Skip to main content

Misusing God

I don't want to give a whole history lesson here, but God's people in the Old Testament were somewhat messed up. You might think it would have been different between the transitioning of two of their greatest kings, David and Solomon. But this family, and the surrounding characters, was almost like watching Jerry Springer's All-Stars.

For instance, at the same time David was anointing Solomon to become king (in 1 Kings 1), another of David's sons, Adonijah, was throwing himself a party to be king. When Adonijah heard that Solomon was anointed in his place, he instantly feared for his life. So he went and grabbed the horns of the Altar of God. After talking with Solomon, Adonijah goes homes with his head attached.

At least until 1 Kings 2. Here Solomon finds just cause to have Adonijah killed, along with some other less-than-faithful officials. This is when Joab, an army commander who was less-than-faithful himself, heard that there was some house cleaning going on. So he decides to go grab the horns of this Altar as well. This doesn't work out so well as he is killed right there.

Two different guys, both doing wrong things to men, and both hoping that God would save them from the consequences. Do we make the same mistake of trying to use God to protect us when we do wrong to one another? I think we do.

For example, when we confront others in unloving ways, and insist on our right to do so, that is grabbing on to the horns of the Altar. When we use God’s Word to try to conform others to our home-grown standard of living, that is us hiding behind the curtain of the Holiest Place. When we refuse compromise with our brother because we refuse to see how God could work that way, we are closing our eyes to the difficulty we are creating.

I believe we should run to God and depend on Him. But when we do so irresponsibly, we create for ourselves a false sense of security. In the same way that God should not be used as a weapon against others, He should not be used as a wall of defense that keeps us unaccountable to our brothers and sisters.

Be sure when you grab and hold on to God, it is with one hand. That way you can hold the hand of your brother with your free hand.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Accountable

I recently officiated a wedding. The ceremony was simple, lovely, and ended with another couple professing to keep the covenant of marriage. But it all started with a clarification...from me. At our first premarital counseling session, as I have done with every couple I have agreed to marry, I clarified a couple of matters. First, I officiate Christian weddings, where both spouses-to-be are professing Christians. I firmly believe that marriage is difficult enough, without adding disagreements about God into the mix. Second, as a minister of Jesus Christ, I believe the pastor’s role in a wedding is to represent the blessing of God on that union. So we have several sessions of premarital counseling where we discuss married life. It’s not that I have this imaginary card in my head, with a picture of me on the front and my stats on the back. (You know, like a baseball card.) Ok, I do picture cards. Pastor cards! And being a competitive guy, I want my stats to look good. The number of coupl
Post a Comment
Read more

Patience

I am more than halfway through the last year of dropping one of my children off at school. It's my eighth grade daughter, for anyone keeping track of my family.  See, next year she will be at the high school, and her brother will drive her. He says that it's not cool for seniors to drive their freshman sister to school, but I bet it's cooler than being dropped off by your mom in a minivan.  So rather than groan about this daily responsibility, I've been reminiscing about what the drop-off line used to look like, way back in elementary school. Once our children were about halfway through their elementary years, the drop-off line became a test of patience.  Do you know which group you do not want to get caught behind in the parent drop-off line at an elementary school? The kindergartners. These little ones are barely able to walk, but now we put them in the high-pressure situation of trying to unbuckle their seat-belt, grab their backpack (which might be as tall as they a
Post a Comment
Read more

Jury Duty

I was recently summoned to jury duty. I know, groan. Except I didn't. I had never experienced it before and was curious to see what it was like.   When the day to report arrives, they separate you into groups, asking various questions to decide if you will be selected to serve. Do you know the accused? Do you have conflicts that would keep you from serving? Can you stay focused?  I wanted to answer well, if only because my kids kept wishing me luck the day before, telling me they hoped I made the team. After all, who wants to be rejected? It occurred to me that there are things you probably shouldn’t say right away if you’re wanting to serve on a jury. I know, I know, people don’t typically want to serve on a jury. But that list didn’t seem nearly as humorous to me. Here are the things you probably shouldn’t say if you want to be selected for jury. I hold myself in contempt. You can’t handle the truth. We find the defendant guilty. I believe the judge looks pretty in his robe. I’d
Post a Comment
Read more