The peh Factor
“Seeking balance in a polarized world”
The Last blog focused on the reason behind God giving the 10 commandments to his children... TRUE FREEDOM. If that is the case, and I believe it is, then each of the commandments must relate in some way to the issue of freedom vs. bondage or slavery. Since the 10 commandments are still around today, and since they still shape much of our social behavior, we need to consider each in a bit of depth. Therefore, this topic may take more than one blog.
#1 “Have no other gods before me.”
I have been privileged over the years to have many wonderful people cross my paths. One such person was a man named Chuck Messinger. Chuck was a Presbyterian minister, had served as a missionary in Thailand and then as chaplain at Hastings College in Nebraska. Heath issues caused Chuck to take an early retirement and that opened the door to his participating in the church I was serving in Friday Harbor, Washington.
I was preaching through the 10 Commandments at one point in my ministry there and had just preached on the first commandment. In a follow-up conversation Chuck and I were talking about this commandment and he said, “Well, Paul, you know, there are other gods out there. Why else who God say, ‘Have no OTHER gods before me?’ I am the GOD of freedom. Any of the other gods will lead you into some form of bondage.”
Chuck was right. As I have thought about a plurality of gods it seems important to provide a definition of God. The first and most comprehensive I will share comes from the Westminster Confession of Faith, ca. 1649, and is part of the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Book of Confessions. For over 300 years it was the primary theological reference point for many protestant churches. It is lengthy and each number in parenthesis is the biblical reference from which this description of God comes. If you would like the list of scriptures, I can provide it.
1. There is but one only living and true God, (49) who is infinite in being and
perfection, (50) a most pure spirit, (51) invisible, (52) without body, parts, or passions, (53) immutable, (54) immense, (55) eternal, (56) incomprehensible, (57) almighty; (58) most wise, (59) most holy, (60) most free, (61) most absolute, (62) working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, (63) for his own glory; (64) most loving, (65) gracious, merciful, long- suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; (66) the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; (67) and withal(68) most just and terrible in his judgments; (69) hating all sin, (70) and who will by no means clear the guilty. (71)
2. God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself; (72) and is alone in
and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them: (73) he is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom, are all things; (74) and hath most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, or (75) upon them, whatsoever himself pleaseth. (76) In his sight all things are open and manifest; (77) his knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature; (78) so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain. (79) He is most holy in all his counsels, in all his works, and in all his commands. (80) To him is due from angels and men, and every other creature, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience he is pleased to require of them. (81)
3. In the unity of the Godhead there be three Persons of one substance, power, and
eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. (82) The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; (83) the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son. (84)
Most people in our day and age will not take the time to provide such a definition of God to say nothing of even reading and contemplating the above definition/description. More likely, they will turn to a dictionary such as the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary. Here is a second and much more brief definition of God:
god noun/ɡɑd/
1. [singular] (not used with the) (in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) the being or spirit that is worshiped and is believed to have created the universe.
2. (in some religions) a being or spirit who is believed to have power over a particular part of nature or who is believed to represent a particular quality
3. a person who is loved or admired very much by other people.
4. something to which too much importance or attention is given.
Now, let me provide a third definition/description of God. I take full responsibility for this definition since it is mine. Here it is:
God is the being or substance in life that gives me personal worth. Therein acts of worship, i.e., the offerings of my time, talent, treasures, adoration and praise reveals that which is god for me.
My definition opens the door to clarifying the many things in our lives that can become gods. You might want to make your own list, but common gods can be money, power, sex, position/prestige, a job, children, a sports team, religion, another individual, a newly elected president and the list could go on. Everyone has their “thing” or “things” that can compete for the place of supremacy in their life, the source from which they draw their sense of personal worth. Any one of these things can become a god. Anyone of them can ultimately place us in bondage.
So, the first commandment is the most important. It reminds us to keep our ultimate priority the primary determinant of all other priorities. Let the God of freedom be the One upon whom you focus, the One from whom you draw your worth, the One who defines who you are and how you ought to live. Other gods will attempt to weasel their way into that top position. They will always lead you into some form of bondage.
Have no other gods before me.
#2 “Make no IMAGES of anyone or anything in order to worship them or it…
I am a jealous God, visiting the sins of the fathers on the 3rd and 4th generation of those who hate me, but, showing steadfast love to thousands (of generations?) of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
Images. Terri and I just got back from spending a month in Florence, Italy. I took many pictures of Duomos, Cathedrals, paintings, sculptures, people, vistas, etc. With the exception of people and vistas, all the other pictures have been relatively static in their presentation following their completion. They look the same to me as to the people for whom they were produced and who originally saw them. Think…Michelangelo’s David.
However, with people and vistas that is not the case. Living things are dynamic, always growing and changing. The trees in the pictures were years older than when they were planted. The grape vines were harvested whereas three months ago they were heavy laden with grapes. Some fields were plowed indicating the end of one season and the anticipation of the next. Pictures of the folks with whom we were traveling showed people in their late 60’s or early 70’s. The pictures we shared of our times together were much different than if we had taken them 30 years ago. Hair was more grey and thinner, tummies were a bit more bulky, there were more wrinkles to be seen. People are dynamic.
When I read this second commandment I hear God saying, “don’t make me a static being…a picture or statute that will remain the same forever. I am dynamic. I am alive. I grow and change. Don’t think you can take a snapshot of me and keep me there. You can’t confine me. You don’t control who I am, how I look, how I act, or how I love (If you get this you will experience my love to a thousand generations…). If you think you can contain me then you are seeing yourself as god, not me. I am not made in the image of man. It is the other way around. If you miss this point you will end up in some form of bondage because humans aren’t big enough or wise enough or good enough to be me.” Don’t fall into the trap defined by the philosopher Voltaire, who said: ‘In the beginning God created man in His own image, and man has been trying to repay the favor ever since.’”
Make no image of God.
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