The Face of American Church Idolatry

I have used this blog to rant before, and have been trying for a long while to stop doing so. Unfortunately, today I cannot hold it in, so here's some idolatrous actions I have been seeing in the church lately and am no longer able to keep silent about.

Modern idolatry can look like this, based on some ludicrous belief in the American church that we need more and more and more people in our buildings. It is the idol of success, and causes churches to sell the gospel short. This most often results in finding business strategies that churches attempt to then use for their "business" with no theological questioning as to whether or not what they are doing is actually glorifying to God. It is the need to pull more people into the church building with the underlying assumption that God is not doing his end so we need to. In the process, the church spends all or most of its money on itself and builds larger and larger buildings while completely neglecting its biblical calling. It is not a church of prayer, discipleship or justice. It is a church of large numbers. This is the idol of attendance.

As always, there's those who would just sell out the gospel completely, either for finanical gain or the unending desire for more people in their buidlings. These people look like this or this. These are the preachers who tickle the ears without ever challenging their listeners to take up their cross and die to themselves. They worship the idol of money and preach to worshippers of self, who only want more of themselves, improved, better looking and richer, but never more of Jesus.


Of course, there is also one of my classic favorites, the 10-10-80 plan. This is the age old idol of wealth and I have heard it preached more times than I care to admit. It is the strategy to invest ten percent, tithe ten percent, and live off of eighty percent. The justification I hear for it typically comes from Proverbs. If pastors were thinkers at all they might ask questions about this plan. Questions like: Don't I believe Proverbs is written by Solomon, a man whose wealth caused him to fall far away from God? Or, Isn't the reason I am preaching only out of Proverbs because Jesus' financial plan was to sell all my possessions, give the money to the poor, and trust him for my food and clothes? But sadly neither question seems to be asked. This is the idol of wealth, and it has corrupted the American church to the point where it sometimes seems there is not even one who remains faithful.

Lastly, there is the idol of country. Some of my students just the other day were telling me how they had to explain to their teacher that America is a Christian nation. The debates rage on about the same thing all over the country. The problem, of course, is that after Jesus, following YHWH became international, and our citizenship became that of the Kingdom of God. Yet so many seem to forget that and still display corny bumper stickers relating faith and country, not realizing that they cannot have both. The idol of America continues to put country ahead of faith, and trivializes the gospel.

I wish this were the twighlight of the idols, but the church seems intent on its idolatry and I do not think it is going to change anytime soon. It is a time for prayer.

Peace,
Matt