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Making an Idol of Recreation
2 Tim. 3:1-5
Intro.
A. Did you ever buy cotton candy at a fair? (About 2 teaspoons of sugar & drop of coloring, spun in a machine to fluff it up - sell for about price of 5 pounds of sugar! Without the fluffing, would not spend the money for 2 teaspoons of sugar!)
B. Satan is in the “cotton candy” business - and Paul predicted a ready market (2 Tim. 3).
1. List begins with lovers of self - ends with lovers of pleasure (philos - loving; hedone - pleasure).
2. Webster defines “hedonism” - “the ethical doctrine that pleasure, variously conceived of in terms of happiness of the individual or of society is the principal good and proper aim of action...the self indulgent pursuit of pleasure as a way of life.”
C. It is idolatry because it gives to people, or things, what rightly belongs to God.
1. “In the N.T. idolatry came to mean, not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion which belonged to God alone, but the giving to any human desire a precedence over God’s will (...Col. 3:5)” (ISBE).
2. The first recorded sin of Israelites after entering Canaan - covetousness (Josh. 7:21).
3. The first recorded sin in the church - covetousness (Acts 5 desire for man’s praise caused lying to God).
D. Is our recreation - simply pleasure or has it become idolatry?
Body:
A. Recreation must be kept in proper perspective - not take the place of God.
1. God created man with desires - nothing wrong with them - but misuse makes them an idol.
2. Nothing wrong with enjoying life (Eccl. 11:9-12:1; note 2:24; 3:12,13; 5:18).
3. N.T. teaches the same (1 Tim. 4:8 - “bodily exercise is profitable for a little...”).
4. Have we made recreation - participating and watching a god? What takes priority in our lives?
5. A.M. - get up at 5:00, travel two hours, sit in sun all day - ready to go fishing! What if someone wants me to get up same time to study the Bible? Fanatic!
6. P.M. - get a load to travel two/three hours to a ball game - ready to go! What about a load to go two hours to a gospel meeting? Fanatic! (If that rings my number - maybe should answer “lover of pleasure”!)
7. Read about Purdue vs. Indiana basketball game (1994 - both in top ten) - house in Lafayette was packed, though temperature was -27 degrees, with wind-chill factor -50! The next evening the church was to meet in same conditions - canceled! (Anyone who went to the game was “a true fan,” anyone who would have gone to church was “a religious fanatic.”
8. Think about the idols men have made of entertainers:
a. Elvis Presley had made more money since his death than before. His home has become a shrine, people pay homage at his grave - a church called “The First Presbyterian Church of Elvis the Divine.”
b. The Beatles - once boasted, “we are more popular than Jesus Christ.” May have exaggerated, but many were more committed to them than to Christ.
c. Princess Diana - millions of dollars spent for flowers to express grief. She sold herself to the media, then said “let me alone.” Excused her adultery “because Prince Charles did it first.” Had been with an “escort” two or three vacations before killed in a car wreck. Yes, it was sad, but is she our hero?
d. Michael Jordan (SKY Magazine, Delta Air Lines, Feb. 1998): “A half-century ago, the great American hero was Dwight D. Eisenhower...The transition from ‘I like Ike’ to ‘Be Like Mike’ encompasses a great deal more than the passage of time...Our interest in public life has declined catastrophically. Only a small percentage of us now vote regularly, and the quality of those who seek public office is, by common consent, a reflection of our indifference...Rather than participate in public life and the national defense, we direct our energies toward our amusement. The people whom we most revere are those who most successfully entertain us...”
e. Chart on his salary (1988): “Jordan makes $300,000 a game, $10,000 a minute assuming he averages about 30 minutes a game. Assuming $40 million in endorsements, he makes $178,000 a day (working or not). If he goes to a movie, it costs him $7, but he makes $18,500 while he’s there. This year, he’ll make more than twice as much as all the past U.S. presidents for all their terms combined...”
f. There are some “good heros” - Lindy McDaniel signed with Cardinals (1957 - $50,000 bonus; in Life Magazine with Dizzy Dean, July 8, 1957); Later pitched for Cubs, Giants, Yankees and Royals. (Picture from Yankees’ Magazine, April 1997). “Noted for his off-the-field ministry in the Church of Christ throughout his 21-season major- league career, including 5 ½ years with the Yankees, McDaniel is still true to his beliefs. He is dividing his time running the family farm and preaching near his native Hollis, Ok....” Authored “Pitching for the Master,” June, 1976 told about conversion of Freddy Patek, shortstop of KC Royals.)
g. Donald Jacobs - recruited to Globetrotters (refused - “also know that it means to be a Christian and can’t be both”). Thomas May’s daughter - private school in Al. - tournament - team to play Wed. P.M. - “you have a commitment to the team,” “made a prior commitment to the Lord.” They changed the game time and decided no more games on Wed. nights!
B. The Dangers:
1. Amount of money spent:
a. You must make donation of thousands of dollars at some universities just to have the privilege of buying a season ticket.
b. Some do that and generously support the Lord’s work - but some not in perspective.
c. Mt. 6:19-21
2. Hours spent:
a. Time spent in participating in ball games, hunting, fishing, etc - compared to hours spent in spiritual matters - studying, teaching, visiting, etc.
b. “I can’t get interested in Lord’s work” - must invest time and money!
3. Moral implications of heros:
a. Young people want to wear the number, mimic the hair-dos (Dennis Rodman - a disgusting display of humanity) - violates “modesty.”
b. The morals of many of these heros - TV report said NBA players average one illigitimate child per player; a famous college/pro quarterback boasted of the number of girls he had committed fornication with during his college days; drugs, weight-lifters were asked - “If you could take a drug that would guarantee you’d win every competition for five years, but at the end of the five years the drug would be certain to kill you, would you take that drug? A majority of the weight lifters said YES.” “If we ask ourselves why a significant number of young people in our society would trade their very lives for five years of drug-dependent success, we must answer: they are spiritually adrift. They lack ennobling vision of human dignity, human destiny, and the ultimate meaning of life. As one mother said upon hearing the results of that survey, ‘Those young men don’t know why they are here.’” (PHI DELTA KAPPAN, Sept, 1999, magazine for teachers).
4. Church takes second place:
a. Wednesday night services - receive no consideration from little league leaders; now soccer on Sundays.
b. Elders cannot schedule meetings during these seasons - nor week-long meetings, too busy to attend (Lk. 8:14).
C. What is the Remedy?
1. Faith (Heb. 11:24-29 - “pleasures of sin” may be ungodly things, or abuse of good things).
2. Study (Ps. 1:1-3; 2 Tim. 3:14-17).
3. Commitment (Mt. 6:33; 22:37,38).
4. Contentment (1 Tim. 6:6-11).
Concl.
A. Gibbon’s “Decline and fall of the Roman Empire” - “Higher and higher taxes and the spending of public money for free bread and circuses for the populace. The mad craze for pleasure; sports becoming every year more exciting and more brutal.”
B. Why is idolatry wrong? NO idol can save us from our sins! Why is it so POPULAR? Because it will not condemn us for our sins either.
C. Eccl. 12:13
2 Tim. 3:1-5
Intro.
A. Did you ever buy cotton candy at a fair? (About 2 teaspoons of sugar & drop of coloring, spun in a machine to fluff it up - sell for about price of 5 pounds of sugar! Without the fluffing, would not spend the money for 2 teaspoons of sugar!)
B. Satan is in the “cotton candy” business - and Paul predicted a ready market (2 Tim. 3).
1. List begins with lovers of self - ends with lovers of pleasure (philos - loving; hedone - pleasure).
2. Webster defines “hedonism” - “the ethical doctrine that pleasure, variously conceived of in terms of happiness of the individual or of society is the principal good and proper aim of action...the self indulgent pursuit of pleasure as a way of life.”
C. It is idolatry because it gives to people, or things, what rightly belongs to God.
1. “In the N.T. idolatry came to mean, not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion which belonged to God alone, but the giving to any human desire a precedence over God’s will (...Col. 3:5)” (ISBE).
2. The first recorded sin of Israelites after entering Canaan - covetousness (Josh. 7:21).
3. The first recorded sin in the church - covetousness (Acts 5 desire for man’s praise caused lying to God).
D. Is our recreation - simply pleasure or has it become idolatry?
Body:
A. Recreation must be kept in proper perspective - not take the place of God.
1. God created man with desires - nothing wrong with them - but misuse makes them an idol.
2. Nothing wrong with enjoying life (Eccl. 11:9-12:1; note 2:24; 3:12,13; 5:18).
3. N.T. teaches the same (1 Tim. 4:8 - “bodily exercise is profitable for a little...”).
4. Have we made recreation - participating and watching a god? What takes priority in our lives?
5. A.M. - get up at 5:00, travel two hours, sit in sun all day - ready to go fishing! What if someone wants me to get up same time to study the Bible? Fanatic!
6. P.M. - get a load to travel two/three hours to a ball game - ready to go! What about a load to go two hours to a gospel meeting? Fanatic! (If that rings my number - maybe should answer “lover of pleasure”!)
7. Read about Purdue vs. Indiana basketball game (1994 - both in top ten) - house in Lafayette was packed, though temperature was -27 degrees, with wind-chill factor -50! The next evening the church was to meet in same conditions - canceled! (Anyone who went to the game was “a true fan,” anyone who would have gone to church was “a religious fanatic.”
8. Think about the idols men have made of entertainers:
a. Elvis Presley had made more money since his death than before. His home has become a shrine, people pay homage at his grave - a church called “The First Presbyterian Church of Elvis the Divine.”
b. The Beatles - once boasted, “we are more popular than Jesus Christ.” May have exaggerated, but many were more committed to them than to Christ.
c. Princess Diana - millions of dollars spent for flowers to express grief. She sold herself to the media, then said “let me alone.” Excused her adultery “because Prince Charles did it first.” Had been with an “escort” two or three vacations before killed in a car wreck. Yes, it was sad, but is she our hero?
d. Michael Jordan (SKY Magazine, Delta Air Lines, Feb. 1998): “A half-century ago, the great American hero was Dwight D. Eisenhower...The transition from ‘I like Ike’ to ‘Be Like Mike’ encompasses a great deal more than the passage of time...Our interest in public life has declined catastrophically. Only a small percentage of us now vote regularly, and the quality of those who seek public office is, by common consent, a reflection of our indifference...Rather than participate in public life and the national defense, we direct our energies toward our amusement. The people whom we most revere are those who most successfully entertain us...”
e. Chart on his salary (1988): “Jordan makes $300,000 a game, $10,000 a minute assuming he averages about 30 minutes a game. Assuming $40 million in endorsements, he makes $178,000 a day (working or not). If he goes to a movie, it costs him $7, but he makes $18,500 while he’s there. This year, he’ll make more than twice as much as all the past U.S. presidents for all their terms combined...”
f. There are some “good heros” - Lindy McDaniel signed with Cardinals (1957 - $50,000 bonus; in Life Magazine with Dizzy Dean, July 8, 1957); Later pitched for Cubs, Giants, Yankees and Royals. (Picture from Yankees’ Magazine, April 1997). “Noted for his off-the-field ministry in the Church of Christ throughout his 21-season major- league career, including 5 ½ years with the Yankees, McDaniel is still true to his beliefs. He is dividing his time running the family farm and preaching near his native Hollis, Ok....” Authored “Pitching for the Master,” June, 1976 told about conversion of Freddy Patek, shortstop of KC Royals.)
g. Donald Jacobs - recruited to Globetrotters (refused - “also know that it means to be a Christian and can’t be both”). Thomas May’s daughter - private school in Al. - tournament - team to play Wed. P.M. - “you have a commitment to the team,” “made a prior commitment to the Lord.” They changed the game time and decided no more games on Wed. nights!
B. The Dangers:
1. Amount of money spent:
a. You must make donation of thousands of dollars at some universities just to have the privilege of buying a season ticket.
b. Some do that and generously support the Lord’s work - but some not in perspective.
c. Mt. 6:19-21
2. Hours spent:
a. Time spent in participating in ball games, hunting, fishing, etc - compared to hours spent in spiritual matters - studying, teaching, visiting, etc.
b. “I can’t get interested in Lord’s work” - must invest time and money!
3. Moral implications of heros:
a. Young people want to wear the number, mimic the hair-dos (Dennis Rodman - a disgusting display of humanity) - violates “modesty.”
b. The morals of many of these heros - TV report said NBA players average one illigitimate child per player; a famous college/pro quarterback boasted of the number of girls he had committed fornication with during his college days; drugs, weight-lifters were asked - “If you could take a drug that would guarantee you’d win every competition for five years, but at the end of the five years the drug would be certain to kill you, would you take that drug? A majority of the weight lifters said YES.” “If we ask ourselves why a significant number of young people in our society would trade their very lives for five years of drug-dependent success, we must answer: they are spiritually adrift. They lack ennobling vision of human dignity, human destiny, and the ultimate meaning of life. As one mother said upon hearing the results of that survey, ‘Those young men don’t know why they are here.’” (PHI DELTA KAPPAN, Sept, 1999, magazine for teachers).
4. Church takes second place:
a. Wednesday night services - receive no consideration from little league leaders; now soccer on Sundays.
b. Elders cannot schedule meetings during these seasons - nor week-long meetings, too busy to attend (Lk. 8:14).
C. What is the Remedy?
1. Faith (Heb. 11:24-29 - “pleasures of sin” may be ungodly things, or abuse of good things).
2. Study (Ps. 1:1-3; 2 Tim. 3:14-17).
3. Commitment (Mt. 6:33; 22:37,38).
4. Contentment (1 Tim. 6:6-11).
Concl.
A. Gibbon’s “Decline and fall of the Roman Empire” - “Higher and higher taxes and the spending of public money for free bread and circuses for the populace. The mad craze for pleasure; sports becoming every year more exciting and more brutal.”
B. Why is idolatry wrong? NO idol can save us from our sins! Why is it so POPULAR? Because it will not condemn us for our sins either.
C. Eccl. 12:13