Idolatry leads to servitude

Fetish worship in the communities in which New Foundations work is common and with long traditional roots. Idol worship constitutes both community and family religion with generational inheritance. It winds its suffocating tendrils through family and community life.

Strange in the 21st century therefore to find a man who came to the clinic and discussed with a worker his sense of entrapment being the community idol keeper. Appointed by the community he is the fourth generation holder of the post, sought by militants for spiritual power and protection from harm during ongoing clashes with government forces. 

From his own mouth, he opined that he saw the hand of God in the clinic that was greater and more sustaining than any power he witnessed in the occult power of the idols.

To a western mind, this can be confusing and easy to put down to superstition and cultural tradition, a rich vein for an anthropologists thesis.

As Christians however , if we give credence that the Bible is the inerrant word of God then we must consider these claims. Many in the west accept the notion of God, even casual atheists happy to attend the Christmas carol service or to have a church wedding. Yet this at any level is to validate a faith based construct of reality. The Bible says that God is a Spirit and we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Why then should we not consider , from the same source, the Bible that other spiritual entities exist that we should enquire of?

The idol keeper was vexed and troubled and wanted free of the community idol. From reading the Bible and hearing the testimony of some workers he was moved to worship the true God of the Bible and desiring to follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but felt unable. Words from Vivian,one of our workers had scorched his spirit he said and had caused him to consider deeply the basis for his beliefs and allegiances.

Eager to discuss more we agreed to visit him and heard at length the convincing evidence of occultic power he was witness too, and the sense of fear and enslavement he felt to the idol. 

We have heard over the years of convincing demonic protection from bullets and seen the life ebbing effects of occult curses from such men. Personally, I am convinced from evidence seen and heard. 

God will not share His glory, and the bondage to this idol was evident, We discussed for two hours the exclusivity of salvation through Jesus Christ. At the end, he was encouraged, but not resolved. To destroy the links to the idol may result in death from the community or at best violence. He needed time to count the cost.

This whole situation was truly biblical, yet our ‘sophisticated’ lives are not so very different. Can God share the throne of our life with our work, career, music, sports and entertainments? The spherical football itself is a powerful idol for many.

It's a matter of deciding this day whom we shall serve, to prioritise once and for all the sovereignty of God in our small and temporal existence. To vacillate may prove dangerous and disastrous. We pray the idol keeper will have the courage to commit to the victory of the cross through the atoning blood of Gods son  Jesus Christ, who loves us so much He gave of Himself for our redemption.

May he heed the words of the prophet Isaiah 43: 6-9 ‘I am the first and I am the last,

And there is no God besides Me. ‘Who is like Me?….Those who fashion a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things are of no profit;