RECENTLY
I attended a military ceremony that included a video show
and a talk wrapped around a Powerpoint presentation. At the end
of the ceremony a picture of the state flag was screened while
the national anthem was played. The officer on stage turned towards
the screen and gave a smart salute.
While taking all this in, I noticed that the officer was standing
next to a real state flag, and thought that it would have been
better if he had saluted the real flag rather than its flickering
image on the screen.
That incident made me realise how much we have become a TV and
movie generation, where reality has to be represented to us through
screens, even when it is clearly all around us. This happens in
church too. I have noticed that when the sermon is screened on
TV screens in church, there are people who prefer to look at the
screen rather than the preacher himself. In many churches, the
congregation sits in front of a giant screen and watches and responds
to the potpourri of images that it is made to carry.
My point is that we often embrace the shadow rather than the substance.
This is not only unhelpful but harmful as well, for in its very
essence, it is idolatry. And that is why God is clearly against
idolatry because it misrepresents reality and, worse, it robs
us from truly experiencing God. Idols are both detestable (Dt.
32:16) and worthless (Dt. 32:21). They are hated in heaven and
useless on earth. Hence we find idolatry forbidden by Scripture
(Ex. 20:4).
Those who had encountered the true God have been deeply disturbed
by idolatry and warned people of its dangers. The ancient prophets
of Israel spoke against the rampant idolatry of their day. Paul,
after having encountered the living Christ, and when visiting
Athens, "was greatly distressed to see that the city was
full of idols". (Acts 17:16). Christ's disciple John, who
learned deeply about God's love, pleaded with his fellow-Christians,
"Dear children, keep yourselves from idols." (1 Jn.
5:21).
Perhaps most, if not all of us, would say that thankfully we are
free from such idolatry. But really? There are subtler forms of
idolatry of which we should be aware. Sometimes the idol is not
something foreign to God but rather something that is supposed
to legitimately represent or remind us of God. The religion of
the Pharisees is a good example.
THE
PROBLEM with the Pharisees was that they were the worshippers
of shadows. They had taken the Old Testament laws, which were
meant to lead them to the divine Law-Giver, and made these laws
an end unto themselves. They had created a complex system of Pharisaic
laws and had missed the point altogether. They had clung to Old
Testament forms of religion, or rather their own distorted versions
of them. They had embraced the shadow so much that when the One
who caused that shadow to be formed appeared on the scene, they
failed to recognise Him and worship Him.
The apostle John described this tragedy when he poignantly wrote,
"He came to that which was his own, but his own did not recognise
Him." (Jn. 1:11). We can perhaps excuse the other nations
if they had not recognised Christ for they were worshipping idols
that did not even resemble God. The shadows they clung to could
not help them recognise Christ.
But Israel was different. God had consistently and repeatedly
revealed Himself to them throughout history. He had spoken and
given them His Word. He had given them His Law. He had let them
see His shadow so that when Christ appeared, they could recognise
Him. But they did not!
Why did they fail to recognise Jesus as the God who had revealed
Himself to them throughout their history? Was it because they
had become so used to the shadow that they did not look up to
see the one who produced the shadow? Was this the reason why Paul
pleaded with Christians who had a Jewish background to cling to
the reality rather than to its shadow?
In referring to the Old Testament
dietary laws and religious festivals, Paul wrote, "These
are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however,
is found in Christ." (Col. 2:17). Another New Testament writer,
referring to the Old Testament Law explained, "The law is
only a shadow of the good things that are coming -- not the realities
themselves." (Heb. 10:1).
It is very easy to cling to the shadows that represent God and
ignore God altogether. Christians have all too often run after
the gifts of God and ignored the Giver of those gifts. It is common
for Christians to cling to spiritual experiences, idolising them,
and even worshipping them more than God. Or we can be so enthralled
by our songs and music that our hearts do not go beyond them to
the One who is supposed to be the subject of all our music. We
can end up idolising the shadows so much that we fail to recognise
God when He comes.
But there may be another reason why the Jews, and especially the
Pharisees, did not recognise Jesus for who He is. There is a hint
of it in the parable that Jesus told about the two men who went
to the temple to pray (Lk. 18:9-14). The Pharisee's prayer was
a proud account of how well he kept the Law. But was it to God
he was talking? Verse 11 could be translated to read, "The
Pharisee … prayed to himself." How telling!
The problem with this Pharisee was that the shadow he was looking
at was not even God's. It was his own shadow! When he addressed
God he was addressing himself. It was self that was on the throne,
pretending to be God.
Is it little wonder then, that the Pharisees failed to recognise
and acknowledge Jesus as the God of Israel? They failed not only
because they worshipped the shadow more than the substance, but
also because the shadow did not even resemble God; they were,
tragically, worshippers of their own shadows.
QUOTE:
FAILING TO RECOGNISE GOD
'Christians have all too often run after the gifts of God and ignored the Giver of those gifts. It is common for Christians to cling to spiritual experiences, idolising them, and even worshipping them more than God. Or we can be so enthralled by our songs and music that our hearts do not go beyond them to the One who is supposed to be the subject of all our music. We can end up idolising the shadows so much that we fail to recognise God when He comes.'