Last week at North Park Theological Seminary, we conducted our annual Scripture Symposium, which focuses on the theological interpretation of scripture. This year’s topic was “The Idolatry of Security.” The topic was actually picked years ahead of time, so the organizers had no idea how appropriate it would be in light of the economic meltdown of the last few weeks. I offer a few observations and reflections based upon the hard work of biblical and theological reflection that is occurring here on our seminary campus.
One of the presenters, Daniel Carroll of Denver Seminary, referred to the proper exegesis of Amos 7:7-8, the third in a series of pronouncements about imminent danger:
7 This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand.
8 And the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”
“A plumb line,” I replied.
Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer. (NIV)
As Prof. Carroll explains:
The key term there is “anak,” usually translated “plumb line.” Recent studies, however, make clear that a more correct rendering is “tin.” This translation conveys the self-deceiving ideology of Israel’s defenses. From a distance, the walls of their fortresses might appear to be made of iron, a strong metal; surely, they could resist attack. In reality, however, they are but tin. Perhaps the meaning of the vision is that Yahweh has reached down and ripped out a piece of this fragile wall and thrown it in the midst of his people, as if to say, “This is nothing!”
Amos 7:7-8 reveals the fallen capacity of the people of God. We have the fallen capacity to trust in everything and anything but God. But God has the capacity to reveal our walls to be nothing more than tin. God reveals our idols, even the idol of security in all its forms: national security, economic security, military security, social security, securities and exchanges, and so forth.
Don’t misunderstand me –- I’m not saying that God and God alone is directly responsible for the current economic crisis. Nor am I indulging in the common mistake of confusing God’s words to the kingdom of Israel as words intended for 21st century secular United States. But can this economic crisis help reveal the idolatry of security to American Christians? Can the tearing down of the tin wall allow the light to shine upon Christians that have placed their security in securities?
Theologian Walter Wink writes about how mediating narratives are necessary in order to prop up the powers that be. In American society, the mediating narrative of materialism and capitalism provides an undergirding that sustains our way of life. I would also raise the challenge that American Christianity operates under the narrative of materialism and capitalism, that there are times when American Christians are more enamored with materialistic and capitalistic values above biblical values –- in how we shop for churches, in how we look to church to meet our needs, in how we value success, and in the type of books that push us towards a materialistic worldview.
But what happens when the economic security and materialistic value system we have trusted more than God begins to collapse? What happens when this wall is revealed to be nothing more than tin? At that moment, will we do all it takes to restore the wall of tin, or will we willingly embrace God’s revelation to examine the American church’s captivity to materialism and consumerism?
Rev. Dr. Soong-Chan Rah is Milton B. Engebretson Assistant Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary and a member of the Sojourners board. He blogs at www.xanga.com/scrah.
source: http://www.sojo.net/blog/godspolitics/?p=2457
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