I love reading the classics. But I also enjoy movies made from classic literature. And so, recently I’ve been enjoying some old BBC shows based upon novels written 75 years ago about the roaring 20’s. The last one I watched featured a man in New York City who was preaching salvation by means of temperance. He literally offered to save the people in his audience by setting them free from alcoholic consumption.
It made me think of how many different talking heads in our culture seem to offer us salvation if we will only buy into their ideology. Often, such thoughts aren’t even spoken. There is this unspoken understanding that if you are a good person you will jump on the bandwagon, whatever the latest bandwagon happens to be. It’s almost like life is one huge pyramid scheme where everyone wants to recruit you to their view of reality. And if we will only adopt their reality—we can be saved!!! The applications of this kind of thinking are wide and varied. We see it in sports, in electronic gadget brands, in social media platforms. We see it, religiously, in denominational affiliation, in theological bents, in music preferences, in choice of Bible version. We see it politically in conservative vs. liberal, democrat vs. republican, Trump vs. Hillary. We also see it in the news cycles announcing the latest lunacy whether in the form of world leader threats, global terrorism or domestic riots. And every issue has a wrong side and a right side, and every social media post makes use of increasingly inflammatory language to shame opponents. And our country and our world just become more and more divided. And it’s called ideolatry. OK, so I made up that word. I must give credit, however, to my Renton area pastor’s prayer group. Someone was talking about these two words together, idolatry and ideologue, and I had an aha moment kind of like the vintage 80’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercials, “hey, you put your chocolate in my peanut butter!” If you put idolatry and ideologue together you get ideolatry. An ideologue is “an adherent of an ideology, especially one who is uncompromising and dogmatic.” And idolatry is “immoderate attachment or devotion to something.” Isn’t that what we see all around us, people who have an immoderate, dogmatic devotion to the latest hot button issue? What’s the problem with ideolatry? Well, when you are immoderate and dogmatic in your devotion, you no longer see those with whom you disagree as people, but as objects…even enemies! Just listen to the news, talk show hosts, social media. Or, better yet, don’t. But take my word for it, ideolatry is pervasive and it is perpetually feeding the spirit of rage that undergirds our culture (see my sermon from 8/13/17). You might wonder what it is that got our pastors on this topic. Actually, in view of the debacle in Charlottesville, one of our pastors raised a question for discussion, “How do you deal with such things from the pulpit?” Talk about an excellent question for discussion. It was encouraging for me to hear some really great thoughts on this issue. I’m so blessed to minister alongside men of integrity seeking to be faithful to the message of the Gospel in Renton. Not too surprisingly, then, many of the responses pointed us back to the Gospel. All of us agreed that we do not seek to use our weekly sermons as a political bully pulpit. Likewise, we agreed that when the Scripture we are preaching on speaks to hot button issues, we are not afraid to address them biblically. But the message which resonated among all of us was our recognition that more than propounding the latest issue, fad or ideology, our core job is to preach the Gospel. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2:2, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Granted, this can be frustrating for some who want the pulpit to be used to address every change to the news cycle. And it can be an irritant to others who find the Gospel irrelevant. But I must tell you that I passionately embrace this as my calling. I take seriously the charge to keep our focus on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because, guess what, it isn’t temperance that saves, or political party, or ideology of any kind…Jesus saves!!! And if we would be salt and light in this world, we must let this message be what’s on our hearts, on our minds, and on our lips, without allowing secondary messages to detract from what is the one and only hope for this world. “So,” you may ask, “how does this apply to me since I’m not a preacher?” Well, first of all, if you are a disciple of Christ, you are a preacher—because we are all called to proclaim the Gospel. Second, every day you are preaching messages by what you post on social media, by the bumper stickers on your car, by the topics which dominate your conversations. May we not give in to ideolatry, but more and more, may we obey, exemplify and share the Gospel of Christ. Pastor Dan
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Dan GannonDan has ministered at Renton Bible Church, with his wife Debbie, since 2003. Archives
June 2022
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