I once heard the story of a young Olympic athlete telling his coach how badly he wanted to win a medal in the Olympic competition. The athlete went on at some length saying that "having a medal would make my life so great, it would give me so much fulfillment." After listening for a time, the coach said, "Young man, if you're not fulfilled without a medal, you wont be fulfilled with one." It's a helpful statement, the kind that separates the clutter from our ambitions, fulfillments, and idols.
I have come to see that God does not encourage idolatry in our lives. (Hope you appreciate the understatement there.) I have also come to believe that our lives, even among long time Christians, are full of idols. The thing is, idols become more subtle as we keep on in the Christian life. The subtlest of all, are idols that come in the appearance of faith. Sometimes, even praying for miracles morphs into seeking idols. More on that in a moment.
God being God, he is the one true source of life, hope, joy, meaning, freedom and identity (I'm going to call this list LHJMFI) and he jealously desires these things for his children. And anything that might impinge upon them is something that he will seek to prevent. And it's idols, of all kinds, that are the main thing that keep us from the full LHJMFI that God alone gives us. Idols lead us to devote ourselves to things other than God, and nothing other than God gives us the LHJMFI that God gives.
This brings us to one of the rigorous matters in the life of faith, and it comes in the form of a vast question: "Am I devoted so to God, that God is all that I desire?" Yeah, this is a "big boy faith" kind of question. The reason the question is important is because it leads us with a laser focus to the only one who is our LHJMFI. If we are looking for anything from him as a way to be happy rather than looking for him as the way to be happy, we are heading toward idols. Idols will keep us from God and keep us from LHJMFI. Okay, now you ready for this next point? Generally if we're looking for LHJMFI, and this is our highest goal, and we are seeking God so we will find these - then, you guessed it, they are our God and god has just become a tool we use to try to get these. So you're thinking, "So David what you are saying is that our goal is to seek God and nothing else?" The answer is yes. Then, when we get honest, we ask, "How to do I do that? What does that even mean?" Good question, I ask it too, and it makes me think that perhaps what I've been calling God is just that thing, that being that is supposed to give me LHJMFI. In this case God isn't God, LHJMFI is. Welcome to the challenge of the journey.
Recently I heard someone say, "We're believing God for a miracle." I appreciate this heart and hope. This sounds like a very devoted thing to say. But it can be murky. The whole question of miracles is quite murky for that matter. Well, since the conversation I've thought a lot about it; "If you're believing God for a miracle, are you believing God without a miracle - if you don't get one? Because if 'believing God for a miracle' means you will not be believing him if you don't see a miracle, the miracle has become an idol. And God generally does not answer our prayers when they lead us to idols." Furthermore, "believing God for a miracle" can in some cases mean "we'll only believe if we see a miracle," or "the belief I have will be reduced if I don't see a miracle." Do you see the subtle way this puts God in box and "challenges" him to perform? This is a way such praying can turn into an idol prayer if we are not clear about it. I imagine that the only time praying for a miracle is not an idol, is if I would believe God no less if there isn't one.
Sometimes we read where Jesus said, "Anything you ask in my name, will be given to you." What a mysterious thing to say. It begs the question "what does in his name really mean?" Surely asking for a miracle is asking for something in his name - right? Maybe, maybe not. It might depend on the how much idol is in your miracle. I'm inclined to think "If I'm not fulfilled with God without a miracle, in short time, I wont be fulfilled with God with a miracle." Kind of like the olympian and the medal.
In the scriptures, God told Abraham, "I am your very great reward." This statement clears the decks of idols if we understand it. It means that God alone is what we're looking for. Not what he'll do for us, not his miracles, not LHJMFI, not any other thing. These are just knock offs from the fullest joy - which is God himself.
One of the church fathers said, "He who has God, has everything. He who has God and everything, has nothing more than he who has God."
