I read recently that Americans have three idols, size, noise and speed. We like things big and loud and fast! Unfortunately, those seem to have invaded the American church as well. We want our churches big, we want them loud, and we want everything to move fast to hold our attention.
As a young woman I worked in an office not far from a large cathedral. Sometime on my lunch break I would walk over, go inside and just sit. Everything was still, so quiet that a whisper could be hear across the expanse. I always found peace for my soul in that silence.
Elijah, after his monumental success against the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, fled from the threats of Jezebel. He ended up in a cave. After a while God told Elijah to go stand at the mouth of the cave and wait for the Lord to pass by. You can read the story in 1 Kings 19.
“Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” [vs 11-12 NIV]
Big, loud, and fast. A big, powerful, fast wind … an earthquake … and a fire. And the LORD was not in them. It was that gentle whisper that finally brought Elijah out of the cave and into a conversation with the Lord.
Big, loud, and fast may be the way of the world. Big, loud, and fast may also be the way of the modern church. But I think I prefer the gentle whisper of His voice as I remove myself from the big, loud, and fast idols of our society.
