"Little Children, Keep Yourselves from Idols." 1 John 5:21 Part 3

This is the third segment of my sermon on 1 John 5:21, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols," delivered to Friendship Baptist Church in Mondovi, WI, on 8/9/09.

C. How the idols of the pagans map to our American pluralist culture

1. List of the gods of our culture: 10 gods of the pagan world and how they map to our culture; gods require sacrifices!!

Mammon or Artemis -- Silver and Gold, Materialism

-I begin with this because in some ways it is the most obvious. Didn't Jesus say, "You cannot serve both God and Mammon." People worship Mammon when they think that the only real problem with the world is poverty. They're not just the Scrooges out there. These people may be very into poverty relief, at least on the surface. Judas was like this, right. When Mary pours perfume on Jesus, he objects saying that this could have been sold for a year's wages and given to the poor. But at the same time he would help himself to the money bag of the twelve.You don't have to be rich to worship Artemis. You just have to think that money is the answer for everything.

Molech or Chronos (G) or Saturn (R) -- Success and Time - Child-Sacrifice

-Another obvious one, because we here in the OT about how people offered their children as sacrifices to Molech. Cronos devoured one of his own children. We know that child sacrifices were offered to Saturn among the more barbaric early Greeks and Romans. People who worship Molech, Saturn or Cronos will sacrifice anything to advance their career. They find their fulfillment by being on the top, by working hard. In ancient times it was kings or leaders who would be called upon to sacrifice one of their children in order to please the gods, in order to keep their empire stable, in order to bring prosperity to their land. It is regular for those who try to climb the corporate ladder to be literally owned by their company to the point where children must, of course, be neglected. Many women pursing a career make the choice to kill the baby inside them, because it would prevent them from finding fulfillment in climbing that ladder, or perhaps their husbands or boyfriends are too busy to want children or marriage and so they push them to it. Either way, this is the god that requires child-sacrifice to be appeased.

Chaos: Anarchists, Freedom

-You might think that nobody worship Chaos in our culture, but have you ever heard of anarchists? Anarchists are against every form of order, law or control. Now you might think, I'm not an anarchist, that's those crazy leftists out there. But there is a more mild form of anarchy, that goes by the charming name of freedom, or rights. People who worship chaos say things like, "I just want to be free to follow my heart... Nobody has the right to tell me what to do with my life... I call the shots... I have the right to do whatever I want with my life... As long as I'm not hurting anyone else, you can't force me to do anything..." The problem is that they are hurting other people, and they are hurting themselves. We live in a culture of rebels; we can't stand anybody seeming to have authority over us. So naturally when the Bible says, "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men," we bristle and rationalize this command away.

Hephaestos or Vulcan: Metal-working, Technology

-In addition to being materialistic to the core, our culture is obsessed with our many technological achievements. We worship at the altar of a computer screen; the television is the god that entrances us. People who worship Hephaestos are always praying to him for more of his shiny metal objects that promise hours and hours of painless enjoyment. They are usually using Hephaestos and his creations in devotion to some other god, like lust or reputation or laziness, but they worship him for his benefits none the less. People will often worship Mammon only in order to exchange it for the latest, greatest iphone or digital camera or flatscreen with surround sound. Boys stay boys far too long as hour upon hour of video games steals away their courage to enter the real world.

Hermes or Mercury: Trade and Messenger God, Business, Economics

-People who worship Hermes or Mercury find their value in knowing what's going on in the economy. They may not worship the ledger, as the Mammon-worshipers do, but they are most definitely in the know. These, most often men, have their little sphere of influence and they just love watching the goods go in and out. They monitor the NY Stock Exchange, read the appropriate sections of the paper, and otherwise glory in the work of business. The economic downturn has turned these worshipers crazy, and they will be sure to tell all their thoughts on the current strange doings of their god.