Which God Will It Be?

A long time ago, a leader told his congregation to choose which god
they wanted to serve.  He gave them a choice between the "gods of your
forefathers" or the gods of the surrounding people "in whose land you
are living." Some of you will recognize this leader as Joshua and the
congregation as Israel, but Joshua's challenge is applicable to us
today. Today's Christian still has the choice between these same gods.
 
As a third-generation Nazarene, I am fortunate that the God of my
forefathers and heritage was the Lord. However, I have discovered that
it is not enough for me to choose *their* God because a second-hand
religion does not serve their God at all; it causes the danger of
unknowingly serving the gods of tradition and ritual.  These gods fool
people with many counterfeits of the real God-experience so that they
think they are actually serving the Lord.  Without the vitality of a
first-hand relationship with God, tradition and ritual build
"whitewashed tombs" that are neat and attractive on the outside but
dead and rotting on the inside.
 
Our other choice, the gods of those in whose land we are living, seems
to present us with an easier task of identifying false gods.  Yet how
many of us have seen people prosper while serving their gods of
conformity, humanism, relativism, power, money, and pride?  The gods
of this land, which are formed in our image and sing a siren's song,
lead us to believe that alternative gods are just as viable as the
True God.
 
We probably feel certain that we would side with Joshua who declared,
"as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."  The people of
Israel responded, "we will serve the Lord, too!"  But Joshua tried to
dissuade them because God takes the integrity of His name seriously.
(Exodus 20:7) Far more than irreverently speaking God's name, we
violate the Third Commandment if we take the name of Christian to
ourselves but do not emulate Christ. Being unresolute with God is
worse than not following God at all.
 
The cliche' that says "God has no grandchildren" means that we cannot
serve someone else's god, even when someone else's god is the Lord
God. He has to be our personal God and Lord.  The Bible tells us not
to conform to this world, choosing to serve its gods. Instead, we are
to be transformed into Christlikeness through a first-hand
relationship with the Lord. If we are like a bride who takes the name
of her husband and then keeps all of her vows of love, we will bring
honor to both Christ and ourselves.
 
"Now then," said Joshua, "throw away the foreign gods that are among
you and yield your hearts to the Lord."  And the people said to
Joshua, "we will serve the Lord our God and obey him."  (Joshua
24:23-24)`