– By Olumide Goodness Adeyinka
“And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, …Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. … And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten CALF: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it;..” Exodus 32: 1-5
This is a scripture that totally captures my thoughts on this topic. Moses here is a typology of Christ (Moses brought the law, Christ brought grace and truth) and the people of Israel are the present group of Christians and the wilderness is the Church.
When Idols are mentioned most of us think we must be talking about images that are worshipped by the uncivilized heathens, but Apostle Paul defines Idol as just anything that takes preeminence in our hearts and thoughts. If there is anything that substitutes God in our hearts, then it is called Idol.
“Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry”. 1 Cor.10: 14
“Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen”. 1 Jn. 5: 21.
Paul and John never wrote these scriptures to the heathen or unbelievers, they were letters of admonition to established believers in the Churches, then and in the present day and age.
Back to the original text, Moses, just like Jesus seems to tarry from returning after he left and promised to come back, and the multitude in the church are getting wearied and apprehensive of His return. So what we have now is the same situation that happened in the book of Exodus, where those who have the privilege of “assisting” Christ or His lieutenants in the name of Pastors, Bishops and Elders (Aaron) are simply looking for how to get the people committed and excited with alternatives. The alternatives are numerous in these days unlike what happened in the wilderness.
The first major lesson of life here is not that they built a Calf. No! How did they gather the materials that were used in building the Idol? It was the people that sought for an alternative to God. They had always seen Moses as a representative of God, and so true because God made Moses god to the people. Now they wanted something else to stand as God before them. They asked Aaron for an alternative to Moses. So the Church of Christ has been asking for alternative to Christ. Aaron simply did what they asked for, but with a little twist.
Aaron had a wide range of choices for material for an Idol. He could have used wood or bricks or dedicate a river or assume one himself, however, he asked for something that is important to note.
Aaron asked the people to submit what God gave them as the reward of Four hundred and thirty years of harsh servitude in Egypt. God stripped Egypt “naked” of all its gold to shower Israel with a blessing that generations should meet. That was what Aaron asked for from Israel, their fortune and inheritance, their means and reward of labor, their sustenance if you will. “Gold” has always been the price for Idol. Aaron got it from all the people. Husbands and wives, and the children had to submit it by will. Hey! That is a whole family stripped of their well being in order to have an Idol to stand for God. Finally Aaron made a molten Calf with a TOOL.
What a lot of folks who thronged the Churches do not know is how much they have been stripped of their livelihood by the TOOLS of their Aaron into making a CALF as their God. Remember, the cost is your gold- your money and reward in life for your struggles. These days Pastors and Bishops don’t struggle anymore in asking for gold from the people. Even in very serious economic situations, the people are so gullible to still drop all their gold in the name of sacrificial offerings for some projects that are purely IDOLS of the heart of the leader. Preachers now wants to build the largest Church auditorium in the world, they want to have the biggest Jets around and ride the best cars in the midst of their pairs. Unsuspectingly, the gold for all this ungodly projects comes from the people whose resources are still less than what is required to meet the basic. They also willingly give all in the deceit that God must need it so badly.
The worst of the IDOL that people helped build in the Church today is Human Image. I have been to places and have seen with my eyes how people fall on each other to behold ordinary men who they call Pastors or Bishops. I have seen where people get so wild and hysterical to behold “Man of God” who also gets bemused with all the attention on him. So he gets so embolden in the error of his image and simply jump into apostasy and total heresies. Idolizing a pastor, teacher, evangelist, musician, etc has become part and parcel of what is now known as Churchianity. These Church leaders accept their worship as an idol as a prerequisite doctrine of their existential value to the people. It is a reward for their fervency in prayers, in devotion and piety, yet they lack all of these qualities and some of their immediate followers know this.
Honestly these guys have the TOOLS of the trade. They are gifted and able with natural endowment and sometimes with spiritual abilities to earn the respect and admiration of their followers. With all their gifts, they are just Foxes within the sheepfold. The issue has never been the gift but the Giver of the gifts. In the Church today, gifts are celebrated far beyond the Giver. In some cases, the Giver of the giftings is not in any way, shape or form regarded except by mere mention. The name Jesus Christ is mentioned everywhere in these Church congregations but the inner recess of piety and total devotion to building men instead of earthly structures is consumed in total disregard to the Bible. A lot of the leaders in our so-called Churches are like the Kings of Gentiles who rule with iron fists and lord it over the people. Jesus made it clear that His ordained leaders will be servants who serve the tables. Matthew 20: 25-28.
What I have personally found worrisome is the love that the pews have for the pulpit. It is an infernal love of servile submission to their gaudy and colorful showiness. I have met people who could die for the very obvious unscriptural lifestyle of their pastors at the expense of wisdom and understanding. I have met people on social networks and in life who will sacrifice their liberty to applaud clear purloining of their resources. Remember their TOOLS are sharp and their desire is the GOLD in order to make an IDOL that will eventually puts you in jeopardy of life and eternity. Remember also that YOU helped in contributing to the making of the Calf.
Why would anyone revel in the structure of the auditorium or the size of the congregation or their pastor? Where is the place of rejoicing in the how many branches your church has or the number of exotic cars and jets your pastor rides? Some rejoice in the eloquence of their leader while other gets hysterical about seeing the pastor or touching him.
If you see your pastor as bigger than life or qualify his spiritual size as above love, and his salvation above grace then you also have an idol built in your heart. Your total submission and loyalty must be to Christ in God, not ANY mortal man no matter what.
Search your heart as you read and FLEE from every form of Idolatry. If anything separates the Church in your heart, it will definitely be an idol. The name of your church or your pastor should not separate you from the universal Church.
Olumide Goodness Adeyinka can be contacted at nigardgroup@yahoo.com