Many Tangents

“Thus says the LORD: "Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, 3 for the customs of the peoples are vanity…”ESV Jeremiah 10:2-3

This past week several things have caught my attention that have reemphasized in my mind the need to learn, follow, and teach our children sound Christian doctrine. Jeremiah didn’t lack reminders in his day for the need to do the same.

In Jeremiah’s world, it was the “in thing” to worship manufactured idols. The idols were innocent looking enough; generally fashioned from wood. They were actually quite attractive and sometimes expensive with ornate silver, gold and jeweled accents. They didn’t physically harm anyone, and since the Babylonians were doing it (who, at the time, were known as the most formidable nation on earth) it must have seemed like a good thing. Oh, how easily we wander off on tangents.

We don’t lack for tangents today. This past week I’ve seen an advertisement for a new television series featuring a lady who speaks to the dead; a modern day fortune teller. Biblically, she would be labeled a soothsayer. The tragedy here is that some folks will actually be drawn into the show. They’d rather be amused for the time slot than seek real truth found in the Bible.

Another thing that caught my attention this week was a news snippet about the Peoples Temple mass suicide from 1978. I’m old enough to remember that event, but it still confounds me. 900 people died that day in a mass suicide that their leader, Jim Jones, orchestrated. Those people had gone off on a tangent and either purposefully or totally inadvertently followed it to their death.

Thinking of Jim Jones brought Heavens Gate to my memory. Many of you remember the Heavens Gate suicide that coincided with the arrival of the Hale-Bopp comet in 1997. 38 people followed a false prophet to their death in a group suicide orchestrated by their leader.

Like I said, we don’t lack for tangents today. Several more could be discussed; Scientology, The Da Vinci Code, I even found some modern day Baal worshipers on the internet. Yes, the same Baal that you find in your Bible. The same Baal that lost 450 prophets one afternoon when they got cross-threaded with a prophet named Elijah. But I digress…

The key to not being led astray on tangents is staying focused on truth. That is truth found in the Bible. And that’s the point Jeremiah is making. He is telling his audience (and us) to gather truth from God, not from man. He’s also warning us not to get caught up in what happens to be the popular tangent of the day. He says we shouldn’t concern ourselves with them, even if entire nations are flocking after them. And he rightly notes that all tangents of man are vain.

This may sound harsh, but we are a vain, me-centered society. I read a great quote in the October, 2007 edition of The Banner of Truth. Speaking of how self-centered we are as a society it says: “As someone once said, ‘God made man in his own image, and man returned the compliment.’” Ouch!

At the end of the day you cannot craft a god of your liking and at the same time expect to escape the consequences of following a tangent or ultimately the wrath of the one true God of heaven. Keep to the straight path. Stick with truth. Teach your children the truth.