For instance, a recent issue had a story about Indonesia’s worship practices. Much of the population ties the gods to the many volcanoes in their islands. Even political leaders will sacrifice animals to appease these gods and hopefully ward off volcanic eruptions or other disastrous events.
The story also said that even though science tells them otherwise (and missionaries also), and even though many areas of this country are modernized, this belief is persistent. They sleep with their heads toward the nearest volcano, and bury their dead in that same position. Their gods control everything they do.
Christians have been accused of the same superstitions. We are said to believe in a God who controls not only the weather but all aspects of our lives. We say He makes sense of our lives and helps us through difficulties. We are also said to dismiss science and hold on to old myths that have long been proven false.
In contrast, while I read this article, I never felt more remote from a belief system nor more unable to understand why even the educated people in that country would believe in ogres and spirits who dwell in volcanoes, and would offer prayers and sacrifices to these so-called entities.
Nevertheless, I can see how Christianity would look to those on the outside. Our God is also invisible. We also say He is in charge of the weather. We pray to Him about anything and everything, and give our very lives to Him as living sacrifices. Sadly, some Christians also have an unhealthy dose of foolish superstition mixed in with their faith, making us even more perplexing in the eyes of others.
However, the differences between the beliefs of these islanders and Christianity are obvious to me and probably to most other Christians. For one thing, we do not offer goats and other sacrifices to try to control what our God does, or make attempts to appease Him. God is sovereign, and while He invites us to pray, we know that He makes all decisions and does so according to His will. We also know His will is pleasing, even perfect, and that He has our best interests at heart.
We know we have no need to appease Him. Instead of a god who is capricious and threatening, our God loves us and proved it by sending His Son as the atoning and final sacrifice for sin. In the beginning, He did ask for the blood of bulls and goats because “without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin” but when Christ came, that sacrificial system became obsolete. Now, as the Bible affirms, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32).
That passage goes on to say that “nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We are not sitting on the edge of a basin of fire wondering when He will next erupt and rain judgment and death down on us. We do not have to toss Him goats or anything else, hoping He will change His mind. Instead, we know that He poured out His wrath against sin on His Son who bore our sin for us. We are free, but not only that, we are in a Father-child relationship with a God who loves and cares for us, without threats and unconditionally.
In contrast, that article in NGM described a people who live in fear, but the children of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, need never fear. 2 Timothy 1:7 affirms that, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Because we have peace with God through Christ, we are not afraid. We can lay our head down at night pointed in any direction without anxiety that if we fail in some way to please Him, He will blow up. Instead, we know that, “If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2). God is not out to get us, but to help us and care for us.
I see that the biggest differences between the Christian faith and the beliefs of these island people are first, the object of our faith, then second, the results. Our God is not bent on destruction and demanding frantic efforts to appease Him. Those who put their faith in Him are not fearful and wary of what He will do next. We know He is for us, not against us. He proved it 2000 years ago, and continues to prove it. Even if we fail to ask Him or thank Him, He takes care of us, provides all our needs, and promises us eternity with Him.
My devotional reading today was not related to this topic, but the Scripture quoted in it does describe the results in the lives of those who believe in Jesus Christ. Notice also how the end contrasts those who do not believe but are ensnared by sin and superstition. It is from 2 Timothy 2:21-26:
Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter (referring to dishonorable deeds), he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.Neither science nor Christianity would say volcanos control lives as the Indonesians claim, but Christianity does recognize the spirit world. We would say that if there are evil spirits in the volcanoes of Indonesia, they are servants of Satan who have captured and bound the people into a system of fear and superstition from which the blood of goats cannot set them free.
Only Jesus can do that.
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