Idols

What is it, this love of soccer players, or teams? What is hero worship of a beautiful or handsome actor? Get over it! They go to the loo too. If we were to sum up the idols of the world, simply seen as money, sex and power, then we admit we easily succumb to the seemingly harmless ideas that hamper our growth. Idols bind us grovelling shackles. There are powers behind these ideas that we happily argue are valuable so that the world can operate efficiently. “We cannot live without money” we say because the modern world depends on this economic structure. There is nothing wrong with money; it is simply a commodity. The trouble is the power behind the money that raises it above a commodity into a love affair or when we find oppression because of a lack of or no money. The same with sex, created by God, a wonderful activity, we become obsessed and addicted to it. Power is normal until we turn it into an absolute!

As a normal part of God’s creation, the power behind power, sex and money is also just a function of God that we waylaid and persuaded to join us in a counter-creation! The answer appears simple but none of us is wholly free from these idols. The trouble is the severity of our contact with godly vibes so easily turn into demons. Just like the myth in antiquity where human beings ate the forbidden fruit so too the powers fell from grace and chomped on the apple. That is simply remedied with the Good News, just as we Christians discover that ‘heaven is free’ so too the ‘powers’ love to hear that heaven is for them too. In the old language, we called them angels if they were good and demons if they were bad.

What is the difference between a fallen angel and a demon? In modern language, a fallen angel is a vibe that tickles our fancy behind money, sex and power. Converting the vibe to Christ is the answer because they want to return to their original created function, that is, to facilitate the smooth operation of God’s reign so they happily work in society as Christian money sex and power! Without taking away the reality, but dropping the myth, a demon is a complex sociological phenomenon, a structure of destruction (happily an oxymoron). From the simple system of alcoholism, taking up to sixteen people to counter create, to the highly complex slavery taking a hundred and fifty years to eradicate, demons are present everywhere in you and in systems, structures, institutes and the church.

Dealing with the fallen angel is a personal internal confession and challenge to the angel to convert to Christ. Dealing with structures of destruction requires the combined resources of people everywhere but primarily people inspired by the Spirit to eradicate the evil. Most South Africans in a multi-faith stand on the 1st of September 1993 stood on the streets finally to exorcise the demon of apartheid, we have won the war but the evil keeps creeping into us seducing us to idolise it!

Courage

Authentic human beings find courage within to reach out for greatness but they fail. Sometimes, the result of a courageous act is mediocrity and human beings sink into despair trying to hide but the courage remains and soon visions of greatness re-emerge. They oscillate from one outreach to another. That’s life!

When we realise that the courage in us sources in God, we try even harder until in waves of reaching up and out, we soar like eagles. In antiquity, they called this phenomenon holiness but we have ruined its meaning with a ‘goody-two shoes’ taint. The closer we get to God the more courageous we become. It is very simple, but huge at the same time: when we say ‘yes’ to God, power overwhelms us, changes others and us. Suddenly, the possibilities are diverse, from riches in money, sex and power to a wealth in emotional and psychological power. Whether it is literal or abstract, the overwhelming power of God provides answers to the world’s problems and if we have the courage to take it on, greatness is around the corner.

What do I mean by greatness? All the common appellations, like Mahatma Gandhi or Alexander the Great do not fit our modern world. We are simply still too close to people and we struggle to find a word for Nelson Mandela but we will soon talk of his greatness. There are many more great people but they do not happily sit with greatness and in Christian circles, the problem with humility masks the greatness. In addition, there is something marvellous that we Christians follow in courage and that is, gracious living. The act of being gracious means we defer greatness to the other. If only in attitude but increasingly we actually give the riches away: hence my web is called Seventy Times in support of socio-economic and political movements that forgive 24/7, that set people free and that empower people.

Courage emerges out of the intimacy of our friendship with God. It grows and replenishes us, the more we enjoy and worship God. Mahatma Gandhi demonstrates a continuing intimacy with God and courage strengthening for his acts in breaking the British regime culminating in Indian independence just after the Second World War. It took most of Gandhi’s life of developing courage and often despaired that he had lost it. It took up to ten years for Gandhi to regain his courage each time he acted; he had to renew his relationship and stay close to God. He still belonged in the old tradition of committing vows to stay close to God but today we have found joy in doing things with God. It is not a chore or committing vows.