Concluding our look at the story of the golden calf and how it applies for us today.

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And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?" And Aaron said, "Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, 'Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' So I said to them, 'Let any who have gold take it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf." - Exodus 32: 21-24 (ESV)

When we left our story Moses had returned to the camp and discovered the idolatry God had spoken about when they were on the mountain together. In his anger, he smashed the tablets carrying the Word of God at the foot of the mountain. He destroyed them as much as the people had destroyed them through their contempt for the God who had delivered and saved them from so much. He ground up the golden calf into dust and scattered it on the water; making the people drink their own rebellion. When we rebel against the Word of God we too can expect to drink from the cup we pour. As we turn back to the story and the key verses for today we see Moses now turn his attention to who he left in charge of this debacle.

And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?"

In literary terms, this is what is known as a rhetorical question. The definition of a rhetorical question is "a figure of speech in the form of a question that is asked in order to make a point, rather than to elicit an answer." Moses is not truly seeking an answer to this question because there is no justifiable answer. There is nothing sheep can do to warrant a shepherd abusing them. Nothing sheep can do to warrant leading them astray. There is a reason why God says those in preaching and teaching callings will be judged by a higher standard. This is a vital point for those who seek the leadership mantle in contemporary Christianity. This is not a game to God:

Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. - 1Timothy 4: 16 (NIV)

Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you.For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.- Acts 20: 26-27 (NIV)

The first verse here is instruction from Paul to his protege Timothy. It is an instruction for leaders today. There are only two things we must guard diligently. Our life and our doctrine. I cite this verse because it reminds us what is at stake. The salvation of those who listen to our preaching and teaching! The eternal destination of the souls of men hang in the very balance every time we take to the pulpit and we are going to waste that opportunity prattling on about purpose, relevance or some other nugget of human wisdom? We are going to take the one chance someone might be able to hear the life changing Gospel of Jesus Christ and instead tell them how great they are? Or how much God loves them? Or what a great plan God has for their life? Seriously? He does have a great plan for this life and that is to grant eternal life. He does love them but speaking about God's love in worldly terms, omitting the cross, is like handing a customer the menu at a fancy restaurant and telling them the kitchen is closed. Their life is on the line. Not this temporal passing vapor but the eternal life that awaits us all in either glory or suffering. The second set of verses here really brings home the point for wannabe leaders. This is Paul saying goodbye to the elders at Ephesus. He declares he is innocent of their blood. Why? Because he did not hesitate to give them all SHAPE applications and plug them into ministries? Because he did not hesitate to attend all the posh leadership conferences and church planting seminars? Because he did not hesitate to preach a seven part series on improving our significance in our communities? No. because he did not hesitate to proclaim to them the whole will of God. Not just the warm fuzzy parts. Not just the feel good seeker friendly parts. The whole will of God. This should be a sobering reminder to leaders that the blood of those we minister to not only hangs in the balance for them but for us as well. God will hold leaders to account for every sheep entrusted to them. Not just the ones that said amen. Not just the ones that they got along with. Not just the ones who agreed. There is a teaching within the purpose driven church movement called blessed subtraction. This says that it is OK to show sheep the door to the sheep pen and let them leave. To even facilitate their leaving. That should be anathema to us as Christians; let alone people who fancy themselves as Christian leaders. Rick Warren boasts this teaching and it is simple unbiblical and un-Christlike. Those sheep we let wander off will still be accounted for by God. He leaves the 99 to pursue that one sheep. Don't we ever forget it.

Back to Exodus, the question posed by Moses shows that it was the responsibility of Aaron to prevent the people from falling into sin. Not encourage it. Not facilitate it. When the people clamored for a god of their own crafting it was not the job of Aaron to give them what they wanted. It was his job to give them what they needed. It was his job to remind them of the one true God. To make matters even worse, Aaron blames the sheep!

And Aaron said, "Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, 'Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'

Everything Aaron says here is true but it is non-responsive to the rhetorical question posed by Moses. The reality is that every day we have people asking for their own golden calf to be made for them. They seek it out. If they want to hear every Sunday how much god wants to bless their socks off they may seek the Osteen golden calf. Where every day is a Friday and this is your best life now. It better be your best life now because without the true Gospel, the next life will not be so "best." If people want assurance that their sin is acceptable and they have a blank check to do whatever they want they may seek the Joseph Prince golden calf where you are destined to reign and have unmerited favor from god. If people are wanting a quid pro quo monetary exchange they can seek the Robert Morris golden calf or any number of false prosperity preachers. They can gather every Sunday and dance around these golden calves thinking they are serving God but in the end it is merely an idol they have created because they have quickly turned from what God has actually commanded. None of this should be surprising since God has warned us clearly about this:

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. - 2Timothy 4: 3-5 (NIV)

People are no longer putting up with sound doctrine. The mere mention of it draws sneers of derision and accusations of legalism or division. Despite the fact that the Bible teaches us that it is false doctrine that causes true division in the body of Christ. Unity is never for the sake of unity. It is always unity in doctrine. Yet look at these verses from Paul to Timothy. To suit their desire to turn a blind eye to their sin, people will gather around them teachers like Joseph Prince. To suit their desire to improve their temporal life without any real sacrifice, people will gather around them teachers like Joel Osteen. To suit their desire to be entertained they will gather around them seeker friendly preachers from churches across this land beloved. Their itching ears will be scratched and they will think they have done their Christian duty. They will even think they are saved when they are not. They will turn aside to myths. Fairy tales. The myth of earthly prosperity being a sign of God's blessings. The myth of experiential Christianity that discards sound doctrine for emotionalism and carnality. The myth that God always wants to heal you. The myth that God is a cosmic busboy and ATM. The myth that God is never angry with us. The myth that sin does not matter anymore. Whatever myth it is that we seek there is always someone willing to craft that golden calf for us. Paul Washer once famously quipped that he does not blame Joel Osteen because he only gives what the people want. He is the judgment of God upon those willing to sit through his messages and think it has anything to with Christ. Too harsh you say? I am not here to parse words because blood is on the line. Despite what you hear in diabetic sermons across this land the Gospel is meant to offend. It is meant to divide.

"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.For I have come to turn "'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law--a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.' - Matthew 10: 34-36 (NIV)

If it is unloving to warn people of the impending judgment that is coming then write me down as unloving. It is not my job to give people what they want but rather what they need. That was the job Aaron had when the people came to him clamoring for a false god. We see his compromise play out across Christendom today as leader after leader not only gives the people what they want but actually runs focus groups and community surveys to find out what they want so they can give it to them! For the millionth time - preach the Gospel. Do not craft golden calves for the people you have been charged with. They key verses conclude:

So I said to them, 'Let any who have gold take it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf."

Out came this calf? Really? There is a deep Christological term for this and it is called a "lie." Way back in verse four we saw that Aaron took a graving tool and fashioned the calf himself. I find an interesting parallel here however. We too will Christianize our apostasy. We will try and make what we know is wrong look as "pious" as possible. To give the veneer of the supernatural to avoid criticism. We do not only wrap ourselves up in Christ we dress ourselves up in His name. We want to look the part. We want to play the part. We think if we shout loud enough people will not notice that it is a calf they are dancing around. If we ramble into incoherent "tongues" then people will think we are super spiritual. If we twitch and shake at just right moment people will think it was a "God thing" instead of the flesh. If we claim divine revelation then no one can challenge us. How many pastors today preach - "God told me" instead of let us look at what God has already told us. It is astounding to me. We can correctly listen to the testimony of Mormon founder Joseph Smith, whose entire testimony us based on personal divine revelation, and dismiss it out of hand. Yet we eat up the personal divine revelation fairy tales of Joseph Prince. Paul said to follow him as he followed Christ. He said that he wanted to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. No fancy parlor tricks. No lofty speeches. No seeker friendly purpose driven marketing schemes. No beloved. None of that matters. Only Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Only the Gospel matters. All Aaron is trying to do here is the same thing false teachers do every day in this country. They try to place a supernatural veil over their own disobedience. They teach us to do the same. Especially when their sin is uncovered. When their doctrine is brought under the light of the Scriptures. Then what they crafted willfully becomes a golden calf leaping from the fire miraculously. Glory hallelujah, pass the offering plate.

A last point on this portion of verses is one we need to heed well. There are none righteous. Realize who this is that is lying right to Moses' face! This is not some random Israelite. This was Aaron. He was the brother of Moses. He was the High Priest of Israel! God appointed him as Moses' prophet. It was his rod that was turned to a snake before Pharaoh. It was his rod that was outstretched to bring forth the first three plagues of Egypt. In the battle with Amalek, Aaron held up one of the arms of Moses to lead the people to victory. His budded staff would be one of only three items to be stored in the Ark of the Covenant. It is safe to say that he was not just a random Israelite. Yet here he stood, lying through his teeth when confronted by his own disobedience. Just like Adam blamed the woman and the woman blamed the snake. Just like King Saul tried to pretend he had slaughtered the Amalekites. When our sin is exposed, we generally are not the most honest people.

I say this as a backdrop to warn against another prevalent trend in the modern church, pastor worship. We all know it is out there and growing. You can bad mouth doctrine but don't say a word about my pastor! Recently a pastor stepped down after being caught stealing $200,000 in tithe monies to cheat the NY Times best seller list. He also plagiarized nine books he had written and gleefully referred to the sheep he had hurt in his pastoral service as "dead bodies." Yet despite this, the amount of people defending him was sickening. Those who merely reported the truth were attacked as unloving. It was the bizzaro world that American Christianity has become. Where the truth is unloving, the false are celebrated, and the Word of God means nothing. This is one of the major problems with celebrity Christianity. It takes our eyes off of Christ and places them on man. But man will always let us down. Man will always fail. When faced with that failure, man will always try and cover it up. Try to blame the people. Try to claim it was an act of God. Anything than having to own up for what we are responsible for.

As we conclude this look at the story of the golden calf that is what we are left with. We need to own what it is that we do. If we are going to go every Sunday to a church we know is not serving the Lord then we cannot complain when we are asked to drink from the cup we have poured. A lot of times we stop the story here but it did not end with Moses confronting Aaron. No beloved. He then asked who would stand with him and the sons of Levi did. He then put to death many who had committed this atrocity. Many more were still visited with a plague by the Lord. I know that a great deal of modern Christianity has tried to turn God into this sugar coated fairy tale. A Santa Claus with better presents and no "naughty" list. Do not dance around that golden calf beloved. It does not end well. Do not lose sight of how we got here:

The people had quickly turned from what the Lord had commanded.

Moses smashed the stone tablets that contained what the Lord had commanded. The sin of the people was in idolatry of the calf, which represented what they wanted instead of the Word of the Lord. What they gathered around themselves to scratch their itching ears. Do not think for a second that any of this magically changes because of the new covenant. Jesus fulfills the law, not discards it. We will be judged by His blood if we are found in Him but that does not mean the rest of the Bible is marginalized. It does not mean we can craft golden calves to worship because we do not like what sayeth the Lord. Be careful what you choose to dance around beloved. An appearance of godliness is just an appearance. Do not turn so quickly from what He has commanded.

Reverend Anthony Wade - November 7, 2014

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.