American Idolatry: The Golden Calves and High Places of the American Church
The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
-John 4:19-24, ESV
Last time, I argued that the Catholic practice or praying to Mary is idolatry. Improper worship abounds in Protestant churches too, enough that the god who is worshipped in many American churches today is not the God of the Bible, so the Jesus whose coming we celebrate in this Advent season would be unwelcome in many American churches. This post will look at that prevalent form of idolatry—the worship of the god of our imagination rather than God as revealed in Scripture—which is much worse than praying to Mary.
American Idolatry
Before looking at the specific idol in question, we need to a refresher on idolatry. We commit idolatry when we put anyone or anything in place of God, including a mental image of God that does not align with Scripture. As a result, we are constantly at risk of creating new idols:
Hence we may infer, that the human mind is, so to speak, a perpetual forge of idols….The human mind, stuffed as it is with presumptuous rashness, dares to imagine a god suited to its own capacity; as it labours under dullness, nay, is sunk in the grossest ignorance, it substitutes vanity and an empty phantom in the place of God. To these evils another is added. The god whom man has thus conceived inwardly he attempts to embody outwardly.
-John Calvin trans. by Henry Beveridge, Institutes of the Christian Religion III, 1845 (orig. 1581): chapter 11, paragraph 8.
When we imagine God differently than how Scripture describes Him, we are actually forging an idol in our minds. Idolatry begins in our minds when we exchange the truth of God for our own “truth”: “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” (Romans 1:22-23). Because of this exchange, God gives people over to various dishonorable passions, most notably homosexuality (Romans 1:26-27). When people abandon the fundamentally-different God in exchange for gods resembling themselves, is it any wonder that they proceed to abandon the fundamentally-different opposite sex in exchange for what is the same?
That is exactly what many American churches have done. They have abandoned the God of the Bible in exchange for a god that was created in the mind of man and resembles man. When discussing theological illiteracy, we saw that many have erroneous views of God. Contrary to Scripture they think that He makes mistakes, changes, and is largely absent. They deny Jesus’s divinity and see the Holy Spirit as an impersonal force. And since many believe that our God is the same as the god of the non-Messianic Jews and Muslims, they think He accepts any and all worship. As a result, they teach an overly-simplistic version of God: that God is love—and not much else. They have no concept of His holiness, righteousness, justice, and wrath. As a result, many people view God as the harmless and lovable grandpa who could never hurt a fly, much less condemn anyone to hell. This modern false god is safe and easy to approach, which is just as idolatrous as the opposing view we discussed last time: that God is unapproachable. But that weakness makes this god very unsafe, for a harmless god is a worthless shelter. Only the true God who is omnipotent, holy, just, jealous, and wrathful can give us true comfort and shelter. For believers, all of God’s attributes work in our favor, so Christianity would be worthless without them. The defanged god of the American church is worthless: he is no god at all, so there is no reason to fear him. Unsurprisingly then, there is no fear of Godin most American churches. And since the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom (Proverbs 1:7, 9:10), many churches have succumbed to folly.
The modern view of Jesus is similarly worthless, lacking any semblance of power. As we discussed recently, the church at large (like society) has become very effeminate, so the resulting depiction of Jesus has become effeminate as well: a hippy with fair complexion, long hair, and soft clothing. In many “worship” songs, Jesus is portrayed as the doting boyfriend. As a result, it is often difficult to differentiate worship songs from pop love songs, especially with lyrics involving sloppy wet kisses.[1] Many misunderstand “gentle Jesus meek and mild”, forgetting that gentle doesn’t mean docile and meekness means immense strength restrained by self-control—i.e., ideal masculinity. Most people couldn’t imagine Jesus with a sword (Matthew 10:34) and a robe bloody from trampling His enemies (Revelation 14:19-20, 19:15 cf. Isaiah 63:3). They would be appalled to know that it was the pre-incarnate Christ (the Angel of the LORD) who annihilated 185,000 Assyrian soldiers (2 Kings 19:35, Isaiah 37:36). But that is exactly what Scripture says about Jesus Christ, so if you cannot imagine Jesus ruling the nations with an iron fist (Revelation 12:5 cf. Psalm 2:9), you are worshipping an idol erroneously called “Jesus”. Churches that teach these things are committing idolatry and leading their people to commit idolatry. They have exchanged the distinctiveness of God for the sameness of a god made in their own image (Romans 1:24-27). Just as the lack of commitment to the local church could be considered spiritual adultery, worship in many American churches could be considered spiritual homosexuality. Since none who unrepentantly practice homosexuality will enter heaven (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Ephesians 5:5), those who practice this spiritual homosexuality shouldn’t expect to enter heaven either. But this is nothing new.
Golden Calves and High Places
In many ways, the church’s idolatrous false god made in man’s image is a modern golden calf. In Exodus 32, as Moses was on Mt. Sinai receiving the Law from God, his brother Aaron made a golden calf for the people to worship. Bearing some resemblance to the true God, the calf is credited with rescuing them from Egypt (Exodus 32:4) and given the sacred name of God (Exodus 32:5), so this was an attempt to worship the true God. But being uniformed by the truth of who God is, the calf ended up reflecting some attributes of God but many attributes borrowed from pagan gods. As punishment for this idolatry, Moses obliterated the idol and the Levites slaughtered three thousand of the idolaters (Exodus 32:20,28-29).
But that wasn’t the end of the golden calf. In the wake of the rebellion I alluded to recently, the northern kingdom of Israel was ruled by Jeroboam. In order to prevent his people from defecting to Judah to worship God as HE had commanded, Jeroboam set up golden calves at Dan in the north and Bethel in the south—complete with priests and feasts “devised from his own heart” (1 Kings 12:25-33, 2 Chronicles 11:13-18). This sin of Jeroboam became the litmus test for all of the kings of Israel. They all followed him in this sin until Omri surpassed him (1 Kings 16:25) and Ahab abandoned God entirely in favor of Baal (1 Kings 21:25-26). Ultimately, Jehu did away with Baal worship but not the golden calves (2 Kings 10:28-29). In fact, the calf at Bethel remained until Josiah (the last good king of Judah) destroyed it and burned the corpses of its priests upon its altar (2 Kings 23:15). But while the golden calves are long gone, this sin of Jeroboam remains alive and well. Every church that worships the harmless and effeminate cultural caricature of God or refuses to use God’s chosen pronouns is following Jeroboam. Every church that teaches the Prosperity Gospel in which God is nothing but a dispenser of earthly blessings is following Jeroboam. Every church that rejects God’s definition of sin—whether refusing to call out sin like liberals or calling sin what God does not like legalists—is following Jeroboam. Every church that reduces God to a political ideology—whether Left or Right, draping Him in a rainbow flag or national flag—is following Jeroboam. Every church that canonizes human sayings—whether abominations like the “Sparkle Creed” or nationalistic statements like the Pledge of Allegiance—is following Jeroboam. Those churches must repent before God raises up a Josiah to destroy them.
The modern church must also heed Scripture’s warning from the bane of Judah’s kings. Even the good kings often fell short in one area: they failed to remove the high places. Sometimes, the high places were used for genuine but improper worship of the true God (eg. 1 Kings 3:4) while at other times they were used for idol worship (eg, 1 Kings 11:7, 14:23-24). Any number of practices could fit that description in the modern church. Those who say that God was wrathful in the Old Testament (overlooking His incredible patience) but became loving in the New Testament have set up their own high place. Those who are able to physically attend church but skip it in favor of live-streamed services or private Bible study have set up their own high place. Those who sing “worship” songs that do not align with Scripture have set up their own high place. And since our traditions can become idols, when we elevate traditions to the level of Scripture, we have set up our own high place. We cannot honor God while dishonoring His Word.
Even what was proper worship in one generation can become a high place in the next, which is what happened with Jerusalem. By Jesus’s day, it had become just another high place of improper worship. As a result, Jesus tells the woman at the well—in the shadow of a high place—that true worshippers would not go to either high place but worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24). Anyone who does not worship in spirit and truth has therefore set up a high place. Perhaps the most pervasive form of this in the American church is the emotionalism in the music. Many songs are written with the primary goal of creating an emotional experience. As a result, they are shallow and affirming of self. They create an emotional high at the expense of genuine praise. But like a drug, ever greater measures are required in order to produce the same experience, resulting in the extensive use of concert-style theatrics, choreography, light shows, and smoke machines. It also means that unlike the timeless hymns of great theological depth, these shallow songs have a very short shelf life. Such “worship” makes many churches into high places that dishonor God.
Many American churches, including nearly all theologically liberal mainline churches, most evangelical churches, and even many “Reformed” churches either follow Jeroboam or set up high places, so there is much room for repentance throughout the American church. If Nadab and Abihu perished in a divine inferno for their improper yet genuine worship (Leviticus 10), we should likewise expect fiery judgment if we don’t worship God in the way He has commanded. Yes the blood of Jesus is adequate to take away all sins of all who trust in Him—including our improper worship—but we must be careful not to treat that blood with contempt by failing to take worship seriously:
Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
-Hebrews 10:28-31, ESV
Worshipping in Spirit and Truth
Clearly, God takes the manner in which we worship Him extremely seriously, so we should too. This starts by ensuring all of our preaching and teaching conveys a complete and balanced theology of who God is as revealed by Scripture. Whether a pastor, Sunday school teacher, Bible study leader, or individual Christian studying Scripture, we all need to make sure we are subordinating all of our views of who God is (and who we are) to what He revealed in Scripture and reject any cultural or traditional understanding that does not align with Scripture. At times that will require an unbalanced approach, emphasizing divine attributes that are often ignored.[2] We must be extremely careful in choosing songs for worship. Songs like “Reckless Love” that do not align with Scripture must be rejected as worse than worthless because they dishonor God by lying about Him.[3] “Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?” (1 Corinthians 10:22). It is better to remain silent than to sing such songs. O that someone would shut the doors of such churches that they would no longer lead people to worship God in vain, because God takes no pleasure in and will not accept such worship (Malachi 1:10).
Instead, we must sing songs that are theologically correct and therefore honor God. The safest way to do this is to put passages of Scripture to music, such as the psalms (as Brian Sauvé does), other songs (Exodus 15:21ff, Judges 5, 1 Samuel 2:1-11), Luke 1:46-55,67-79, etc.), and any of the enumerable passages that lend themselves to songs. Many verses can and have been turned into wonderful worship songs, but we must be careful to avoid taking verses out of context. For example, “You Said” misuses verses like Psalm 2:8 by “naming and claiming” promises that God made to others.[4] We can also make songs from Scriptural concepts, as with wonderful hymns like “Amazing Grace”, meditating on particular doctrines throughout redemptive history. With these songs, we must be extra careful to ensure that the lyrics present a balanced theology that aligns with the whole of Scripture. Regardless of whether our worship songs come directly from Scripture or from the themes of Scripture, we need to make sure they are densely packed with right theology and clearly preach the Gospel. In this Advent season, that includes Christmas carols. Songs like “What Child is This?”, “O Come, O Come Immanuel”, and “We Three Kings” are rich in theology and Gospel when all of the verses are sung. But we must be careful to avoid theological errors here too. For example, “Away in a Manger” actually denies the true humanity of Christ when it says “no crying He makes”, so it should be avoided (or at least that line).
In all of this, the need of the hour is for our worship songs to be somewhat unbalanced, emphasizing what the modern church ignores. Most songs today overemphasize God’s love, forgiveness, and grace while minimizing His holiness, omnipotence, infinite wisdom, and wrath. They overemphasize our status as adopted and loved by God while speaking little about the repulsive nature of our sin and our helpless state apart from Christ. The former lose significance when divorced from the latter. As a result, we need to be intentional about singing songs that emphasize the latter within the context of the Gospel. One example would be the hymn “Alas and Did My Savior Bleed”, which includes the line “would He devote His sacred head for such a worm as I”. Another would be “Thy Blood Was Shed for Me”, with the line “Dust and ashes is my name, my all is sin and misery”. And of course, “Amazing Grace” talks of God saving “a wretch like me”. A more modern example would be “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us”, which is filled with such language.[5] If these songs have no place in your service, your church likely has a distorted theology and the congregation is spiritually parched. But since Scripture and its truths are an infinitely deep well to aid in our worship, there are infinite possibilities for deep and theologically-accurate worship songs. So the only reason congregations are spiritually parched is because churches refuse to put in the work to plumb the depths of Scripture.
In the end, we must be very careful to worship God as He has commanded, viewing Him as He is depicted in Scripture while rejecting any view of Him contrary to Scripture. Like Josiah we must tear down the golden calves and high places leading people to worship the god of man’s imagination rather than the true God of Scripture. Our worship songs must help people to worship God in spirit and truth to lead the Bride to joyfully approach the throne of grace with appropriate reverence and awe just like Psalm 45. Let us never forget in this Advent season that Christ’s Incarnation was the invasion of the conquering King. Let us worship Him rightly by rejoicing in His strength that saved us from our helpless state and shelters us in His glorious might, worshipping with reverence and awe the God whose consuming fire purifies us to be able to approach Him with fearful joy rather than sinful dread or carelessness. This Advent season is not just about celebrating the Savior who has come, but anticipating the King who is coming back!
Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King! Let every heart prepare Him room, and heav’n and nature sing, and heav’n and nature sing, and heav’n, and heav’n and nature sing.
Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns! Let men their songs employ, while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy, repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found, far as, far as the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love, and wonders of His love, and wonders, wonders of His love.
-“Joy to the World”, Isaac Watts, 1719
NOTES
[1] “How He Loves”, David Crowder Band, 2009
[2] David Powlison, How Does Sanctification Work?, Wheaton, IL: Crossway: 2017: 41-42.
[3] “Reckless Love”, Cory Asbury, 2017.
[4] “You Said”, Hillsong Worship, 1999.
[5] “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us”, Stuart Townend, 2003.
