Idolatry

I'm realizing that we do in fact worship a tangible idol here in America. It may not be in the shape of a statue that we bow down to, but it does come in many shapes, sizes, and functions. We bow down to our selfish desire for the latest trend or technology. Materialism has plagued America since the instalment of capitalism. We are driven for our unquenchable thirst for more "stuff".

I went up to Hearst Castle yesterday. I have never been there. And I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by what I found. It was going to cost us $25 to get in a bus and walk through a guy's house that he built to try to find fulfillment in the now. He was driven by what he could have here on Earth. And as I stood there, I noticed that everybody around me had the same drive train, me included. To a degree, everybody there, some more than others, wanted to have the stuff that William Hearst had.

But God has called his followers to a different drum beat. He told the rich young ruler to leave all that he had. To abandon his identity. That is, his materialistic idol. Nothing in this world is laying prostrate before but God. That's something that we in America must remind ourselves everytime we watch tv, drive through town, and walk into any shopping center. A passion for the tangible will leave you lonely and wanting more than what you have. Materialism is an ever-perpetuating ride of emptiness.

As Christopher Wright so brilliantly put it, "The worship of false gods is the fellowship of futility, the grand delusion whose only destiny is disappointment."