Overcoming Spiritual Gravity

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 

Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”

‭‭
1 John‬ ‭5:4, 5, 21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The Apostle ends his first epistle on an abrupt and somewhat puzzling note.  After offering assurances that those who have believed in Jesus are the possessors of eternal life, and making it clear that there is no such thing as universal redemption - that there are people who are not born of God as well as people who are - and urging faithfulness in employing the means of growth in the Spirit that God has provided, he  ends his letter with an exhortation concerning idolatry.  His words seem almost like an afterthought.  Until now, he has not mentioned idols or the worship of idols.  Here, he offers no elaboration.  And one wonders, to whom are they addressed?  Is he speaking parentally to his spiritual flock?  Or does he literally mean these words for “little children,” using the same words as in Chapter 2 of his letter?

In either case, John’s final words carry, not just Apostolic authority, but deep and serious import.  The entire kingdoms of Israel and Judah were laid waste because of idolatry, because of shifting their affections away from the God who created and delivered and established them, to the worship of senseless idols whose worship offered a religion that promised to be "easier," more in tune with their fleshly inclinations.  If it is true, as the Apostle Paul says, that the flesh and the Spirit are in daily and consistent opposition to one another, and that believers must therefore be careful to nurture the Spirit and “put to death” the desires of the flesh, then it must be that the allure of idolatry - in whatever form - is an ever-present danger.

Indeed, Calvin wrote that the human heart - even the regenerated human heart - remains an “idol factory,” that there is no end to our propensity to re-invent religion according to our own desires.  We are very capable of inventing or believing in "gods" to whom we look for comfort, pleasure and hope.  Therefore, we must, as John says, guard ourselves continually against idols.  And who is most susceptible to this inclination to idol-invention and idol-worship but little children?  Children are in the process of learning and establishing the patterns of life that will sustain them as adults.  So it is most important that parents protect and deliver them from the pull of the world.

The law of gravity works against the flight of a heavier-than-air vehicle of any kind.  In order to overcome gravity's pull, an airplane depends upon air, and upon wings in the shape of a dihedral, which will give it lift when it moves forward through that medium.  But it has to have forward motion, which is sustained by some kind of engine, which depends in turn on fuel.

John says we who have believed in Christ "overcome" the world and its downward pull toward idol-worship.  However, we know that in order to sustain our faith, God has given us means - like the airplane's fuel - to keep the engine of faith running so that we move forward in growth, not overcome by the spiritual gravity of the unbelieving "world."  What are these means?  Primarily prayer and His living word.  In order to keep my thinking - and therefore my living - in accord with what is real and in accord with God's design for life, I need to immerse myself in God's word every day.  I've learned over the years that there is just no substitute for "fueling" my relationship with God each day by spending time reading and praying over what God says is true.  The flight of my faith can get pretty shaky by Saturday if I am completely relying on "gassing up" once a week on Sunday.

So parents need to help our children "keep themselves from idols," by helping them to daily sustain their "flight" by "topping off" their faith-tank through the word of God and prayer.  When they are small, we will need to do this for them.  As they grow, we need to help them by doing it with them, with the goal of helping them sustain their flight daily, on their own. It's a beautiful thing when fathers, especially, take the time to have "quiet times" in the word and prayer with their kids.

With all the "gravity" being exerted on our faith these days - and on our kids' faith - we need to take seriously John's exhortation to "keep yourself from idols," that we might continue to fly high - and overcome the spiritual gravity of this world.