Sermon January 22, 2006

The Faith Full Family:
The Idol of Control
Romans 14:10

Introduction: There are many popular video and computer games on the market but one type of game is very popular. These are called ‘god games’. This is where the gamer has control over the characters on the screen. Many games have different levels of control. One of these is called “The Sims” a family you create and make decisions for. What is it about this kind of control that is so addictive and popular? It is that sense of power and control, of being ‘god’.

Of course the temptation is not just in video games but also in real life. To be “like God” is at the root of all kinds of sinful behavior.

I. The Struggle for Control
It is interesting that as the desire to control others grows there seems to be less and less emphasis on self-control. The reason may be that we learn how difficult it is to control ourselves. Yet this is where the emphasis of scripture is. Paul, Peter, and others encourage the Christian to learn self-control. It is a gift, a fruit of the Spirit that is born in the life surrendered to God. Being self-controlled allows us to choose what is right, what pleases God.

Something or someone else controls a person who is not self-controlled. As parents we are called to control our children and yet this is not a permanent thing. Parental control must give way to the child learning to control and decide for herself. Self-control is one of the prime goals of parenting.

Our society is one where so many are addicted to something, in other words controlled by something. Addiction is a thief of freedom. It is ironic that in a nation that values freedom so much, that so few are free.

II. Judging
It is much easier to focus on controlling someone else. There are many books about getting our way, controlling others. Yet scripture is about freedom, about self-control. One area in scripture where this battle for control of others is seen is in judging others by a standard we set. It is accepting and rejecting others on the basis of how they live up to our expectations.
This is one of those battles that often occur early in a marriage-who is in control? That control is often based on our expectations. Romantic love often blinds people to the reality of another person. When reality sets in then the battle begins. Who will control the finances? What is the division of labor in the home? Every couple has gone through these or similar battles. Couples that stay together eventually come to some kind of accommodation, sometimes healthy and sometimes not. But too often a person is rejected because of some unfulfilled expectation and judged inadequate as a wife or husband. This is a type of idolatry that keeps marriages from becoming what God intended.

This occurs in parenting also. All parents have expectations for their children, some realistic and some not. The real question is how do we deal with them when they fail to meet what we expect.

Jesus speaks of this in Matt. 7:1-5. The religious context of Jesus’ day was filled with censoring and condemnation. The religious authorities were adept at making rules and regulations and then excluding anyone who would not honor those rules. See Matthew 15:1-3. Jesus’ harshest words were for those religious leaders who had made an idol of their rules, their expectations, and condemned those who would not follow them, Matthew 23:4, 13. The religious authorities wanted to control their people and used fear, intimidation and power to do so. They set themselves in the place of God.

Paul follows Jesus’ lead when he writes to the Roman church. Christians were falling into the same trap that had ensnared religious leaders in Jesus’ day, Rom. 14:10-13. The drive to exclude others who were different, who believed differently, is one that has inflicted the church from the beginning. How easy it is to slip into God’s judgment seat.

Jesus had expectations of those who followed him. We often focus on Jesus’ words about discipleship, Matthew 16:24. Those expectations were high and I believe many people started to follow but turned back at some point. The interesting thing about this is that Jesus never sent someone away. Disciples failed often and sometimes spectacularly. Yet there is no hint that Jesus ever lowered his expectations. However, he always gave people who wanted it another chance to follow. Do you think that Jesus would have turned Judas away if he had not killed himself? Peter, the man who denied Jesus, was given another chance to follow, even another chance to lead. Jesus never shamed, did not embarrass or humiliate those who came to him no matter how much or how badly they had failed.

III. Throwing Out the Idol
The idol that we need to cast out today is not expectations, though they sometimes can become an idol. Like the Pharisees we can sometimes make rules that are not of God. The idol we are looking at is really acting like God, excluding and rejecting people because they are not good enough, because they don’t meet our expectations. The only problem is that this is not how God acts. God acts like Jesus. Like Jesus we need to maintain high expectations of others and ourselves. There should be no lowering of the standards that Jesus set for us. But when we fail, when others fail, we also need to act like Jesus.

The idol we need to cast out is the desire to be God; we become the idol. This may be the hardest idol of all to get rid of because it is so difficult for us to see. I want to close with the words of Jesus as translated in the Message because I think the translator has the sense of what Jesus was saying,

"Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults — unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.”

The call for us is to throw out the idol of wanting to be God, and follow Jesus.

Livonia Church of Christ: January 22, 2006