Love God and love people. That’s what we’re called to. But let’s be honest. It’s hard to keep these two things at the forefront of our minds, let alone the forefront of our actions, right?
This world offers us a lot of alternative altars to the altar of the Lord. And even the most well-meaning Christ followers can find themselves worshiping at these alternative altars.
1. Success
If you’re a driven, type-A kind of person, you have probably spent your fair share of time worshiping at the altar of success.
It’s a stressful place to worship because it is completely dependent on your ability to perform.
You find yourself worrying that you weren’t the best or feeling unsatisfied when you were the best.
You find yourself on the mountaintop yawning or in the valley crying.
When you succeed, you’re ecstatic. When you fail, you’re wrecked.
Worshiping at the altar of success leads us to seeing our worth tied to what we do (or don’t do). It’s a dangerous place to be.
2. Wealth
Maybe your alternative altar is a little different than success. Maybe it’s called wealth. Maybe it’s tied to your investment portfolio. Maybe it’s tied to your assets.
Maybe it’s tied to whether or not you make more this year than you did last year.
When we worship at the altar of wealth, we enslave ourselves to a tool. It’s like kneeling before a hammer when it’s time to build a house. It doesn’t work out well.
Wealth can be a tool for furthering God’s kingdom or it can be a master compelling you to build your own little kingdom on an acre of land while snubbing the Creator of the 93 billion light-year in diameter Universe.
3. Power
Or maybe it’s power. Some of us would want nothing more than for more influence, more employees to supervise, more ability to “move the needle” of whatever gauge we’re focused on.
Sometimes this isn’t as overt, though. Sometimes we worship at the altar of power by avoiding any and all forms of accountability in the name of freedom. We’d rather be controllers of our own destinies and never needing to answer to someone else for our actions.
4. Sex
Or maybe that alternative altar is sex. I doubt I really even need to say it, but we are living in the midst of a hushed epidemic.
Research by the Barna Group and Covenant Eyes revealed that 68 percent of church-going men and over 50 percent of pastors view porn on a regular basis. Of young Christian adults 18-24 years old, 76 percent actively search for porn.
Additionally, 34 percent of churchgoing women said they have intentionally visited porn websites online.
If you spend any time worshiping at the altar of sex, please understand: it is destroying your relationships, your marriage, your brain, and your REAL-LIFE sex life with your spouse.
Objectifying God’s creation always leads down a path of destruction.
[source]
5. Entertainment
Another alternative altar may be entertainment.
Worshiping at this altar can feel very innocent. But it’s the hours we devote ourselves to scrolling, watching, scrolling, watching, that makes it worship.
For some of us, God is calling us to something and we are snubbing that call because we can’t escape the grip of Netflix or YouTube.
If you have an iPhone, they did an update recently where it will show your screen time usage. If you’ve looked at it, I’m sure you’ve had a similar reaction to that as I have… I spend WAY too much time on my phone.
If I were to spend less time in the noise, I’d be able to spend more time with my Heavenly Father.
6. Politics
And the last alternative altar I’ll bring up may be the one that is the most in your face. Politics.
There are many political issues that the church should probably speak to more often, but let me make something very clear.
Partisan politics is no game for a Christ follower to play.
Some of us get so fired up about our side winning or being heard that we sacrifice love for people on the altar of politics.
Look back at your social media page. How much are you going off about partisan politics compared to making Jesus known? What about in your day-to-day conversations with coworkers or classmates?
Friend, worshiping at the altar of politics is not what we’re called to.
Politics is not the Savior. Capitalism is not the Savior. Socialism is not the Savior. America is not the Savior. The constitution is not the Savior. Progress is not the Savior. Congress is not the Savior. The courts are not the Savior.
The Savior is King Jesus, the King over all politicians, political parties, political systems, institutions, and countries.
Loving God Means…
My friend, we are called to love God and love people. This is the most important decision we will ever make in our lives. And it’s a decision we must make every time we wake up and after every breath we breathe.
Loving God means worshiping at His altar.
When we worship God at His altar and lay aside these alternative altars that are offered to us on a silver platter, it changes how we approach those things.
Instead of worshiping at the altar of success, we can have a healthy view of success where we see a successful life as a faithful life.
Instead of worshiping at the altar of wealth, we can have a healthy view of wealth and use it as a tool to invest in God’s kingdom work through His Bride, the Church.
Instead of worshiping at the altar of power, we can have a healthy view of power and see that Jesus always calls us to take the posture of a servant. Always.
Instead of worshiping at the altar of sex, we can have a healthy view of sex and see it as a good gift from God to be enjoyed between you and your wife and that is it because outside of you two, it can quickly turn into a deadly poison.
Instead of worshiping at the altar of entertainment, we can have a healthy view of entertainment and engage in it intentionally rather than automatically.
Instead of worshiping at the altar of politics, we can have a healthy view of politics and work to influence our culture with gospel ideas in gospel ways. Because for Christ followers, our ends are the same as our means—Love God and love people.
Loving God means worshiping at His altar.
Let’s worship there.
Want more?
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