gods of our own making

A couple of my favorite keepsakes are hand-crafted fishing lures made by my Uncle Carlos and given to me when he died last year.  An avid angler, he loved to cut, shape, paint and tie little masterpieces to cast into the water and reel back in with dinner – or a nice wall trophy – attached.  He built them with passion, displayed them with pride and used them with prowess.  But there is one thing I never saw him do.  He never bowed down before his tackle box and worshiped the work of his hands.

Now you might think, "Of course not.  That would be crazy."  But when you read Habakkuk's description of the Babylonians, the concept doesn't seem so far fetched.  He brings all of them up with a hook; he drags them out with his net; he gathers them in his dragnet; so he rejoices and is glad.  Therefore he sacrifices to his net and makes offerings to his dragnet; for by them he lives in luxury, and his food is rich. (Habakkuk 1:15-16)

The worship of idols is a nearly universal practice, even among those who don't keep little statues around the house.  For in reality, an idol is anything to which I ascribe more value, and therefore treat with more admiration and devotion, than God.  And some of the most common idols in our civilized societies are indeed the works of our hands and the tools of our trades.

Sometimes I like to fancy myself a "professional musician."  After all, part of my employment is leading worship.  But if I'm not careful, I can end up spending all my time focused on the process of crafting a perfect worship experience, or dreaming about the next shiny six-stringed idol I'm going to hang on my wall, and lose sight of God Himself.

The gifts and abilities God has given us, along with the resources we use to do what He has called us to do, can be a source of great enjoyment.  But they must always be implements  to facilitate worship and never objects of worship themselves.  After all, I'd look pretty silly bowing to an amplifier… even if it does make me sound pretty good sometimes!