Preaching That Doesn’t Spiritualize Idolatry

The majority of the world worships idols—the real kind, made of wood, stone and even plastic.

While it is also helpful to talk about the “idols” of materialism, power, relationships, and whatever replaces God and takes first place in our minds and hearts, we need to talk less about this and more about the other kind of idolatry.

An Opportunity Missed

So often when we in America preach on Bible passages that discuss idolatry we move way too quickly to application.  It is common to hear a preacher describe the background of the text in just a few sentences and then move on to talk about the “idols” of our society and the those things that usurp God’s rightful place as the object of our worship and affections.

We talk as though worshippers of physical idols are from a bygone primitive era.  Anyone who would actually worship a real idol must be ignorant or isolated from the modern world.  But this is not the case.

To move right to this application usually misses the main point, the obvious point, of the text in order to find some spiritual principle that will be immediately personally applicable, or culturally appropriate for us.  We fail to be faithful to the text when we spiritualize idolatry.

Idolatry, real idolatry, has a powerful grip on over 3 billion people in the world today.  They live in remote areas and in urban centers; they are poor and rich, and some are even highly educated.  Idolatry, with all its relics and rituals, is the fabric of many societies, being the key to blessing and safety, and even the conduit for various immoralities.

An Opportunity Reclaimed

In our hasty application we miss an opportunity to talk about the greatest application of our Gospel mission from God in the world.  These idolatry passages offer us an opportunity to understand our world better, to describe the religious nature of man, to feel the burden of the lostness of so many souls, and to burn with jealousy for God’s glory alone!

Acts 17:16–17 ESV “Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.”

And when we proclaim the Gospel, people will turn “to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10)

Instead of using the idolatry sections of Scripture to address ourselves and our own needs first, we could use them to open our eyes to the greatest need of the world!  In fact, these passages viewed and preached in such a manner will become refreshingly new texts for us on world evangelization and mission!

When God Pushes You Even Further

Our small team of five was prepared to share our evangelistic testimonies and give a simple presentation of the Gospel.  The ministry pattern we had been following in this Asian country led us to expect to find a gathering of church member’s Buddhist neighbors, friends and relatives ready to hear what we had prepared to share.  Their hope and prayer was that God would start a new church.

A Surprise Scramble

However, when we arrived at the house, it was filled with about forty young church planters and many along with their wives.  We soon discovered that our team made up the guest speaker roster for that second day of their three day conference.  We were not prepared for this at all!

We politely explained our situation being caught unprepared, introduced ourselves, gave a couple testimonies, and then asked for a thirty minute break to put together the presentation topics for the late morning and afternoon sessions.

We quickly took stock of our gifts as a team and the topics about which each us felt somewhat prepared to speak, to share from experience or to lead a discussion.  We prayed and asked to Lord to move our hearts and match up our thinking with the needs of the group.  We stepped out in faith, trusting that God put together our team, created this situation, and would make something good happen.

God Used the Unprepared Ones

That was many years ago and I no longer remember all the topics we ended up addressing that day, though I am sure we used our testimonies and spiritual growth stories as springboards for many practical discussions.  We likely talked about marriage and singleness, parenting, Bible study methods, personal trials and persecutions, maintaining a vibrant personal walk with Christ, and a few other basics of Christian living.  Such topics are always helpful and encouraging to discuss with one another.

A couple of us had to handle the more complicated theological questions about biblical history, the Return of Christ, and the all too often popular topic of Christianity in America.  The most interesting concerns were those surrounding apologetics in a Buddhist culture and society.  We learned much more than we taught on such matters, most certainly.  

Those church planters and evangelists found it challenging in their religious context of idolatry to make a case for a God who needs no temple nor desires representational images.  Interestingly, that year I had been teaching a series on the attributes of God and much of it was still fresh in my mind.  So we discussed the spirituality and invisibility of God in relation to their situation.  Together we reviewed the history of redemption from beginning to the end and looked at selected Scriptures, tracing out this doctrine of God and helping them find good answers.

Reflections at Dinner and Later

The main conference speaker graciously translated as necessary that day.  He and I became friends as we worked together to minister effectively to these young men and women.  During our dinner that evening, he expressed his appreciation for our team and our teaching.  

He also added that he had covered much of the same material we did, but now that they heard it from someone else they will really believe it!  We laughed.  I told him that it works this same way in America (and probably in many other places)—guest speakers are often admired and listened to more than the regular teachers.

Our whole team slept well that night with a deep sense of satisfaction that God had used them to build up His Church.  He showed us His faithfulness in supplying us with ideas, and giving us the words to speak.  By His Spirit, He created a sense of love, community and mutual learning among everyone at the meetings that day.  As a result, we all were blessed, encouraged and renewed in our service to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Leading a mission team is always an adventure and a learning experience.  We never did figure out why that day happened the way it did, whether it was a communication issue, wrong assumptions or something else.  It didn’t matter because God glorified Himself that day.  The remaining days on that trip went according to plan, as our plan actually turned out to be God’s plan!

When we step out in faith, sometimes God makes us step out even further than anticipated.  But had we known just how far at the beginning, we never would have stepped out at the start.

Finding Your Church's Place In The World

The world is a big place, with lots of people and in great variety!  Churches often ask how to find a place in the world to engage in mission.  In prayerfully processing God’s will for your church in His Mission, here are ten considerations to talk about as a mission leadership team.

1.  Religious background



Do you have a preference one way or the other in working among people from a Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Animist or Atheist background? If so, this will narrow down the possibilities quickly.


2.  Urban to tribal continuum



Think about what size of society sounds interesting, exciting or strategic to you. Do you see your church working in a tribal setting, or in villages and towns, or moderate to large size cities, or perhaps in a complex urban center?


3.  Climate comfort



Will you be most comfortable with sunshine or rain, clouds or open sky? Do you have an aversion to intense heat or cold? Such personal considerations matter when considering bringing in teams repeatedly.


4.  Culture basics



Look a little closer at the potential cultures you might engage. Do you like what you see? Are you going to find yourselves too frustrated or annoyed? Or, maybe it sounds like great fun!


5.  Easy to hard ministry continuum



Results are important. Results are guaranteed because this is what God does. But, what do you want to see happen and how fast? Some are most interested in working where conversions are common and churches get started easily. Others prefer more challenging ministry environments.


6.  Political situation



Persecution scares some people while it inspires others. Simply put, would you like to work out in the open or in secret? What level of freedom do you want? How do you envision your relationship with future national partners, and other missionaries?


7.  Level of Christian presence and development



Take your pick: pioneer, develop or partner. Is your congregation wired and gifted to go it alone? Or, to come alongside an emerging work? Or, to partner with established works? It is all significant and rewarding work, so just be honest about your preference.


8.  Type of ministry activity



What do you want to do? Do you want to evangelize, teach, train, provide relief, meet social needs, establish programs, assist medically, or plant churches, for example? Will you be most interested in locality or in regional ministry?


9.  Travel accessibility



How many teams will your church be sending and how many times a year? Can you get to the location and do significant ministry within your volunteer’s available 
time and resources? And to meet the needs demanded by the field?


10.  Commitment length



Can you make lasting impact within the attention span of your church and its leadership? Will you be there at least five years? Consider how long it would take your church to accomplish Kingdom purposes in a certain location.


As you talk together, more and more creative thinking will start taking place.  It will propel some people into further research; and many more to deeper prayer.  Eventually, it will lead to a high quality vision trip.

There is a whole lot more to consider, and things unique to each congregation.  But, hopefully these ten conversation topics will help narrow the field and get your church started on this life changing faith adventure with God!

You Too Can Interpret Dreams

A whack to the back of the knees and I am on my way!

The ski lift carries me and a newly made Asian friend on a long trip down the mountain after visiting a particular Buddhist shrine together.  Such trips often provide wonderful opportunities to talk about the nature of goodness, beauty and truth--and eventually about God and the ultimate meaning of life.  So, I take many of them.

On The Spot, On The Ski Lift

We find a lot to talk about during that almost hour long ride down hill.  Mainly we talk about a dream she had recently that had been bothering her.  I don’t recall the details now after a few years, but it seemed to me nothing that out of the ordinary.  But, then she asked me if I could tell her what it means.  She was looking for more than ideas, but really an interpretation that would make sense and provide meaning for her life.

I had never been asked about dreams so seriously, almost desperately, before.  Not knowing what to say, I prayed silently and very fast for wisdom.  I was honest with her and said that I couldn’t really interpret dreams, but if she told me more about it, I would do my best to help her find any meaning that I might surmise.

To my surprise, as she was telling me her dream, it reminded me of a biblical story in the Old Testament.  I really wish I could remember, but it was just one of the more ordinary ones.  So, I simply told her the Bible story it seemed to parallel and asked if she had heard the story before.  She said no, but then wanted to more about the Bible story.  So, I told it again in more detail.

She then asked the best question, “how does this relate to my life?”  This was a perfect opportunity to explain how this story fit into God’s larger story of redemption in Jesus Christ.  I talked further about how Jesus Christ has given my own life greater meaning, really its ultimate meaning.  

Then I asked her what she thought, and if she thought this might be a good explanation of her dream.  She thought so, definitely.  However, she wanted to do some more thinking about whether she could or should entrust her life to Jesus Christ.  At about that moment we landed at the bottom of the mountain.  And we and some other friends would talk more later.

First Training In Dream Interpretation

A few others from our mission team were asked similar questions on the ski lift.  This was the first day of a week of many dream interpretation questions.  Dreams meant a lot to these people we were meeting.  

It seemed that God was stirring their hearts about eternal concerns and bringing them to us.  Regardless, they were so eager to talk, that if we didn’t talk through their dreams with them, they would find others who would, and likely they would be led astray.  

So, we decided to train our team with a crash course in dream interpretation.  This sounds ludicrous, and it really did seem so to us, as well.  The joke was that my name was Daniel after all and it was time to live up to my name!  Of course, his situation was entirely different, much more serious, and of far greater importance.  What we were doing was nothing of the sort.

We simply taught our team to not be fearful but prayerful; and to ask good questions and listen well, and above all to be compassionate toward our new trusting friends.  We instructed our team to be honest and not claim to really know how to interpret dreams.  

However, we also taught them to be bold in talking about the Scriptures and the God wrote wrote them for us, for our salvation and our lives.  So, they should listen for similar stories in the Bible they could tell, and then talk easily about their fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  They should wrap up the conversation by turning the dream back over to their friend to ponder in light of the biblical message they heard.

A lot happened that week.  God opened up many more opportunities for His Gospel that we could never have planned.  We were able to share with hundreds of people.  And all together we witnessed 25 professions of faith and the beginnings of two new churches.

Be Prepared, You Might Be Asked Next

You too can interpret dreams.  No, its clearly not the same type of work as the biblical Daniel.  But, that is not what these dear people were asking for anyway, or many others who might approach you.  So don’t freak out, just pray and then talk about the meaning of life from the Bible and from your experience with God.  

Most often people simply want to hear about the meaning of life from someone who to them seems to have greater insight.  Since you know God then you are the one who knows the meaning of life.  

I Am Not Usually Two Hours Late, Honestly

A few years ago, in a Buddhist country, in southeast Asia, a consortium of local churches from different denominations got together and planned an intense campaign to preach widely and plant as many churches as possible in one week.  

It was my very first exposure to such an approach, and I felt honored to be part of a team brought in to help.  Actually, it was their first attempt at such an approach, as well, but their faith and zeal were strong.  The result from that week of ministry was over 300 professions of faith and five new churches planted.

Two Hours Late Was Not Too Late, Thankfully

We learned a lot from one another while ministering the Gospel together that week.  One special memory sticks out above the rest for me.  It took place in an apartment where thirty young adults had gathered secretly to hear about the message of Christianity.  This was all arranged in advance and with the specific people chosen.  My partner and I were to arrive at a certain time and speak to the people.

A phone call came in asking what happened.  Where were we.  We were supposed to be there two hours ago.  We didn’t know what happened, but there was some miscommunication.  So, we frantically headed to the location, praying for the people--that they would stay, and that they would remain open to receiving us and the message.  

When we arrived we were welcomed warmly.  All the people had stayed.  After appropriate apologies and honoring our hosts and national leaders, we began.  They were eager to hear what we had to say and wanted to get right to the topic.

Could We Squeeze The Gospel Into Just An Hour?

Most of them were disenchanted with Buddhism but did not know what to do about it.  They especially wanted to hear answers from Christians outside of their own culture, which I found interesting.

We shared the basic outline of the Gospel from the very beginning, about who God is, to what He has done, starting from Creation, on to Christ and the Cross, and clear on out to His return and the final state of glory.  We spent most of this 30 minutes or so talking about the person of Jesus Christ, which was their main interest.

This was all done through translation by a couple nationals who were also Christian workers.  We took a few questions with their help, and certainly they filled in our answers with what really needed to be said.  A few knew some English.  We finished up our presentation time with sharing our personal stories about how Jesus Christ had transformed us and our families.

After that hour, about half group decided to start following Christ.  Amazing!  God had been at work preparing them for this day, at work through others who had shared the Gospel with some of them before, at work in their lives, in their minds and their hearts.  This group of people spent another hour or so with my partner talking in more detail about being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

What would we do with the others?  They obviously still had many questions, so I decided to sit with them and hear their concerns, even their objections and try my best to answer their questions.  I had no idea this would be so valuable to them.

The Two Best Questions I Have Ever Been Asked

It began, “you said that Jesus Christ was God and that he was man, so which is it?”  What a great question!  We looked at a some Scriptures and then spent time slowly talking and thinking through the two natures in the one person of Jesus Christ, and its reasonableness, yet its glorious mystery, and precisely how this is related to our salvation.  Most of them understood how this could be true; and then we had to talk some about God being Triune, which was made a little easier by starting with the person of Christ.

The big practical question on their minds was on the difference between Buddhist and Christian meditation.  This was out of my league, so I had them explain Buddhist meditation to me and tell me about their personal practices with it.  Many of them said they didn’t find it meaningful.  Picking up on their emptying concept, I said that in contrast Christian meditation is about filling our minds.

We looked at Psalm 1 together.  I had them read it aloud.  They loved it and started talking excitedly about it for a number of minutes before I could get any translation about the conversation from my national Christian friend.  I waited patiently and prayerfully as the work was being done by my national partner, and really the Word of God itself.  They understood very well, and wanted me to tell about my experience of following Psalm 1 and its results in my life.  What an amazing blessing to talk with these dear people who want to know God about knowing God!  A few more became disciples.

After two hours of this spiritual intensity, we ate a simple lunch together.  It was a joyful time being crammed together in that small apartment for half a day talking about matters of eternal significance.  We prayed with this group of new believers.  And best of all, our national partners were praising God for the results--possibly a new church!

Lessons On Partnership And Questions

While we were saying our good-byes, we were thanked for coming and sharing, of course.  But, then a number of them shared more deeply about how they felt like they had never been allowed to ask their religious questions before, or get any kind of real answers from their religious leaders.  I don’t know how accurate this was, but we affirmed that in Christianity questions are always welcome, even the most difficult questions, and that the answers are always found in the Bible.  

Then, motioning to our national partners, we affirmed that they deeply cared for them, understood their questions far better than anyone else, and wanted to continue teaching them about our Lord Jesus Christ.

That was a great day!  God showed me the joy to be had in welcoming those who have honest questions, answering them from His Scripture, and watching Him at work.  God also showed me the value of working in partnership and in teams.  There is simply no other better way.

1 Corinthians 3:5–8 ESV “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.”