Monday, November 22, 2010

Idol of Security


Who doesn't want to be able to move about without certain fears? Some of my greatest fears are in regard to awful things happening to my wife and children. Nothing wrong with a concern for their safety. But is there a point when security becomes a carved image above an altar where we lay our hope?

I think it's when odds and feelings of being secure become the measurement of what we believe makes us actually safe. We will pay disproportionate amounts of our income and accept almost any new government regulations in exchange for health, physical safety and financial security. Improve the odds, feel better. All are an illusion in one sense.

So our retirement fund is in place, our neighborhoods are white and our sport utility vehicles mean that the other guy gets it, not me.

All fear driven of course. But is there reason to fear? In one sense there isn't. Certainly Biblically we ought not be anxious about anything (Phil 4:6). But we are. It's unbelief isn't it? Could there be a more now-consumed, this life-centered way to live forsaking a kingdom focus? And the more it's true of us, the tighter our grip becomes on our stuff, our little world, our safety.

Another perspective : Paul urged Timothy to tell his people not to "set their hopes on uncertainty of riches,but on God (1 Tim. 6:17)." Is that safe? Not always. All his health and safety was taken away to the point of death and he says, "but that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God (2 Cor. 1:9). Not safe, but good.

I'll never forget the inner city pastor putting his arm around his boy after he'd just been beaten up and his bike taken. Most of us would have been enraged. "Not MY son's stuff! Not hurting MY boy!" This pastor said with a smile, "Isn't this great son? Real missionary stuff!" He had no expectation for safety or any concern for personal possessions. Especially the godly should not expect safety (2 Tim 3:12).

Your own security is a heavy burden. Trusting in God makes it light. In His will we will not be safe. But we will worship at the right altar which values Him instead of self.