NO OTHER GOD

By Jeannette Haley

       Recently there was a great deal of flap over a Republican Sikh woman’s prayer on the second day of the RNC convention. Harmeet Dhillon, with covered head, led the invocation to her pagan god and stated that “Vaheguru, is our one true god.” While we didn’t watch the convention as a whole, we did catch some parts of it, and when we happened to see Harmeet pray to her so-called “god” we were beyond shocked and appalled. What really exasperated me was the fact that over 20,000 people were in attendance, which included Christians of course, and they all stood there in respectful silence during this prayer. I know myself well enough to know that if I had been there, my reaction probably would’ve resulted in my being escorted out of the building and given a free ride to jail. Why were the attending Christians so “polite and compliant” in that moment when a pagan god was being honored as “the one true god” in front of the entire nation? Wasn’t there a Moses, Deborah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, or a true prophet of God who could’ve stood up against this? I tend to believe that perhaps the late David Wilkerson would have because he was a man of courage. I marvel at the lack of courage exhibited today by professing Christians.

       At least one man, Connor Mahoney, posted on X that “This was embarrassing. America is a Christian country. We literally had an excellent Christian prayer before this that mentioned Jesus Christ. This was unnecessary, performative, and blasphemous.” From a Christian standpoint I agree with his conclusion concerning her performance, but he is in error when he states that “America is a Christian country.” I know that sounds good, and many still believe it’s true; but while it may have originally been founded on Judeo-Christian principles and beliefs, America lost its distinction as a “Christian country” long ago.

       For example, concerning the influx and growth of religions promoting “other gods” in the United States alone, almost 300,000 people practice Sikhism, a monotheistic religion that originated in 15th-century India. In America there are roughly over a million Muslims, between 3 to 5 million Buddhists, around 62 million Catholics, over 17 million Mormons, along with hundreds of cults, many of which claim to be “Christian.” Only God knows how many people in America are real born-again Christians. Even though many of the founders and settlers in America were courageous, God-fearing men and women who worked to establish a Christian nation, the truth is American Christianity today has very little resemblance to the early church in both belief and practice, while the first commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” Exodus 20:3 is either ignored, or has been completely dismissed as irrelevant for our time.  

       While even a weak-kneed Christian in America would most likely refuse to bow before a man-made idol, there are, nevertheless, many subtle idols that are being honored and served by the undiscerning. A. W. Tozer wrote in his book, The Knowledge of the Holy, “Let us beware lest we in our pride accept the erroneous notion that idolatry consists only in kneeling before visible objects of adoration, and that civilized peoples are therefore free from it. The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him. It begins in the mind and may be present where no overt act of worship has taken place. ‘When they knew God,’ wrote Paul, ‘they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.’ (Romans 1:21.)

          ^“Then followed the worship of idols fashioned after the likeness of men and birds and beasts and creeping things. But this series of degrading acts began in the mind. Wrong ideas about God are not only the fountain from which the polluted waters of idolatry flow; they are themselves idolatrous. The idolater simply imagines things about God and acts as if they were true. Perverted notions about God soon rot the religion in which they appear. The long career of Israel demonstrates this clearly enough, and the history of the Church confirms it. So necessary to the Church is a lofty concept of God that when that concept in any measure declines, the Church with her worship and her moral standards declines along with it. The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God.”

       It’s amazing how much can be hidden deep within the inner chambers of a person’s heart. We humans have our ways and means of trying to hide our “real” thoughts, fantasies, imaginations, longings, and covetousness, along with griefs, sorrows, fears, hopes and daydreams. The thing is, the Spirit of God searches the hearts of all men, and He knows us better than we know ourselves because we’re good at lying and deceiving even ourselves. God says, “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings” Jeremiah 17:10. Idolatry begins in the heart before it ever manifests itself in word or deed. That is why it didn’t take the Israelites long to demand of Aaron to make them an idol to worship.

       Mankind was created to worship God, and any rejection of the one true God in the heart of man leaves an “empty place” which will automatically cause him to fill it with someone, or something, to “bow down to,” and worship. That “something else” can even be your church, or pastor, or favorite musician, or your doctrine, or your own ministry, etc. This is why a man must be “born again of the Spirit” because the Holy Spirit fills his innermost being. But if a person has merely a “head knowledge” or “mental acceptance” of Jesus Christ as LORD of their life, they will slide into idolatry without even knowing it. Concerning idolatry, Michael Boldea’s explanation of it in one of his Facebook articles nailed it: “The more things change, the more they stay the same. No, we’re not wheeling out literal golden calves onto the stage for the people to worship, but an idol is still an idol, even if it does not possess a physical form. Whatever men place on the throne of their hearts that subverts the authority, glory, supremacy, and majesty of the One True God is, by definition, an idol. Tell me what the desire of your heart is, and I’ll tell you who or what you worship. Tell me what consumes your time, your every waking hour, what you sacrifice all else in pursuit of, and I can put a name to your idol in five seconds flat.”

       We need to be honest with ourselves, because God knows what idols may be stuffed into the inner chambers of the heart. You know, those tantalizing imaginations that stir up an emotional response so powerful they tempt you to forsake the God you claim to love. We cannot be overcomers if any idols remain in our hearts, be it the American Dream, fame, fortune, pleasure, favorite heroes, or famous political persons. “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4,5.) For your study, here are some Scriptures in the Book of Revelation concerning what we must overcome, and God’s promises to us: Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21; 12:11.  

       The bottom line is, and forever will be, is what the LORD said, to Israel, (and for us) through the prophet Isaiah, “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour” Isaiah 43:10, 11. Isaiah 44:6 says, “Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.” Again, He declared, “Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? Yea, there is no God; I know not any” Isaiah 44:8. “I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.” Isaiah 45:12; 18.

       The bottom line is, there is NO OTHER GOD.