Idol Hands-Devil’s Workshop (7 of 8)
Series: Red Sea Moments
James Merritt
Exodus 32
Introduction
1. I have been in a lot of churches and many places of worship, but one of the most unusual places of worship in the world is ‘‘The Temple of a Thousand Buddha’s.’’ [Show photo of temple]. It is in Kyoto, Japan. What is so unique about this temple is that worshippers can literally design their own deity. The temple is stocked with more than a thousand likenesses of Buddha and you can pick and choose which one you like best. Idolatry there is a thriving business.
2. When I was President of the Southern Baptist Convention, we had divided the world up into fourteen different missionary regions and I visited every one. For the most part, it was a tremendous experience which was very enlightening and very encouraging with one big exception. When I got home after this one trip and I had been home a couple of days, Teresa asked me, ‘‘What is wrong with you?’’ I had been very quiet because I was extremely depressed.
3. The reason was on this particular trip I had gone to India for the first time. I was sitting in a taxi with my dear friend Steve Nolen, who at that time was a missionary there and I was watching a man paralyzed from the waist down pulling himself across a grassy park trying to get to a bull. As we were stuck in traffic I watched this man get closer and closer with his hand outstretched. When I asked Steve what he was doing he said, ‘‘He believes that is a god and he believes if he touches him he will be healed.’’ In Mumbai, we went to a gigantic three-story store where you could go in, shop, and pick out any god you wanted to take home to worship. The over-whelming lostness combined with the tragic devotion to idols crushed my heart and it took me weeks to get over that experience.
4. As I thought about it, I realized why the very first two commandments that God gave to Israel dealt with idolatry. He said, ‘‘Don’t have any other god before m ...
Series: Red Sea Moments
James Merritt
Exodus 32
Introduction
1. I have been in a lot of churches and many places of worship, but one of the most unusual places of worship in the world is ‘‘The Temple of a Thousand Buddha’s.’’ [Show photo of temple]. It is in Kyoto, Japan. What is so unique about this temple is that worshippers can literally design their own deity. The temple is stocked with more than a thousand likenesses of Buddha and you can pick and choose which one you like best. Idolatry there is a thriving business.
2. When I was President of the Southern Baptist Convention, we had divided the world up into fourteen different missionary regions and I visited every one. For the most part, it was a tremendous experience which was very enlightening and very encouraging with one big exception. When I got home after this one trip and I had been home a couple of days, Teresa asked me, ‘‘What is wrong with you?’’ I had been very quiet because I was extremely depressed.
3. The reason was on this particular trip I had gone to India for the first time. I was sitting in a taxi with my dear friend Steve Nolen, who at that time was a missionary there and I was watching a man paralyzed from the waist down pulling himself across a grassy park trying to get to a bull. As we were stuck in traffic I watched this man get closer and closer with his hand outstretched. When I asked Steve what he was doing he said, ‘‘He believes that is a god and he believes if he touches him he will be healed.’’ In Mumbai, we went to a gigantic three-story store where you could go in, shop, and pick out any god you wanted to take home to worship. The over-whelming lostness combined with the tragic devotion to idols crushed my heart and it took me weeks to get over that experience.
4. As I thought about it, I realized why the very first two commandments that God gave to Israel dealt with idolatry. He said, ‘‘Don’t have any other god before m ...
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