I don’t know about you, but when I read some of the Old Testament accounts of idol worship, I shake my head in disbelief. The story of Daniel recounts the life of an ego-centric leader by the name of Nebuchadnezzar who had the audacity to build an image of gold that was roughly 90 feet high. His command was that all the people should worship this image. The trigger for this worship was clearly spelled out. “When you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image.” (Daniel 3:5)
In fact, this inventory of musical instruments is listed four times in the first 15 verses of Daniel, chapter 3. Make no mistake; it’s a strategic move on the part of the king.
Mark Labberton, the President of Fuller Seminary, calls this a mesmerizing rhythm. The music plays, and everything stops. Conversations are interrupted. Concentration is broken. Focus is shattered. And worship is shifted.
My dismissive attitude now gives way to conviction. While a 90-foot golden image is nowhere in view… I am cut to the core under the notion that similar mesmerizing rhythms obliterate intentional and important priorities in my life.
A carefully chosen ringtone ushers a meaningless text message to the front of the line. A softly and consistently flashing light beckons me with more intensity than an ambulance. A simple number in the upper right corner of an app icon screams for attention… and I oblige. I fall to my knees and worship. I acquiesce – to the mesmerizing rhythm of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music.
Game over.
I have shifted control to a pagan king. I have said yes without even nodding my head.
Culture woos and I engage. Without thinking. Without counting the cost. Without discipline.
I offend or neglect or dismiss… for a golden image. I’m captive to an enemy I embrace; in chains to the very system I thought would liberate me.
Daniel and his companions didn’t negotiate; they rebelled. Respectfully, thoughtfully, courageously. They did not rail against the culture. They didn’t print T-shirts or hire a PR firm. They simply refused to be swept away by the insidious rhythm of destruction. Staying alive on their knees in front of a golden image was no way to live.
The orchestra has changed, but make no mistake, the methodology is amazingly similar.
The mesmerizing rhythm of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music – to hijack, to interrupt, to disrupt, to dilute… to change the focus of my worship.
“… we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image…”
Convicted. Committed. Taking control.
“I will not serve your gods…” May it be so.
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