Monday, February 25, 2013
328 - Of Idols and Open-Mindedness
Spirituality
Column #328
February 26, 2013
Current in Carmel – Westfield – Noblesville – Fishers – Zionsville
February 26, 2013
Current in Carmel – Westfield – Noblesville – Fishers – Zionsville
Of Idols and Open-Mindedness
By
Bob Walters
Recently I heard an earnest ESPN
radio discussion about idols and later that day saw an unrelated online post
from a long-ago friend about open-mindedness.
The sports talk was about whether
current basketball player LeBron James would ever be “idolized” to the same
extent as Michael Jordan. My long-ago
friend extolled the joy of living near San Francisco where everyone is “so
open-minded.”
These mixed-context scraps of
cultural commentary combined to create in my mind a sort of inner forum as to
how society assigns “idol” status, what exactly constitutes the state of
“open-mindedness,” and how far away from Jesus Christ have drifted the central
priorities of our common, modern, Western-world conversation.
Not that there is anything wrong
with discussing the relative talents of great ball players; I am convinced that,
as my old friend and pastor Russ Blowers used to say, “God loves to see His
kids play.” And surely, “open-mindedness”
is a central tenet of the bigness of Christian love, intellect, and creativity:
our eyes, ears and minds cannot conceive “what
God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
My internal “forum” considered the
arena where secular public beliefs are formed and paraded. The sports radio guys probably hadn’t thought
past their use of the word “idol” to its Christian definition, “things we
worship that we shouldn’t.” And the
intent of the laudatory “open-minded” observation from the Bay Area was certainly
social, not theological; a slap at Midwestern values, maybe, but not a faith
statement.
Still, it’s undeniable that sports and entertainment celebrities really are idols spuriously worshipped by much of our culture. And if there is a spurious characterization of Christians that my own experience tells me is utterly untrue, it is that active faith in Christ does anything other than open up one’s mind to the enormity of God’s creation. The cultural opposite is to confine our minds to the miniscule and transitory frailty of human experience, social comforts, and pyrrhic, man-made glory.
Still, it’s undeniable that sports and entertainment celebrities really are idols spuriously worshipped by much of our culture. And if there is a spurious characterization of Christians that my own experience tells me is utterly untrue, it is that active faith in Christ does anything other than open up one’s mind to the enormity of God’s creation. The cultural opposite is to confine our minds to the miniscule and transitory frailty of human experience, social comforts, and pyrrhic, man-made glory.
If we don’t have Christ front,
center, covering, and eclipsing everything else we do, the world may consider
us “open-minded” but the truth is, we are chasing idols.
Moody
Bible Institute senior pastor Erwin Lutzer sermonized that “the culture war has
already been lost.” Perhaps that’s a tad
pessimistic, but the Bible does say that even though Christ came for everybody,
true Christian faith would always be the province of the minority (Luke
13:22-30, Ephesians 3:4). Broad culture,
historically and scripturally, is a tough audience for Christ.
Thankfully, unlike culture, Jesus will
never be lost. Our job is to keep track
of Him, worship Him, and keep a divine open mind about Him.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) believes that open minds should not be empty minds.
1 comments:
Thanks to you. I left the church a year ago at which time I engaged in daily eucharist, rosary prayer (group) and occasionally adoration. When the new priests at the parish pulled out the relics and folks were compelled to venerate them I began to look for the door. I've been in a whirlwind spiritually for some time and finding your comments re: what's prophetic or not, in/out fit. I don't trust roman catholic clergy as a rule and I'm of the opinion that we're about to see the 'situation' unravel dramatically. It's a challenge to begin to hear the 'still small voice' but I know that I'm moving in the direction (within), to light a fire in my own heart and share the warmth with those who invite Ruach Ha Kadosh. I've archived this article. Read more
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