Idol

There seems to be a growing faction of people who believe that God approves of what they do with their life as long as they are doing what makes them happy. God would want them to be happy, they reason. God is where I am. As long as I am satisfied in this moment or with the decisions I am making, God must be satisfied as well.

God is love, and I love this (whatever this is), so of course God loves me and this!

It's almost hip to have this unnamed, undefined spirituality. God is in the now, God is all about me, and God wants me to be happy.

It sounds good. It almost sounds right.

This sort of unbounded spirituality is en vogue right now it seems. It's a universal spirituality that anyone can participate it. All are accepted, as long as you adopt the rules of the unnamed spirituality. Even the Hollywood "star's" of our day participate and promote its beliefs. Two of the unwritten rules is that truth is relevant, and tolerance is essential, except of course tolerance of those who are intolerant of their tolerance.

Question I'd like to ask is, what "God" are you referring to? Where is this so-called spirituality founded?

Any theology that isn't founded on the Scriptures is bound for ruin at the judgment seat of Christ. The Scripture makes it clear we were created through Him and for Him. This universal "God" is very much love, and, He is also Lord and Master of the universe. He dictates how we come to Him and what pleases Him, not the other way around. God isn't a universal generality, rather, He is a meaningful specific. He isn't an unnamed blob, His name is Jesus.

Unfortunately, I believe the church isn't too far behind the thinking and beliefs of this "spiritual chi" of our day. We like the "God" being referenced in this movement. And in the process we subtly exchange the truth of the Scripture for the lies of hell. Instead of getting our understanding of God from the Scriptures and biblical teachers, we too learn from the actors and media all around us.

I believe in many ways that the Church is so interconnected with the world that we cannot tell the difference between some Hollywood "star's" theology and the truth of the Scripture.

Like I have said before, we better make sure our the-ology isn't a me-ology.

The next time we claim God approves of our lifestyles or the decisions we make, we better have the sense enough to inquire of the One who created us and set the world in motion. It would be wise of us to seek the Scriptures and ask the One God what pleases Him, instead of assuming my temporal happiness is the source and fountain of truth for my life, and whether or not He approves.

If you or I have been guilty of following our own man-made doctrine or the false spirit of the age, it would behoove us to heed the advice of the Jesus-follower Jason Upton, "Better trash our idols if we're gonna be, in the army of the Lord."

Jesus himself put it it a little more simply and succinctly by saying, "Repent."

He couldn't have said anything more loving than that to a lost and rebellious world.