You are what you worship

I was reading a chapter on worship last night (Simply Christian, by NT Wright). He was comparing the relative fixation on the meaning of the eucharist by the Catholic and Protestent churches. It led me to think about our tendancy (as humans, not as Christians, necessarily) to turn causes/activities/propositions...etc. into idols...

Our problem isn't so much the cause, the activity or proposition we engage in...they are often the very things that propel us into the presence of God. It's what we do with the cause, activity and proposition over time...we forget that they are simply a road sign, pointing us to God and we grow to worship the cause, activity or proposition itself.

You could make the argument that we do this with everything we put our minds or our hands to. It really doesn't matter what it is...a political stance, a cause for justice, saving the environment, feeding the hungry, memorizing the bible, focusing on our families, cruising the internet, playing video games, meeting friends for coffee, using a choir and organ in worship, using a sound board and band in worship...it doesn't matter what it is, taken too far, it begins to add up to idoliltry of the activity or proposition itself and not the ultimate end that was once sought after in the first place. In many cases, it turns into idolizing oneself. How many times have you run into or observed some activist for some cause or another that has been fighting for that cause so long that they give a strong impression of self-worship...as if "I'm better than everyone else because I am so selfless!"

It seems that we have a tendency to inflate the activity or proposition in our own minds...we make more of it than it really deserves. Then, over time, that inflated image works its way into our hearts like a slow poison, eating away at the good that was stored up in our hearts.

What do we do about this?

My initial thought takes me to Psalm 119. Specifically, verse 11 reminds us of the importance of storing the truths of God in our hearts. Note, the psalmist does not say, I have hidden your word in my head. Of course, truths need to go through our minds, but our minds need to facilitate the process of storing up our understanding of God in our hearts...the core of who we are and what we value. If we can keep that storehouse full of the knowledge and wisdom of God, we will much more easily avoid the dangers of turning activities/propositions into idols themselves. Then, it will not matter what the cause/activity/proposition (within reason), all of it will propel us into the presence of God.

I'm sure this has all been said before...but like I said, the book got me thinking...