In this time of crisis and uncertainty and fear, everything that can be shaken is being shaken. The things in which people put their faith—the economy, the political system, the education system, and even the churches—have been closed. This is something none of us have ever experienced before.
All of our idols are coming down. Do we have idols in our lives? Yes. An idol is anything that gets between us and God. Anything. It could be money or family or shopping or sports or fame or education or status. Whatever we treasure and consumes us is an idol. It could even be your church. Your idol could even be your pastor.
We must not put our faith in man. We have to put it in God because any faith in man that we exalt and lift up is idolatry, even if it is in your pastor. It breaks my heart to say this, but God shut down the church. The government did not do it. God did it.
He shut churches down so His people would get on their faces and pray and repent. He shut churches down so His people would get in the Word. Most of them are not in the Word, and do you know what they use as an excuse? “Oh, I use my iPhone.” Yeah, you use your iPhone for a lot of things. You use it to surf pornography, but you are reading the Word of God? You are not burning with the fire of God, and God is saying, “I am going to drive you to a place where you are going to have to seek My face. You are going to have to get in the Word. You have no choice. All of your idols I am pulling down.”
The Bible convicts us to the bone of our soul. Jesus said in Matthew 7:21 – 23:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and, in your name, do many wondrous works? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
Now, evildoer in the original means a worker of iniquity, a worker of lawlessness. They are a law unto themselves. It is similar to an invisible virus. Remember what Satan said to Eve? Let me put it in our language today: “Hey Eve, God is easy, He loves you, he won’t punish you for disobeying.”
Do you know what that is? That is exactly the theme of the seeker-friendly church in America. It’s a gospel of accommodation. Churches are accommodating Sodom and Gomorrah to fill the pews. It’s a gospel that doesn’t preach against sin, doesn’t speak about immorality. The immoral feel comfortable in that church. That is why the divorce rate is as high inside the church as outside it.
When was the last time God called you to repent? You tell your stories of success but, friend, a lot of those are self-inspired narratives. By the way, that is an acronym for S.I.N. You only tell the part that makes you look good. You don’t want to tell them the rest of the stuff. I’m hearing the rest of the stuff! And the idols have to come down before God can do His work in our lives.
