The Polytheistic Church

Yes, I have seen something horrible in Ephraim and Israel: My people are defiled by prostituting themselves with other gods! [Hosea 6.10]

What was it about "other gods" that kept Israel coming back? I mean, what did the other gods offer that God did not offer?

Think! Everything that man has ever worshiped offers something in return, right? 

Man needs help. Since the Garden of Eden, this has become a basic tenet of life. Man needs help. God is very specific about where man gets help! God has made it very clear that His people's help should come from Him. God is very jealous about where His people get their help. God is not willing that his people get their help anywhere but from Him. Do you see where this is going yet?

What "help" is it that man needs? Well, he needs basic life necessities like food and water. Man needs shelter. Man needs health and strength. And, although it may not qualify as a "need," man craves pleasure. It is worth saying right here that man indeed finds pleasure in food and drink, shelter, health and strength, but man also finds pleasure in reproducing.

When man turns to anything or anyone besides God for his basic needs and wants, the Bible is very clear that it is idolatry. Anything man offers his devotion to in exchange for his needs being met is an idol. I mean, there is no reason to worship anything that gives nothing in return, is there? Man has worshiped the sun and moon, clouds, wind, rain, rocks, the sea, crops, animals, etc. Why? Because of what they supposedly provide! This is idolatry.

Man has also worshiped knowledge, science, finance, education, religion, medicine, and the list goes on... Why? For what they supposedly provide! This became shamelessly apparent over the course of the last year or so in the COVID-19 pandemic. The catch phrase became "believe the science." In other words, don't be so silly to trust God (Who said He would heal you) but trust the science - the medicine (ironically, there are suspicions that the "science" may have been where the virus originated).

It can be overwhelming to consider all that man trusts today and therefore is devoted to (ie. worships). The danger at this point is the polytheistic approach even the Church has taken to this dilemma. We say we "trust God" but that God mostly works through "the science" or "the medicine." See the problem? God was very clear early on that man was to worship and depend on Him alone. God demands 100% devotion - not a blend. God is exclusive.

Father, I have increasingly seen man's prostitution with himself and his devices. I have seen this prostitution in myself. Forgive me. Forgive me for trusting in anything or anyone besides You. And, forgive Your Church - Your people - for our polytheistic approach to You... making You only a 'part' of meeting our needs instead of our all in all.