I caught a commercial yesterday that really struck me. It was filled with images of different people and places watching and reflecting the sun rising. Some of the phrases from the commercial were:
“This is an invitation to freedom.”, “You are not mortal”, “You can be free”, “You have been invited”
Doesn’t sound too bad, right? Some additional statements included:
“Man can save his soul.” and “You are your own soul”
This was a commercial for what I would call a pop religion that has become popular in some places, particularly among some notable celebrities. The first statements I mentioned didn’t alarm me, but the second, well they reminded me of how egocentric our society is becoming. More and more, I see beliefs moving towards places where salvation or results or whatever are very dependent on what we do, particularly what we do for ourselves.
This in direct opposition to the faith that Jesus teaches in scripture. Yes, our actions are important, and they can have a tremendous impact on the kingdom of God, but…ultimately…we are to live and work for the glory of God. We are not our own soul, we are a creation made in the image of God. We cannot save our soul any more than our actions save us…it is completely an act of faith and repentance that saves our soul and allows us to enter into an eternity with God.
Listen to the words of Judges 21:25, the last verse of this Old Testament book, “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” In essence, each person had made themself king. I worry that this is a society that we are becoming. Rules, standards, etc. don’t matter. What matters is what I think, and no one else has the right to tell me I’m wrong. What I believe is right so long as I can justify it for myself.
Let me ask you who claim to be followers of Christ this question – Do you believe your Bible or the Bible? What I mean is this…do you read, study, and apply all of the Bible to your life, or do you take those parts of the Bible that match up with what you want to believe? Do you use the Bible to justify yourself, or are you using the Bible to transform your heart and mind so that you might better live in the image of Christ?
There are plenty of places in the Bible that I don’t particularly like. They challenge me and I really don’t like what it has to say about me and how I want to live. There are far too many things about God that I just don’t understand. But, I still have to decide who I am going to trust in and follow. Will that be me? A pop religion? The latest fad/belief/slogan? Or God?
“But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” – Joshua 24:15 (NIV)
“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me [Jesus] will find it.” – Matthew 16:25 (NIV)
