Idols - or - What's Really Important

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent and praiseworthy – think about such things.

This is a verse that sounds easy enough to follow, right?

Right???

I mean, take a look at the list again:

True.
Noble.
Right.
Pure.
Lovely.
Admirable.
Excellent.
Praiseworthy.

Easy.

Unless you are a die-hard fan of professional sports, and can’t sit still if your favorite team is playing: need to know the score, who’s ahead, the highlights, and who won.

Or do you like to watch prime time television – do you have a list of must-see tv, and if you can’t be there, you’re going to TiVo it? Come on, I know some of you are fans of shows like “How I Met Your Mother,” and “Gray’s Anatomy.” What about “The Office,” “American Idol,” “Two and a Half Men,” or “Real World?” Any other favorites?

Do you enjoy listening to the radio? Is it the local rock stations, or hip hop/r&b/popular stations, or even country music? Even when there is no music playing, what tunes do you find yourself humming? What are the lyrics?

What hobbies do you have? Do you enjoy dancing, card playing, video games?

True.
Noble.
Right.
Pure.
Lovely.
Admirable.
Excellent.
Praiseworthy.

Hmmm…..Maybe this verse isn’t so easy after all. What are we spending our time and money on? Take a long hard look at what the big ones are in your life. What do you spend the most money on? What activities do you spend the most time doing? What IS it that you think about while you’re doing these things? Is it true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, AND praiseworthy?

Most of the things of this world that we spend our time and money on cannot and never will fit all of those qualities described. As Christians who have an Almighty saviour who died for us, and rose again so we can LIVE, what are we really thinking about? What are we doing?

How many times were the people of the old testament led away by idols? Time and time again! God had such mercy on them, he sent prophets to warn them, leaders to try to turn their hearts back to the God who loved them and created them, yet they didn’t. God sent punishment to them in order to remind them to keep their hearts and minds on their heavenly Father. Will we wait for that heavenly discipline to turn our hearts and minds back to him? Will we allow our neighbors who have not yet seen or heard the Good News to continue being lost as we focus on our favorite sports, shows, music, and hobbies? I pray that we do not. When will we see that what we think about, talk about, see, and do the most is what we worship, and often we are turning our faces towards the idols our culture is placing before us rather than our God who is the only one who deserves our praise and attention.

As Christians, we are called to be like Jesus, to be his hands and feet in the world. Would we do the things we do if Jesus were in our presence? I pray for myself and everyone who reads this that we may continue to remove the worldly things that are in our lives and put in place of them the things that we have been called to do, the work of bringing souls to Christ!

One day at a time, we can continue to grow as Christians. We may never be perfect, but we are sinners saved by grace – it’s time for us to start acting that way.