Be careful or you will be enticed and turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you. Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up...
Deuteronomy 11:16-19 NIV
"Other Gods?", "bow down?", surely not in 2007! We're a civilized people, we're intelligent people, we're smarter than that! We bow only at the altar of the Trinity; the Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit. Surely we've learned from our old ways, we don't want to repeat Old Testament history, we know better...
What could possibly become another God in 2007?
I believe it is the god known as "Excuses." It's a god that's not spoken of much these days but the religion associated with this God is alive and appears to be flourishing, catching America by a storm.
I believe it's gaining ground on Christianity due to its lack of commitment. We really don't like commitment. Running a close second to commitment would have to be it's lack of accountability. We don't like being held accountable. With this god/religion and it's two key doctrines of Lack of Commitment and No Accountability, it's easy to see why it's gaining so many followers so quickly!
This growing religion also has a incredible way of convincing Christians to bow at this new god's altar without them even realizing it. They seem to be using the Christian Church to help with their recruiting (very ingenious)...
The conversion process begins with just a simple question. The question is changed on a regular basis so no one catches on to the process. It usually goes something like this:
Would you consider helping with the __________ at church this Sunday?
Would you consider teaching the ________ class this Sunday?
Would you consider being on the __________ Team at _________ church this year?
Would you consider bringing a covered dish of ________ to the Pot Luck Dinner this week?
Why aren't you involved in youth anymore?
Why don't you get involved in a Bible Study?
Why aren't you volunteering somewhere in the church?
Why haven't you given your testimony?
Could you help clean the church this Sunday?
Could you help with the grass at church?
Could you read the scripture this week?
Believe me they have plenty of other questions to keep you off balance! Before you realize it, as they ask you these questions you fall victim to their tactics and start bowing to the god of excuses with responses like:
I quit coming because nobody spoke to me...
Sunday is the only day I can sleep in...
I don't feel comfortable giving my testimony...
I'm too busy...
My kids are already in so many things...
I had a bad experience once...
I didn't get my way so I...
People in the church are just a bunch of hypocrites...
I didn't like the music...
The music is too loud...
The message was too long...
I wasn't getting fed...
It was too deep...
It was too shallow...
When I have the time...
All they do is talk about money...
My kids didn't like it...
They didn't offer enough...
So how do I know so much about this god/religion of excuses? I once followed that god. I once bowed at that altar. I once loved the two key doctrines of their faith - Lack of Commitment and Lack of Accountability!
I praise God, the one true God, that this happened in my younger days! I hate to think what it would be like to be at my age still serving the god/religion of excuses. Why? Because I would have missed out on the biggest joy of my life, serving Christ! Yes, it's sometimes a drag to be held accountable and be committed to something when something else comes up. Yes, there are still some days where I catch myself in front of that Excuse altar again. But, the joys of being committed and being held accountable have FAR outweighed the negatives. Yes, I still have some days that I feel down but the up days far outweigh them. Plus, now that I make up fewer excuses as to why I don't do this or that, I don't feel guilty as much as I once did! I always felt guilty when I made up an excuse so that I could blame someone/something other than my new religion of Excuses.
Be careful or you will be enticed and turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.
