but they did not provide the pathway to where satisfaction may be found.

Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-35 provide vignettes into the life of the early church as a community of provision, connection and service to one another. We are still called to live a life as a community formed by God to be a witness in this world.

What is striking about these pictures is that this is a community marked by transparency and authenticity. For the community to meet a need, the need had to be identified and expressed. In our communities, do we hide behind the masks of pleasure? Identifying the idol of pleasure is a first step in helping a community to see clearly that the sin is not “out there” alone, but it is also “in here.”

Acts 4:32-37 is immediately followed by the story of Ananias and Sapphira. These two church people tried to gain a certain reputation by manipulating the testimony that they were shaping about land that they sold and how much they then gave to the church. They were seeking a measure of fame even while they held back some of the proceeds. They wanted the pleasure of a certain reputation for generosity even though they were gripped by greed and turned to lies rather than the Lord. Ananias and Sapphira are found out and they are struck down—dead. The community is shaken to the core. “Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.” Acts 5:11

Idols are deadly. Even idols having to do with pleasure are deadly. As followers of Christ, we need to not only be aware and watch out for idols, we need to warn others about the idols of our time. Witnesses point to danger as well as to grace.