August 28, 2012
Aaron saw
how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he
announced, "Tomorrow will be a festival to the Lord !" The people got up early the next
morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they
celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry. --
Exodus 32: 5-6 (NLT)
How quickly we can corrupt the things of God. How
quickly we can forget who He is and seek to recreate Him in our own image. The
key verses are from the story of the golden calf in Exodus. Moses had left to
go meet with God and receive the Ten Commandments. But it was taking some time
and the people got restless. They turned to Aaron, who was leader in the
absence of Moses. Aaron gave in to the desires of the many and asked for their
gold jewelry, which he then melted and crafted into a golden calf.
We see this today in the people of God as well.
God is reinvented through theories of church growth and slick marketing.
Leaders turning to satisfy what the masses want instead of what God wants. In
modern churchianty pastors are viewed as a failure based upon human metrics and
measurements. People think that higher attendance or tithing must mean favor
from God when quite often the opposite is true. Church is not meant to be
community at the cost of Jesus. It is meant to be community because of Jesus.
Let us look at the key verses and see the comparisons to today.
First of all, Aaron saw how excited the people
were at the sight of the golden calf so he built and altar in front of it. The
altar is an attempt to dress up the gross disobedience to God with the
appearance of holiness. We call that religion today. We have too many Aaron
leaders today who are quick to give in to demands of the many in fear of losing
what they lead. Paul warned about this:
For the time
will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their
own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say
what their itching ears want to hear. -- 2Timothy 4: 3 (NIV)
We all may know this verse but note that it is the hearers that gather around them the teachers -- not the other way around. Most people want a watered down Gospel. Most people want to hear about the love and grace of God instead of the wrath and judgment. Most people would prefer to not be challenged about their sins. Most want their ears tickled and yet still feel as if they are ok with God. That was what the people here wanted when they approached Aaron. His job according to his calling was to tell them what God says, not give in to what their flesh wanted. The same is true today as there are too many churches feeding the flesh of the congregants and as always, wrapping it up in the name of Jesus...
Which brings us to the next point from the key
verses. Aaron proclaims after the altar is built that tomorrow will be a
festival to the Lord! There are far too many churches who have built altars to
their golden calves in the name of Jesus. We have confused the power of His
name as somehow being all that is needed to excuse anything that we do. Secular
based programs devoid of Christ in the church? In the name of Jesus! Compromising
the Gospel to reach the next generation? It's all for Jesus! Leaven is leaven
is leaven and according to the Bible it ruins the whole batch. Saying that your
heresy is in the name of the Lord does not change the fact that it is heresy.
There are too may churches today that are building a building instead of
building the kingdom. Holding festivals to the Lord while dancing around their
golden calf.
The next point is that the people will even
sacrifice for their created gods. The key verses say that they got up the next
day and sacrificed burnt and peace offerings to the golden calf. Later in the
story we find out that they actually gave the calf credit for delivering them
from
The final point is that these reinventions of God
will not only be embraced but they will be celebrated! The key verses say that
the people feasted and drank and indulged in pagan revelry. How much pagan
(worldly) revelry do we see in the church today? Plenty! Social media is used
as a tool to brag about the revelry. Prosperity preachers boast about their
private jets paid for on the backs of the poor. Wannabe prophets revel in the
false predictions they make. People are quick to anoint themselves ministers,
prophets or apostles. They run to TBN to promote their latest book on dire
prophecy or self help. Go into a Christian bookstore and browse the aisles. See
the onslaught of books written by famous pastors and how little you will see
about God in the titles alone. But God will not be mocked:
The Lord told Moses, "Quick! Go down the mountain!
Your people whom you brought from the
What are we bowing down to today? What are we
sacrificing to? I understand the need for community and so does God but not at
the expense of Christ. You start with Jesus and build your community or your
church upon Him. Because only He will sustain it over time. If it is a work of
the flesh then man will have to maintain it. How quickly we turn away from how
God has commanded us to live. We wrap it up in the name of Jesus and excuse the
little leaven here and the little leaven there. I know, I know -- I take things
too seriously. I have heard that before. I guess I would rather take the things
of God seriously since His way is what is best for me anyway. I do not want to
build an altar to the golden calf because the calf didn't save me from
anything. Jesus did.
Rev. Anthony
