Capetonian idols

The bible regularly condemns idolatry, yet many Christians do not think it is an issue in the 21st century. Cape Town contains no shrines to Baal, Molech, Artemis or Caesar. How are we to understand idolatry?

In Acts 17 Paul visits one of the cultural centres of the known world with its unparalleled architecture, art and philosophy. Rather than being over-awed by the Athens’ beauty, Paul is provoked to anger by the fact that the city is submerged in idols.

Anger, by the way, is a very Christian emotion as God and Jesus were provoked to anger by the golden calf and the phony worship in Jerusalem’s temple. Ephesians 4:26 tells us to be angry (at the things God is angry with), but not to sin in that anger.

If Paul had walked around our city, he would have the same reaction. Here are some of our idols that are worshipped as gods:

The money god
We have built magnificent alters to this god for when he finally visits our country in June/ July. We call the alters “stadiums” and believe that when this great god comes to bless our country all will be well. All gods (even false ones) demand sacrifice, and we have sacrificed the basic needs of the poor.

The sex god
The alters are called Teasers and Mavericks. This god is also worshipped in hundreds of brothels, hotel rooms and private studies on the internet. Men sacrifice their families, and their emotional and physical health.

The children god
In DSM4 a new mental disorder is diagnosed: Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Young people are growing up thinking there are god and life revolves around them. Being a celebrity is a major goal of most teenagers. The biggest cause of this disorder is parents over-praising their offspring and always giving them what they want. Parents bring gifts of Playstation and iphones and the child god blesses them with a few hours of peace. Parents sacrifice the long term good of all involved.

The lifestyle god
Work is the alter of this god, and the great hope is lifestyle maintenance. This god demands a big house, two new cars, fashionable clothes and children at snobby schools. We sacrifice family relationship and spiritual growth as there is little time for either.

The comfort god
Comfort and wellbeing of devotees are this god’s great promise. This god may demand that followers move to a “safe” country to be better worshipped. Devotees are happy to sacrifice a good church, extended family, support structures and their Christian witness. Devotees are prone to ignore Acts 17:26 that says the true God has determined the exact places where we should live.

Other miscellaneous gods
Of course, there is the wife god, the husband god, the fame god, the status god, the sport god, the beer god, the TV god, the food god (his name is DEFY), the recreation god and the my possessions god, to name a few.

We, like Paul, should be provoked to anger at these false gods in our city and in our own hearts. Our city is indeed submerged with idols and needs to be confronted with the one true God – Jesus – who is creator, sustainer, ruler, father and judge.


ps. Lets support Bafana without putting our hope and confidence the FIFA world cup to transform and revive our country!

the first mythbusters

In Acts 17.1-15 Paul deals with and destroys 9 popular myths that we are prone to believe:

1. Religiosity can save you
If religiosity could save anyone, it would have been first century Jewish people. Many lived in Gentile cities and held fast to their traditions and distinctives. It is interesting to note that Paul went to these religious types first to tell them about Jesus (v1). Jesus saves, not religion.

2. The Old Testament is irrelevant
Paul explained from the Old Testament scriptures that Jesus was the promised king (v2). The OT people, practises and prophecies prepare us for Jesus and elsewhere in the New Testament Paul explained that the OT was written for Christians (Romans 15.4). The whole bible is God’s word to us.

3. Christianity is an irrational leap of faith
Many of our friends equate believe in Jesus with belief in unicorns. However, v2 tells us that Paul reasoned, explained and proved that Jesus was the promised king. Christianity is a rational, logical, historically-verifiable belief in a supernatural God.

4. Jesus can mean different things to different people
I’m sure you’ve heard your Greenpeace-supporting friends say something like, “My Jesus is far more affirming, enabling and non-judgmental.” According to v3 (“this Jesus…is the Christ”) there is only one Jesus - the historical Jesus of the Bible. Either you are following him or you are following a non-existent figment of your biased imagination.

5. More people will become Christians if we have a Christian government
You might be surprised to note the Paul’s priority (and Jesus’ priority) was not to start a political party, take over the government or even establish a NGO. Paul went around talking about Jesus in order to plant churches. Without negating the need for Christians to be engaged in every sphere of society, including government, we must remember that the only way to transform society is for individuals to be persuaded (v4) to follow Jesus.

6. Christians should not suffer or face hardships
This is a no-brainer. Simply read the New Testament, including our passage. Paul faced more hardship especially because he was a Christian.

7. Your faith is a private matter between you and God
According to the Bible this can never be true. Jesus influences our thoughts, priorities, speech, actions and worldview. V6 tells us that that the early followers of Jesus, in one translation of the Bible, “turned the world upside down”. There is no such thing as closet Christianity.

8. Jesus can be your saviour without being your lord
Part of the charge against the early Christians was that they were “defying Caesar’s decrees, saying there is another king, one called Jesus” (v7). Caesar was venerated as a god by the Emperor Cult. We are not in danger of worshipping Caesar, but we are in danger of venerating modern day “gods” like self, lifestyle and family. These idols are good gifts from God that we are tempted to treat as gods. Gods always demand obedience and sacrifice. We either worship Jesus or another “god”, and if Jesus is not our lord and king, he cannot be our saviour.

9. Preachers are always right
Acts described the Bereans as noble (v11) for two reasons: they were eager to listen to the bible explained and they always checked that what the preacher said was backed up by the bible. In other words, take your bible with you to church!

The definitive sacrifice and scapegoat

This past Friday was especially good. We remembered specifically Jesus' death to secure our ultimate good. For the first time ever I preached from the book of Leviticus in the Old Testament. What was I smoking you may ask?!What drew me to Leviticus was the recent popular denial of Jesus' death as a sacrifice to appease the wrath of God. Jesus is seen as an enlightened teacher from the realm of light, or a good moral example for our children to follow or even the ultimate chinese ying-yang who restores balance to the universe.

The bible, on the other hand, pictures Jesus' death in terms of sacrifice and scapegoat. Leviticus 16 describes what should have happened on the day of atonement. The key words are blood and death. Amongst other violent deaths, a bull had to die to cover the sins of the high priest and his family. Why does God demand violence and death? Should we report God to the SPCA as an animal-torturer? God was teaching the guys back then and us today that sin is serious. Sin is our personal offense to a righteous God. The priest should have his throat slit for offending God, but God graciously permits the animal to die in the sinner's place. The next sin offering consisted of two goats. The lucky one got to live. The unlucky one got his throat slit to make atonement for the sins of God's people. The priest then put his hands on Billy the breathing goat's head and confessed the sins and offenses of God's people. A certain man then lead Billy into the wilderness, and that scapegoat was never seen again. Ever.

The Bible says that this two-fold sin-offering pictures the means and results of atonement, including our definitive atonement through the death of Jesus. Sin is atoned for by a subtituionary sacrifice and the results are that our sin, guilt and shame are removed from us forever. Hebrews 9 spells this out.

You deserve to have your puny throat slit for disobeying a holy, infinite God. If you feel insulted right now, you either have too high a view of yourself or too low a view of God.