Our Scripture reading for tomorrow is 1 Kings 18:16-39.
What prompted Elijah to challenge the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel is that the Israelites had bought into the worship of Baal. It wasn’t that they had outright given up on God. Far from it, in fact; they had merely added Baal worship on top of their God worship. They hedged their bets just in case Baal could send them the rain they needed or give them the prosperity they longed for.
Today isn’t much different. We live in an “and” culture and as Christians we have bought into it. By our actions, and often by our words as well, we worship God and the god of consumerism, God and the god of body image, God and the god of busyness, God and the god of fame and popularity, God and the god of sports, God and the god of relative truth.
“How long will you limp between two opinions?” Elijah asked God’s people, “If the Lord is God, follow him. If Baal is god, follow him.” But the people said nothing. They liked the choice of “both/and.” But their choice of both was in fact a denial of God. It’s impossible to worship God and anything else.
If we try to choose God and the god of consumerism, we deny God. If we are more concerned with the clothes we wear, the car we drive, the brand of shoes on our feet, than being faithful disciples … what God/god are we serving? Choosing God and the god of body image, busyness, security, comfort, or whatever other god we worship, means that we are denying God. That’s a pretty hefty charge, but the claim of Scripture is clear – God alone is God, there are no gods, only idols that are powerless and useless.
And so a choice must be made. Do we serve God, worship God, love God, and honour God alone? Or, do we want “God and …”?
And yet, the most wonderful part of this passage is that after the crowds watched intently as the prophets of Baal danced around trying to summon fire from Baal, Elijah called to them, “Come here to me.” He didn’t lecture them or chastise them for watching the theatrics with great interest. He invited them back. Then, after soaking the altar three times, he prayed. “Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
In our “God and…” world, God’s invitation is the same for each of us: Come here to me. Where we look for outside help, where we hedge our bets, where we simply want what the world offers and God – God invites us back to Him so that we can drink deep of living waters. We will not find life in our idols. Life only comes from God.