Idolatry

This morning I went to church and my mind trailed off on a tangent that was not really related to the sermon for today. My pastor here was discussing Acts 17 when Paul is discussing the "unknow god" that is in a city he is visiting. I have been considering idolatry and in what ways does that has taken shape in the world we live in today.

When I greeted people at church this morning I talked to multiple people that in response to "How are you doing?" replied "I am so tired", "Oh why's that?" "Well I stayed up late the last few nights."

I am tired today. There is nothing wrong with being tired besides the effects on your health as a result of chronic lack of sleep. But there may be something wrong with the reasons behind why we are so tired. I believe that there is an addiction to entertainment and it is evident all over the place. I once gave my parents a hard time for having the TV as the focal point of the living room, and yet this is very common is most houses. Advertising is rampant. The resources we have are endless when it comes to being entertained. There are so many things that are not in and of themselves evil, but the excessive use and abuse is what is evil.

I purposely use the word evil.

We are addicted to being constantly doing something, of being entertained. It is our priority! Check your email, watch some TV or a movie, play Ultimate Frisbee, listen to music to fill in the silence because silence is always awkward, excessive eating just because it is enjoyable, going to concerts, going to the mall, buying things in general. I would suggest that it has even come to the point of affecting our churches and services. I like, want this attribute in the service, and I don't like this about the service. And once the dislikes out weigh the likes then we can go to the church down the road that meets all or at least more of what we desire.

Idolatry is evil, it separates us from God. If we idolize entertainment it is a distraction and a obstacle that takes up our time and energy and it can over take our lives. I am always on the look out for "something to do" and if I am unsuccessful then I am bored. I think I have said it before, but I will say it again. Boredom is often a choice.

So now the question is how do you get a generation addicted to entertainment and doing stuff to break the cycle and the controlling desires to DO DO DO? And something else I find interesting is that our worth is dependent on what we do.

What did you do this weekend? Is it worthy of bringing up in conversation when you "hang out" with whoever. Why do you hang out with those people? Well, he has these things, he is socially acceptable, because he wears the right things and says the right things. If you have not been sufficiently entertained this weekend then you fail the test of Monday morning conversation...your weekend was boring, uneventful and you have nothing to contribute. You have no worth. Even our conversation is required to be entertaining. That is funny, that is amazing or that is extreme...whatever adjectives you want to use.

Give it to me...all of it. Give me what is physically, visually, and audibly pleasing. I want it because it tastes good. I may lose sleep over it, but it is worth my time because it is more entertaining than sleeping. Plus I can then check off my quota for how I have been entertained.

But our appetite, just like with any other addiction, will never be satisfied.

Stop it! Break the addiction. Start with a day, move on to a few, a week, a month. My mind is working against me, it lusts after my desires for fun and enjoyment.

It has become my American Idol.