I’ve been going through the book of Acts with my
congregation lately. It’s been a lot of
fun as we see the many miraculous ways God grew the early church through the
apostles. Of course the apostle who gets
the most coverage would be Paul. This
Sunday we are up to chapter 14 where Paul and Barnabas heal a lame man in the
city of Lystra and the locals proceed to treat them like gods and they try
making sacrifices to them thinking they are Zeus and Hermes. To their credit Paul and Barnabas would have
none of that. I must admit I might have
been tempted to enjoy that adulation for at least a little while if I was in
their shoes…….. or sandals. Paul and
Barnabas however exclaim in verse 15 Friends
why are you doing this? We too are only
human, like you. We are bringing you
good news, telling you to turn from these vain things to the living God who
made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. Essentially they were saying “don’t’
worship the created (in this case Paul and Barnabas). Worship the creator.” Treating Paul and Barnabas like gods was a vain
pursuit. It was worthless senseless and
foolish. That’s what a vain pursuit is.
We all run the risk of getting too caught up in vain
things. The reason for this is because
God created us to be worshippers. We all
worship something or someone whether we realize it or not. This little story in Acts chapter 14 is a
good reminder to keep our worship where it belongs; on God. So all this got me thinking what are our vain
pursuits? We live in a country with a
whole lot of them. Material possessions
and a celebrity culture are everywhere we look.
I also see it in politics where people can get way too caught up in the
political process and political figures.
In some cases the political process is one’s religion and certain political
figures become their god. Don’t believe me? Watch any presidential election night and
specifically all those shots of the side whose candidate did not win. The weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth
can be a little over the top. It is
almost like they have placed their salvation in their particular
candidate. I’m not saying we shouldn’t
be involved in the political process, I’m just saying it shouldn’t become our
religion. I’m grieves me to say I’ve
seen this take place with a number of Christians. It starts innocently enough with their faith
informing their politics but somewhere along the way things get turned upside
down and there is little doubt that their politics are now informing their
faith.
Another place I see the pursuit and even worship of vain
things or people is with our celebrity culture.
This especially seems to be the case with rock stars. I have only been to one secular concert in my
life. Some friends of mine convinced me
to go to an R E M concert with them back in college. The concert was decent and I had some fun
with my friends but there has always been something that bugs me about
concerts. It just seems too much like
worship to me. At least at most
Christian concerts the emphasis is on worshipping God and not the people
playing on the stage. So I’ve been just fine
with my decision not to attend a secular concert since college. This is just me, and I’m not saying if you
like to go to secular concerts that you are committing idolatry. And it’s not like it’s even a hard and fast
rule for me. I suppose if someone came
up to me and said “Pete I’ve got two tickets to U2 tonight. You want to come?”
I would probably accept. I also hear
Bruce Springsteen still puts on one of the best shows in the business. That sounds like it could be a fun
evening. Still though, I’m sure there
are many at such concerts who would be worshipping those singers and bands, and
the thought of that still bugs me. And
don’t even get me started on the traveling around phenomenon that goes with
such bands as The Grateful Dead and Phish.
So for now I’m glad I have not attended a secular concert in a very long
time. I’m thankful that all of my
concert experiences have had a focus on worshipping God.
I share all of this simply as an observer of the human
condition and I readily admit there are things I need to watch out for; specifically
the Patriots, the Red Sox, and the Celtics.
For now I’d like to think I haven’t put Tom Brady or Mookie Betts or
Isaiah Thomas on the same pedestal as the folks from Lystra did with Paul and
Barnabas. But I’ll still take the lesson
that compared to worshipping the one true God all of these things are vain
pursuits indeed.
