Occasionally I pick up a free copy of a “Christian” newspaper published in our region of the country. Inside are articles and editorials and advertisements that supposedly are all tied in with its definition as a Christian publication. I assume the publisher means the newspaper is written for Christians or is from a Christian perspective, since a newspaper has no soul and cannot become “Christian” per se.
Invariably there are things I find in the newspaper with which I disagree. Naturally. Personally I find the letters to the editors espousing the flat tax as the only biblically sanctioned form of taxation as appalling as I do the advertisement for the “Christian Social Dance Association.”
When the label “Christian” is applied to this or any other newspaper, we run the risk of assuming by slapping a label on it that everything in that paper is “Christian” and everything written in so-called secular papers is non-Christian. This particular paper’s motto is “Where the (location) gets the news that matters most.” Does it indeed? Odd then that I find this particular newspaper quite lacking in areas I feel are dear to the heart of God. Of course, that is only my own humble opinion.
To take God’s name in vain or misuse it, to profane the name of Jesus, these are serious actions. But we fool ourselves if we think that such misuse applies only to casual expletives. I wonder, do more people go to hell because people swear or because things labeled as “Christian” bring disgrace to the name of God?
The same is true to building images out of wood or stone and then assigning those images supernatural or divine powers. While living in Taiwan, I discovered that a certain figurine became an object of worship only after a ceremony was performed in which a spirit entered that object. Otherwise, it was not an “idol”, to slap a Judeo-Christian label on it. But the general consensus was that the true god in those parts was the local currency, because that is what people really put their faith in. Funny how in recent days our own currency idols have been cast down.
Most things that are labeled idols don’t start out as idols. They become so because over time people begin to ascribe transcendent significance to them. This happens with governments be they Communist or Republican. And it happens, too, even with Christian objects, entities and ideas, be they some saint’s robe or a biblical value like “family.”
I flinch when I see an American flag placed on a pole above a Christian flag, not because I think the “Christian” flag as we know it is particularly sacred any more than the American flag is, but because of what it symbolizes. That somehow our allegiance to nation is above our allegiance to God. We may say “God and Country”, but often we get the two mixed up in order in our lives, just as easily as we do the flags on our poles.
And when we do, have we then crossed over into idolatry? For isn’t that what idolatry means? That idolatry has to do with allegiance, with giving some one, some thing, some idea in our lives ultimate priority or at least a higher priority than is biblically appropriate?
In this, the movement in our day away from traditional religious language is a good thing, for it causes us to reevaluate everything we hold sacred to make sure it deserves to be held sacred. In parts of Asia Believers wrestle with when their esteeming Confucius or their parents moves beyond appropriate honoring to worship. In countries like my own, we wrestle with when our patriotism or our belief in a certain form of government moves beyond honoring to worship.
In any case, we do well to use “Christian” as an adjective only sparingly. All that is called sacred is not and all that is labeled secular is not necessarily.
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