“Oooooh! Oh no, it' going to fall!”
We
excitedly exclaimed as my daring young daughter stealthily removed the wooden game block from the tottering tower and placed it at the
top.
There
was a collective and audible sigh as the tower, still rocking from her
move and its ever diminishing foundation finally
stilled.
This
simple children's game reminds me of how we tend to lift and revere
certain people up in our lives.
“He speaks so passionately. He is just amazing... I would follow him and his preaching where-ever he goes.”
“This author's writing is breathtakingly brilliant. If only I could write like that...”
“She
is so real, with her talks about dirt on the floors and crazy kid
moments. She's so pretty and fun... I wish I could be like
her.”
And
there they are...
Our
tendencies to lift these people up.
Polishing
them with a cloth and placing them high for all to see on a
beautifully gilded pedestal of our own design...
And
then I hear the shocking words of a good friend of mine pop into my
head,
“I
think I need to spit on you now and just get this over with.”
She
was responding to a woman gushing over her and praising her talents
as a Bible teacher and speaker.
She
noted the sincere woman's words went far beyond encouragement and
were trickling into a lofty ideal she knew she couldn't possibly live
up to.
Isn't
it true though?
Eventually
people will let you down. Sometimes in direct proportion to how high
the pedestal is in which we set them on...
Is
it any wonder God had to utter this reminder to His people again and
again?
Exodus
20:2-4
“I
am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land
of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not
make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or
on the earth beneath or in the waters below.”
Lifting them up on this pedestal is making them our idol.
Like
my sweet children's game of wooden blocks, we detract from our foundation in
Christ in an effort to place these people ever higher on tottering
towers.
We
become as the Israelites, choosing to stumble down into the ever
welcoming trap of slavery yet again.
Willingly,
we shackle ourselves to the binding chains of comparison.
Our
outlooks imprisoned to strive for an image we never can, nor ever
should, try to be.
And
when our lovely idols spit on us?
When
their dirty laundry is exposed for all to see and their tottering
tower leans too far from the weight of our expectations?
When
it breaks and crumbles to the ground?
We
discover we are stumbling in a downward spiral with them...
Feeling
betrayed and broken.
Haven't we all been there at some point or another?
Let us remember,
Haven't we all been there at some point or another?
Let us remember,
Galatians
5:1
"It
is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do
not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."
Who are you lifting high today?
Linking with these fabulous places... Inspire Me Mondays, Soli Deo Gloria Party, Playdates With God, Wednesday's Word
