Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
One foundational command of the Bible is the first of 10: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3.)
This is quite early, in the second book. The rest of Scripture goes on to document how hard it is for sinful folks to keep that rule. As John Calvin said, the human heart has proven to be an idol factory. We just keep pumping them out.
These false gods take the form of carved statues at times. But they also show up as rival religions, lying philosophies, or anything else that competes for our devotion. Jesus, for instance, pointed to money as a common pretender to God’s throne. (Luke 16:13.)
This is standard teaching in Christian churches. We all get it.
There is, however, one chief rival to God in the Bible that our pulpits seldom identify. This idol shows up from cover to cover and wreaks havoc on God’s people. It is centralized, human civil government, which I will refer to as the State.
Don’t get me wrong. God created civil government and intends it to function as a righteous servant of the people (Romans 13:1-4). I’m not advocating its elimination, but that it should remain in its God-ordained place. Many believers have it in the wrong place in their thinking. The State has become a false god to a large swath of American Evangelicalism.
This is not shocking. The Bible records that the State has been a perennial foe to the people of God throughout history. Back in Exodus, there was Pharaoh, who was treated as a god on Earth. In Babylon, King Darius decreed that no one was allowed to pray to any god except him. The Roman Caesars demanded religious devotion. King Herod in Israel accepted adoration as a god, at least until the true God put a disturbing end to that (Acts 12:20-23). The name of the pagan god, Moloch, who demanded the sacrifice of infants, means “king” and had reference to the State at the time.
I could multiply examples. It is the nature of a godless State to amass power and demand devotion from its subjects.
This is hardly arguable, but you wouldn’t know anything about it from modern sermons. Christians look to the government to do everything and solve every problem. In fact, we want it to do the difficult things Jesus told us to do (feed the poor; deal with aliens and strangers; take care of widows and orphans; tell us whether or how to engage in business; say who’s married and who isn’t; say when it’s OK to kill our babies; defend our families, and on and on).
The Texas church shooting has just happened as I write this, and I saw a man (not associated with the victims) interviewed on television who passionately pleaded for Hollywood and the government to help us end violence in America. Granted, he was distraught and probably not thinking clearly. But, seriously? Hollywood and the government?
Christian, you were called to something better than this. If God is God, worship him alone. If the Gospel really is the power of God (Romans 1:16) then let’s rely on that.
“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” (1 John 5:21)
Gordan Runyan is the pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Tucumcari. Contact him at:
