Ben Zornes

Living and Dying to Show the Preciousness of Christ

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Unity by Division

Unity by Division

Our nation is spiraling off into chaos. We deserve it, because we have attempted to unite around idols. But idols are jealous by nature. Territorial. Clannish. Tribal. They get envious of the worship rendered to other idols, and the followers fight to get more attention for their false god.

We’ve set our idols of money, science, power, sex, and pride in the center, and unsurprisingly divisions are the result. After all, your fame competes with mine. You and I want the same thing, and we can’t both have it. So, we take sides respective of our feelings on the particular idol in question. 

The Apostle James tells us that it’s our envy which leads us to war with each other (Jas. 4:1-5), biting and devour along the way (Gal. 5:15). We tear each other to shreds, huffing off into our tribal groups, all because of our unfulfilled desires. The idols allure us with unity, but only grant division.

Not so with Christ. He was divided, and now offers His people true unity. Christ was torn, so we could be united with God. Christ’s body was broken, so that we could have true fellowship with His spiritual body, the Church. All the cultural chaos is because we refuse the unity, the fellowship, the cohesive force of Christ crucified. 

By faith, His death for your sins binds you to His resurrected life. His death reconciles you with God and neighbor. His body was divided so that His Church might be united. His blood was shed so you and I could forgive each other’s trespasses as God has forgiven us. It’s always either Christ or chaos. It’s either erratic drumbeats of  rival envies, or glorious harmonies of praise for the salvation we partake of in Christ’s broken body.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…

Idols Are Cheats

Idols Are Cheats

Idolatry is a vicious cycle. The worshipper defies the commandments of God to not have any other gods, and makes a graven image out of wood, gold, or some other material substance. Then there sits their idol. Cold. Lifeless. Powerless. Deaf. 

If you look at the second commandment, and then notice the idols, you might quip, “They must not have gotten the memo.” But though the idol itself sits there in deaf defiance of God’s commands, something terrible is occurring to the worshipper. They are becoming just like their idol. They’ve traded the source of all being, life, and pleasure for an impotent, blind, deaf, and stupid block of stuff.

Idols are cheats. They promise joy, pleasure, and blessing. But they demand that you sacrifice your joy, pleasure, and blessings to them. They demand that you shed your blood to make them happy. 

Is your idol gold? Does your life revolve around the accumulation of material wealth, such that you sacrifice your family, your peace of mind, your integrity on its altar? Is your idol power? Do you kneel to kiss the toe-ring of upward-mobility, fearing what may occur if you lose your place in the pyramid of society? Is your idol sex? Do you believe the lie that gratification of that desire is yours by right, and thus you partake of the sacrament of consuming others bodies at the price of their shame and your so-called pleasure?

If you continue to worship these idols, you will soon be dead, deaf, and dumb. They cannot offer you life. They will only cheat you out of your joy. So, topple them. Grind them to powder. Burn them to the ground. As Spurgeon once said, “Down with all idols, up with King Jesus.”

Ben Zornes