Donna and I just returned from a couple of days on Mackinac (Mackinaw) Island, a stunning Victorian island located between Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas. It's also a beautiful town that has banned motorized vehicles for more than a century. Transportation on the island means walking, peddling a bicycle or riding in a horse drawn taxi.

Looking for a gift for Madison and Emma, Donna found a deck of cards called Polite Pigs, designed to teach children good manners. The young sales clerk, caught up in the religion of "green wash" suggested what she thought was a better gift. It was a deck of cards that taught children to respect the environment. Donna replied, "If children can be taught to respect other people respect for the environment will take care of itself."

It sounds so good to be concerned for the environment that some seem to make it a substitute for God. Man has a habit of turning things around. When the Pharisees corrupted the fourth commandment, Jesus told them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath:" (Mark 2:27). The Pharisees had it backwards. They forgot that God created the Sabbath for man's benefit. So was the earth. It's good for us to remember that God made it for us, not the other way around.

C.S. Lewis said that man doesn't make idols out of bad things. He reasoned that people don't adore bank robbers and drug pushers. Man makes idols out of good things. He may value his country, national leaders, or even children to such a degree that it becomes worship. For example, prior to World War 2 the German people were known for their love of the country. Adolph Hitler used this trait to expand his power. But he could not have done it unless a chink existed in the armor of the citizens. They made an idol of their country and a madman used their weakness to murder millions of innocent people.

Churches have done many good things. But even a church is an idol for some. Sincere people can begin with a message of love for mankind and end with a message of condemnation for any person not associated with their church. Jesus said "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves." (Matt 23:15)

The goal of Christians is to bring people to God, not just the church. That's a policy for having good members and a spiritually healthy congregation.

Until next time,