Just bringin' a few spare gods for the road!

"When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father's household gods." Gen 31:19

I learned the Apostle's Creed in a confirmation class when I was 7:

"I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth,
And in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord..."

I am a Christian; I worship the One True God.

But I am also pagan because, like Rachel, when my Lord called me away from my old house, I went back and stole the household gods.

See, I have no doubt that Rachel believed in Jacob's God. I think she did, or at least was on her way there. I think she was just hedging her bets, or maybe she was just a greedy little thief, either way, she wasn't devoted to Jacob's God, she still had enough love for her old life that she brought part of it with her.

It's so easy to do isn't it? Because it's not like you're deny God altogether, you're just packing something extra "just in case." Maybe its not a little golden goat-man or a buddha, maybe its that "Plan B" you keep on a back burner in case God doesn't actually keep his promises. Maybe it's skipping that sponsorship payment this month because you want that extra cushion that makes you feel a little less desperate. Or maybe it's choosing to take your hour half-hour 24-minute quiet time to finish up a project when you have a deadline looming.

I know I do all of those.

More frequently, however, I worship at the altar of self-improvement, praying to the twin gods of Knowledge and Skill.

They are particularly nasty gods because they're disguised as "preparation." They sidle up to me and ask, "How are you ever going to serve God like that? You're in no condition to do the work He has for you, now you're just being irresponsible. Here, I found these seven articles for you to read. You can take this e-course tonight and there's a webinar next week."

This is not to say that you don't hone the tools god has given you. But you don't show up to your first day of work in God's office with gods in your backpack.

"What these? Oh, no worries! They just help me learn to do your work better."

"Yeah, thanks," God says, "but we do all of our training in-house."