The Golden Calf…

// November 20th, 2008 // My God, My Thoughts

A lot of Christians suffer from what I call “The Golden Calf” mentality,

Golden Calf  mentality is the the process of objectifying anything that is has a spiritual value. A really troublesome behavior that I consistently see is people that repeatedly grab on to the latest concept in spirituality and make that their only focus, applying this “concept” in every imaginable way. If you remember the story of the Golden Calf it tends to not make much sense.  the Israelites had just seen God perform amazing miracles. Only a few days after Moses disappears up in the mountains before the people are bored. They can’t really  wrap their heads around this “bodiless god” thing and so they beg Aaron to make them an “object” to call “GOD”  something to focus on.   It was just too hard to worship … without having a “some Thing” to worship!
Fast forward to today… we are still doing the same thing. We have a building that we use to worship,  I know you have heard “Don’t do that!  your in church! for goodness sakes!”   or “I can’t beleive they did that in Church!”  The idea being that the church building is a holy place and should be treated with respect. The act of representing an abstraction as a physical thing is called Objectification.  As humans we tend to attach significance to objects or places when they are associated with abstract or intangible ideas. The problem with that is when we only choose to think of God once a week then we objectify the location that we go to think about him.  It doesn’t take long for us to deduct that if we are going somewhere to worship God then that must be where he is… (do  you see the faulty logic here?)  we then go even further and feel like we need to go to the place where we always worship God so that we can feel at peace, or hear better, or get filled up,  etc. .  Finally we end up showing up at a location and we have completely taught ourselves that “this is where God lives, and I come here to worship him”  ultimately sealing him off from the rest of our daily lives.
It even gets worse when you bring up the subject of the Holy Spirit, and the gifts of the spirit.  People are naturally attracted to the supernatural, unfortunately since we don’t completely understand the supernatural and because it is a bit intangible and abstract we immediately objectify any person, place or object that seems to be identified with supernatural qualities… even worse we make imaginary boxes and organize these intangible ideas.
here are some examples
  • People learning to avoid taking responsibility for their actions and calling them  ”a spirit of (fill in the blank)”
  • Worship services that seek to generate a “feeling” of “holiness” and people that have to be coaxed into “feeling” the Holy Spirit move.
  • People that flinch or reel when someone of supposed “Stature” walks into the room. claiming to feel the “spirit”
  • walking into a building and saying… “the spirit is here”
  • praying and saying “Holy Spirit come”
The problem that I have with these situations is the process of using each one to promote a false sense of spirituality.   Each of these situations generates “The Emperors New Clothes” behavior,  people mimic their spiritual leaders antics so that they can seem equally spiritual- or too just avoid the stigma of  seeming so carnally minded that they don’t sense anything.   Do you see the danger in that?    The danger is that even spiritual leaders can be fooled into hype by other peers that seek to promote their level of spirituality. If you are a christian the Holy Spirit is inside you!.. He doesn’t need to go “here” or “There”  If there is anywhere that you should feel the Holy Spirit it is “INSIDE!”  Everytime the Holy Spirit interacted with saints  the bible says,  ”then (Name)  being filled with the Holy Spirit (action that they performed)”  What does that tell you…  It doesn’t come! its there!  this is not an “empty, full , empty full” scenario this is a constant state! you dont “CHARGE Up” and then deliver the power… you are filled. and you “being filled with the Holy Spirit”  can live just as fully as anyone in the book of Acts!
Oddly because we are so used to fixating on the physical it is almost impossible for us in this idolatrous age to sort out “Reality” from “Perception”  but imagine for a moment that you lose your hearing and sight,  when would you “feel” the presence of the Holy Spirit?  no music, no moving speeches, no touching visuals to prod you into feeling “Holy”  It is time for us to be honest, to be sober, and to be above reproach.  If you don’t feel anything then say you don’t. It doesn’t make you less spiritual,  It makes you honest! And many times people that are sucked in by the hype start feeling a little foolish, and your honesty gives them perspective.
Look …this is not me pointing at how you act and saying that YOU are idolatrous,  I am saying that we all need to look at our actions and determine if we are creating our own Golden Calf so that we can worship God
The point is to BE REAL don’t ACT REAL.  there is a very visible difference.
Tags: Christianity, God, idolatry, Religion, sin, spirit, taking responsibility, worship

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6 Responses to “The Golden Calf…”

  1. The bald guys mom says:
    November 21, 2008 at 10:25 pm

    Let me be the FIRST to say – that was a fantastic article!!!
    Lots of wildly popular books sell the “new way to feel God” mentality and all the while the same “old book” is living and breathing the truth- we just don’t want to read it and see!

    Reply
  2. Lori says:
    November 22, 2008 at 12:20 pm

    I agree, and have said similar things for a long while. Having said that, I have personally experienced times when His presence just feels closer – although I know He never moves far from me. I know He lives within me. Those experiences are precious and unique, but daily I think the bible tells us to live according to the word, be obedient, pray, and seek His kingdom. Emotions are transient, but His presence, love and mercies are eternal.

    Blessings,
    Lori
    http://www.lorimoon.com

    Reply
  3. Justin The Bald Guy says:
    November 22, 2008 at 7:19 pm

    Excellent article… our world and indeed the Church are incredibly dependent on feelings to guide our knowledge, when logic would dictate the reciprocal. The heart is deceitful above all things, who can know it…look that up, its somewhere in the Bible… yet our culture has infected the Church with Walt Disney’s “just follow your heart” mentality. To me one of the coolest things about Christianity is that it really doesn’t matter how you “feel” about things. So long as you continue to believe.Neither God’s power nor His love is dictated by our feelings, or our spiritual centeredness. God’s power is not subjective… it doesn’t matter how we feel about God’s presence or his promises, they exist and will continue to exist despite our feelings. The first thing I think a new Christian should be told is that the “feeling” of ecstasy after receiving salvation, is not salvation itself… and that one day you may not “feel” like Jesus is close to you, or that He cares, but read the scriptures, they say He is, and He does… and thats all you need to know, no matter how you feel. Read the Psalms, David the great King of Israel, the lineage of Christ, didn’t always feel it, but he KNEW it…

    Reply
  4. timethief says:
    November 25, 2008 at 10:27 pm

    Wow! You are a very accomplished writer and such a deep thinker. I have always enjoyed reading your comments on the forum because they contain food for thought. And, although cyberspace communication is a distant kind of communication I now know why I felt drawn to you.

    Your take and mine are the same. As I read I felt like you were reading my mind or that you had overheard ever time I ranted and raged about the asininity. Who knows? If there had been more people like you in the church I may not have been in such a hurry to leave.

    I’m putting your blog on my reading list and I’m stumbling this post.

    Reply
  5. Robin Easton says:
    November 26, 2008 at 12:26 pm

    Whoa! What a GEM I’ve found!!

    I feel like I was just hit by unabashed truth. Point Blank! And I am absolutely LOVING it!! I’ve not read anything on spirituality this powerful EVER! You are a first rate writer and a top of the line free thinker.

    I feel like you expressed EVERYTHING I feel inside about this topic, only I’ve not had words this clear. If I talk with someone (a close friend) I have the words, but not alwasy while writing. I started to copy bits of this when I first started reading it….so that I could paste them here and comment on them, but it was useless because the WHOLE article — every SINGLE line — was breathtakingly WOW! If this wasn’t exactly how I feel about this topic, I imagine I’d be reeling right about now. lol!! :) I pity anyone who tries to pull the wool over your eyes. lol!!!They don’t have a snowballs chance in Hades. In fact a snowball would have more chance. And THAT makes me VERY VERY happy! Since you have spoken my heart I am sitting here with HUGE grin on my face ready to dance on my desk. :)

    I cannot tell you HOW important this is and that you continue to speak your truth. The world needs a wake up call. Your voice rings clear and sweet in my heart. Thank you Jason for such a brilliantly shining gift.

    A big hug!
    Robin

    Reply
  6. Spiritual Blogger says:
    November 28, 2008 at 9:57 pm

    Wow! A very good article if I may say. I really like your sense of integrity, your sense of boundaries. There was something in particular in your article I could really relate to, and that is to BE and not ACT real. Recently, I became aware of myself attempting to prove who I am and what I know. As if! That’s when it all starts to unravel.

    Your article is one of the most refreshing, original reads I have encountered in the blogosphere.

    Reply

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