Confronting Idols

I first heard about The Gospel Coalition when I attended Redemption Hill Church a couple of weeks ago. Simon Murphy, the pastor there, was sharing about God had miraculously provided a way for him to attend the conference (it's a long story, so I won't repeat it here).

Then I saw Dan Phillip's post on Team Pyro about Tim Keller's sermon on “The Grand Demythologizer – The Gospel and Idolatry”. Of course I had to download it (and all the rest of the sermons). I've just listened to it, and I find it surprisingly relevant for these days.

He takes as his text Acts 19:23-41:

About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions in travel. But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

Sounds like the AWARE meeting that's going to happen tomorrow, doesn't it?

Anyway, the message was about confronting, exposing and destroying the idols of our day. As Christians, we are, as salt and light, to affect the culture around us. The early church turned the world upside down! The notes on the sermon are available here, but you really need to HEAR it.

Here's an excerpt:

When idols are opposed, it's dangerous. Idols are violent. Through idols, the powers and principalities control us. If you oppose them, you take your life in your hands. Paul risked his life to oppose them; he rested in Jesus, who had already given his life to defeat the principalities and powers.

For Christians, the issue involved in the AWARE debate is about exposing, confronting and destroying the idols of OUR society (and I'm NOT talking about homosexuality). Someone commenting on the ST forum has described one of these idols quite eloquently - political correctness:

Today, it is fashionable and politically correct to make statements like, “I have nothing against homosexuals”, “In a multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural society like Singapore, we must be open to alternative ideas and lifestyles”, “We must be tolerant, non-judgemental and inclusive”, and “We should not discriminate”.

The majority in our society have allowed themselves to be cowered into a corner by the minority because they have been lulled into a sense of “non-thinking”. The AWARE saga provides an opportunity for the majority to wake up from a self-induced slumber. Alas, this may not be taken up, judging from the responses to the saga so far. Both camps are careful to toe the line of political correctness.

Our being inclusive, tolerant, non-judgemental will be looked upon by posterity as cowardice, especially in the light of the intolerance of advocates of ‘tolerance’, the judgementalism of those who cry foul of the ‘judgements’ of some who speak out against the sins in society , and the exclusivity of those who eschew ‘inclusivity’.

Since when is it uncivil to hold on to an idea and to actively defend it? It is logical for someone who accepts moral absolutes to make a statement like, “It is wrong to steal.” For someone who declares himself to be a relativist, it is inherently wrong to make such a statement. In any case, he makes it anyway, and very loudly at that. If the majority in our society continues to revel in their ‘liberated thoughts’, the day will come when it is politically correct and fashionable to say, “I Have Nothing Against Heterosexuals!”. (Homosexuality, Lesbianism, Bestiality, Same-sex marriage and Polyamory will be commonplace).

Do have a listen – it's worth your time.