Got Idols?

After writing about worship through song, some old thoughts about worship and passion in other areas came back to mind. I have shared this at church and with friends so if you have already heard this I'm sorry to bore you.

Several years ago I belonged to this church in Cleveland, Ohio. It was huge. Like 80,000 people. People would pay to park miles away from the church. They would arrive early and walk those miles in below-freezing temperatures and sub-zero wind chills and never complain. I was one of these people.

They would take the offering before you even got in the building. This was mandatory not voluntary. No offering - no church service for you. As soon as you walked inside they had worship bulletins, but you had to buy them! They charged for communion too. I had a devotional mailed to my house. I memorized all the names and numbers in that devotional.

Everyone at this church wanted to sit as close as possible. There were no empty seats. People would give more in their offering to be close to the action.

Worship? WOW! These people were passionate about their worship. They had a special section for the high praise group. I guess it would be kinda like the choir section. We call it "The Dog Pound" They were on their feet praising, cheering and worshiping for 3 hours. If it went longer everyone stayed! Clapping, raising their hands and shouting with passion in honor and worship to their god.

Their god, my god at the time, wore orange helmets and threw, caught, kicked and ran with a misshaped ball. These gods were professional football players. They really aren't gods they're idols. How can I/we/they be so passionate about something so silly yet have no passion about the one and only true God?

I've caught myself complaining about walking a block to church on a beautiful sunny day. It has been tough for me to put that tithe in the box at church sometimes, but I never hesitated on writing the check out for the season tickets. What is wrong with this picture? The bulletins are free and most people don't even open them. Devotionals? How many are doing that? I bet more men could tell you who ran for the most yards last year than who wrote the most New Testament books. Communion? It's free and we do it once a month. It is in remembrance of our crucified Savior. How many find it worth their time? Ouch. Worship? I remember worrying what people might think if I raised my hand in church. Get real. I ate dog bones and barked like a dog at the stadium. Why do I always wanna set towards the back in the corner? So if the message goes past 40 minutes I can make a quick exit for that long, miserable walk back to the car?

There is nothing wrong with sports or other passions. But if they overtake our passion for our Creator and Savior there is some serious issues. We all have passion and we we're all created to worship. How we choose to use that passion and where we direct our worship is the real issue.