Which "god" do you worship?
Acts 17:23 "For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you."
Paul was in Athens, the center of culture and knowledge in the Greek world. He observed many different idols and objects of worship that had been erected throughout Athens. Then he came upon the altar referenced above.
I think of this altar as the "catch all altar". Its inscription says to me that the Greeks wanted to make sure they had covered all of their spiritual bases. There was some level of humility shown in that they erected an altar dedicated to the god or gods that they might be unaware of. Rather than run a risk of offending one of these unknown gods, or possibly in an effort to be tolerant of whatever god someone in Athens may choose to worship that had not been acknowledged elsewhere, they erected the "catch all altar". The inscription could have just as easily read, "TO ANY OTHER GODS WE MAY HAVE MISSED."
As Christians, we proclaim the existence of a single god. But do we live similarly to the Greeks, worshiping many gods and idols, then showing up at church on Sunday mornings to cover that base just in case the others haven't fully worked for us?
Our society has erected just as many idols and objects of worship as what Paul observed in Athens. Money, possessions, power, control, celebrity, education- these are all idols that many of us, through our actions and conduct, bow down and worship. What we really worship, though, is ourselves. These idols are simply what we have created to pursue our own definition of happiness and fulfillment apart from God. Then we cover our bases and fill in any gaps that may exist by giving God a little attention on Sunday morning. To the extent that our own approaches and pursuits of personal happiness and fulfillment aren't sufficient, we want to make sure we haven't offended God so that we may call on Him if and when we need Him.
We were created to know and worship God. Our lives and our priorities sometimes suggest that we are acquainted with Him in name only, and maintain a very shallow and impersonal relationship with Him at best. We have allowed other idols and our own pursuits to crowd God out of our lives. What would life look like if we pursued God in the same way, and instead allowed Him to crowd out all of the meaningless idols we currently worship?
Stated more clearly, what would life look like if we worshiped God and not ourselves?
Paul was in Athens, the center of culture and knowledge in the Greek world. He observed many different idols and objects of worship that had been erected throughout Athens. Then he came upon the altar referenced above.
I think of this altar as the "catch all altar". Its inscription says to me that the Greeks wanted to make sure they had covered all of their spiritual bases. There was some level of humility shown in that they erected an altar dedicated to the god or gods that they might be unaware of. Rather than run a risk of offending one of these unknown gods, or possibly in an effort to be tolerant of whatever god someone in Athens may choose to worship that had not been acknowledged elsewhere, they erected the "catch all altar". The inscription could have just as easily read, "TO ANY OTHER GODS WE MAY HAVE MISSED."
As Christians, we proclaim the existence of a single god. But do we live similarly to the Greeks, worshiping many gods and idols, then showing up at church on Sunday mornings to cover that base just in case the others haven't fully worked for us?
Our society has erected just as many idols and objects of worship as what Paul observed in Athens. Money, possessions, power, control, celebrity, education- these are all idols that many of us, through our actions and conduct, bow down and worship. What we really worship, though, is ourselves. These idols are simply what we have created to pursue our own definition of happiness and fulfillment apart from God. Then we cover our bases and fill in any gaps that may exist by giving God a little attention on Sunday morning. To the extent that our own approaches and pursuits of personal happiness and fulfillment aren't sufficient, we want to make sure we haven't offended God so that we may call on Him if and when we need Him.
We were created to know and worship God. Our lives and our priorities sometimes suggest that we are acquainted with Him in name only, and maintain a very shallow and impersonal relationship with Him at best. We have allowed other idols and our own pursuits to crowd God out of our lives. What would life look like if we pursued God in the same way, and instead allowed Him to crowd out all of the meaningless idols we currently worship?
Stated more clearly, what would life look like if we worshiped God and not ourselves?
posted by Robert Jory Allen at
4:31 AM
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