Episode Transcript
CONSECRATE
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
HEAR
1 John 5:21 (NIV)
Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
CONSIDER
Wow! What a surprise ending. It’s unforgettable. John didn’t give any farewells or good wishes or “thanks for reading” or “let me summarize my three points” or a nice, tear-jerking anecdote or anything of the sort.
He just stopped. John hasn’t so much as whispered the word idol in anything he’s written: not the gospel or 2 or 3 John. It’s unprecedented for him.
Truth be told, I can only remember the way one other book in the New Testament ends. That would be the gospel of Matthew:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (28:19–20)
“Keep yourselves from idols.” Idol is an old word. It stretches all the way back to the book of Exodus. But it’s a word that has held its meaning through the ages.
So what’s an idol? It’s a substitute god. An idol is whatever promises to make your life work in exchange for your pursuit of it. Money comes to mind. That’s why Jesus said so much about it—like, for instance, you can’t serve God and money (see Matthew 6:24). Pornography is an idol as it leads us to objectify a person made in the image of God, denying their identity, to serve the manipulative purposes of our lust. Our own appearance and influence can become an idol as we seek to re-create our own image to appear as someone other than our true identity. Social media profoundly plays into this stream of idolatry.
Honestly, I kind of want to wrap up 1 John and tie a bow around it. But If I’m true to John, I can’t do it.
If you want people to remember the last thing you say, don’t say something predictable. Don’t even try to say something memorable. Just make your point and stop talking.
So how about this for an ending: Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
How about I end by telling you the only possible way to keep yourselves from idols?
Entrust your life completely, constantly, and unreservedly to Jesus.
PRAY
Lord Jesus, I entrust myself completely, constantly, and unreservedly to you. Yes, Lord, I do. Lead me now into the reality of this entrustment. By the power of your Spirit, I will keep myself from idols. I pray in your name, Jesus. Amen.
