Moses breaking the tablets with the Ten Commandments, from the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle.

I think this season is a time of exposure. It exposes a lot of good in the hearts of people. It exposes the evil around us, by contrast. In the marketplace and in our institutions, it exposes our idolatry. More important, it exposes an alternative to all of those which is a life lived by the example and command of Jesus to love our neighbors.

I wanted a graphic for this blog about idolatry and, as I searched, I realized the word had been hijacked by popular culture and the most common items in the search engines were based upon a popular television show that exposes great talent among common people, elevated the winners to the status of a living idol.

The meaning for ancient Jews was quite different. The idols God warned them against were cruel and consuming in contrast to a Covenant God with Covenant love.

Follow along with me if you can. I've woven some old notes into what I hope will be a thread. 

First, since I read the daily papers, I have to unload this. Evil is slapping me in the face daily.

I have studied the problem of evil since I learned to think philosophically, psychologically, and theologically.

I have all the easy answers in a short file.

I have the really tough ones in the question box. We can dismiss it all with the word "sin," but that three letter word is far larger than we think or know.

It is so deep and so pervasive that it requires divine intervention, sacrifice, and planning to correct. At the same time, it requires far less from us when we come to dealing with our own lives.

Sin is so nagging that, even after repentance and regeneration, the Apostle Paul still struggled with its residual effects.

It is simple, but it is not simplistic. It is both human and dehumanizing. It is a distortion of reality, yet part of our daily reality.

Does evil exist?

Some philosophical systems suggest that evil is but an illusion. If it is, it is like the apparition that can frighten someone to death.

Some days, the best I can do is to look at the evil, bitterness, coldness, anger, and bigotry in my own heart, cry out in despair, shake my head, and lift my voice to God, "Have mercy upon me!"

The heart of much evil is the pernicious and persistent sin of idolatry Idolatry takes many forms. The ones we like to overlook are very respectable and sometimes even religious.

The vicious downward cycle of idolatry is that we construct gods in our own image that decay at a rate faster than we do.

In worshiping them, we become like them through imitation, complacency, and decay.

Then, the next round of idol making is more decadent than the one before and on and on until we are worshiping debauchery, violence, and human ugliness as well as our own self-interests.

That is why each generation of God-fearers, must check in with its roots of faith and with the God who roots faith to renew authenticity and ask hard questions about its forms, rituals, and assumptions.

The "old time religion" is what we need — as long as it is OLD ENOUGH and not just built on the errors of the interim-past.

"The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
they have eyes, but do not see;
they have ears, but do not hear,
nor is there any breath in their mouths.
Those who make them become like them,
so do all who trust in them." – Psalm 135:15-18 (ESV)

We are all susceptible to sin and idolatry. We have all fallen, at best, and jumped, at worst into it.

But that is not the whole story. We are more and can be more.

This is the description of a man who is seeking more:

"Praise the LORD!
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
who greatly delights in his commandments!
His offspring will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.
Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
who conducts his affairs with justice.
For the righteous will never be moved;
he will be remembered forever.
He is not afraid of bad news;
his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.
His heart is steady; he will not be afraid,
until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.
He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever;
his horn is exalted in honor.
The wicked man sees it and is angry;
he gnashes his teeth and melts away;
the desire of the wicked will perish!" – Psalm 112 (ESV)

Look as some of the things, among others, that can be said of him:

• He is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
• He deals generously and lends. (An Orthodox friend once told me that lending was essentially giving from his perspective since he did not expect and could not expect to be repaid.)
• He conducts his affairs with justice.
• He lives his life with confident faith.
• He lives, trusting in the LORD.
• He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor.
• The way he lives irks his enemies because God shows Him favor.

A final thought:

We are, indeed, about to enter Advent.

It is my favorite musical season of the year. We generally feel better about our altruistic selves at Christmas.

Gear up for lots of carols.

I am all about humbug for the rush to decorate, buy stuff, sell stuff, and all the other stuff, but I go crazy over the wonderful Advent scriptures and songs!!!!
And I want to continue them until Epiphany and beyond!!!
I am listening now! AND … Just thinking ….What if … What if … we actually kept Christ in Christmas

(I don't mean the government, the culture, friends of other faiths – I mean people who follow JESUS)

I mean, what if we did so by dumping some of our idols celebrated Jesus by loving our neighbors as ourselves?

What if?