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“...And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. But he said to me, "Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God."" – Revelation 22:8b-9
The skies were blue and the temperatures were in the mid-70’s. It was a beautiful afternoon, and those that had gathered were filled with excitement as they approached the stadium. As the people funneled through the gates, and showed their tickets, it became obvious that this was no ordinary event, as every gate was lined up down the street and around the corner. Vendors were selling t-shirts, CD’s, posters, books, buttons and even wrist-bands for nothing less than $15. Making their way to the concession stand, a 20 oz. Coke was $6 and a dried wrinkled up hot-dog in a stale bun was $7.50, which only reminded them that they should have eaten before they came.
Entering into the Pavilion, the first observation was that the seating section down front was already full with well over 100,000 people, and the grass hills, which extended in every direction were filling up fast. It was congested to say the least as they tried to find a place to lay out their blanket and sit between the other hundreds of thousands. As the afternoon turned to dusk, there was an automatic hush over the crowd as the lights came on, and the jumbo-tron screen at the front began showing instructions for the attendees.
Drinking and Smoking will not be tolerated
Stay in your seating area
Use the restrooms before the event begins
Autographs will be available via the web-site, not at the event
Do not crowd the stage, violators will be immediately escorted away
Do not attempt to help others should they become faint, we have staff members for that
The lights dimmed as music began to play and then amidst the cloud of smoke and flashing spot lights he appeared on the stage. The crowd began screaming and yelling, pressing towards the stage. As they did, the security at the stage pressed back and pushed into the crowd with barricades and billy-clubs. The poor people near the front were being squeezed between the crowd and the security. He said nothing, he simply stood in the center of the stage and held his arms out wide and the crowds swooned and screamed. As he walked near the edge of the stage, he bent over and touched a few hands, ladies were fainting as he passed by. The fury that had risen within this crowd was amazing and addicting at the same time. When he grabbed the microphone the frenzy level rose even more. He spoke into the microphone and his words were displayed on the screens: “Do you love me?” To which the roaring crowd screamed back, “Yes, we love you.” The man on stage responded with, “Then show me.”
Then the gates around the pavilion were locked and the security began pressing in from all sides, pushing people toward the stage even more so. From the hills, from their seats, from the aisles, people were falling over each other. The crowd roared even more as he began speaking about following him and worshiping him. They responded with applause and screaming out his name. Some fell to their knees with hands raised and demonstrated their love through praise. In doing so, many were trampled under the foot of those who pressed in. As the stadium condensed and people were on top of people, pressed shoulder to shoulder and front to back, the blaring music began to play.
Music with lyrics that called out the things this man had done for the people, and filled their lips with praise for him. The crowds began cheering, singing along with the praises for the man on stage. In the darkness of the night, the spotlight shown only on his face, and the people poured out their worship to him in a manner that was derived from mind-control and propaganda. Many died that night, and were claimed to have died as martyrs, demonstrating their love for him.
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Sounds irrational, unrealistic and unfathomable doesn’t it. Yet, consider who you are worshiping and why you are worshiping them. We worship sports stars, rock stars, celebrities, politicians and even ourselves. We follow their every move, we study their gossip, we cling to their next revelation and follow them on Twitter, Facebook and Pintrest. We cross chasms to idolize them and wait in lines for hours to get a signature, or to see them walk by. We have taken fellow men and women and placed them on pedastals of idolatry without any justification whatsoever.
Certainly, the story above is far fetched and intended to be so. But, in reality, we all need to check our thoughts, our addictions and our idols daily. We spend more time pursuing the famous of this world instead of pursuing the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Consider this the next time you are reading the tab-loid, or checking out the gossip channel or latest post on Facebook. Who are you idolizing today, and what have they done to deserve that praise? Now, compare that with the God of the Universe, who has given you life eternal. Use your praise wisely.
