I think I know how Paul must have felt when he happened to find himself in the city of Athens, Greece almost two centuries ago. Due to the riots that erupted in Thessalonica, the “brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea” (Acts 17:10). When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching in Berea, they came there also and stirred up the multitude so much so that the brethren thought it necessary to send Paul away while Timothy and Silas, Paul’s traveling companions remained behind in Berea. Paul ended up in Athens and Luke tells us that “Paul’s spirit was provoked in him when he saw that the city was given over to idols” (Acts 17:16). While reasoning with the Jews in the synagogue, and with the Gentiles in the marketplace daily, certain of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers confronted Paul and wanted to know more of what this “babbler” had to say. The door was now opened for Paul to preach to the idol worshippers of his day. “And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, and said, Ye men of Athens, in all things, I perceive that ye are very religious. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. What therefore ye worship in ignorance, this I set forth unto you” (Acts 17:22-23).

This past week found us in Gunter, India. Gunter has a population of more than 1 million souls, the most of whom are Hindus. Their worship consists of singing, dancing, burning of incense, and loud music and merrymaking. There are idols aplenty and it would appear that the crowds are never lacking as men and woman bow at the shrines of this false god. The grotesque combination of animal and man that make up the images of the god of the Hindus, and the fact that they bow before a god who cannot see, cannot hear, and cannot speak all attest to the vanity of this man-made religion. This week is Hindu festival week, and unfortunately for those who desire to get a good night’s sleep in a hotel room that faces main street, the marching bands are accustomed to playing well into the night, as they go throughout the city calling on the worshippers to come bow before their god. Young and old alike have believed a lie and fallen prey to the deceitful tactics of the “god of this world.”

While Hinduism represents, by far, the largest percentage of this country’s population, “Christianity” is embraced by a small fraction of the population. Of course a large portion are members of some denomination. When one considers the small number of New Testament Christians who truly worship in spirit and truth, the percentage of the people in India who are pleasing in the sight of God drops to a very, very small percentage of the total population. After we checked into our hotel I was pleased that I had gotten a room that did not face main street, and was grateful that my ears would not have to endure the sounds of those Hindu parades and loud speakers blaring into the night. Outside my window, and just across the hotel parking and driveway, crowds were gathering in great numbers in what appeared to be a general assembly area. Chairs had been set up, a stage erected, and a loud speaker system put in place, suggesting that some kind of public activity was about to take place. Then the music started, followed by loud singing, dancing, clapping of hands, the incessant noise of someone screaming into the microphone telling the worshippers to come. Seats had been set up, enough to accommodate at least 500 people, and it appeared there were no empty chairs. No, this was not a Hindu service, but a Pentecostal healing service.

As an onlooker of both the Pentecostal service, and a Hindu service taking place just a few blocks down the road, I could not discern any difference between the two, seeing the speakers for both the Hindu services and the Pentecostal services spoke in a foreign tongue. From my viewpoint there was not an ounce of difference between the two services. From a Biblical standpoint as well, there was no difference between the two services, so far at spiritual benefit of the worshippers was concerned. Both were loud and obnoxious to those who appreciate the simple worship set forth in the New Testament.

We arrived back to the hotel about 10:00 pm that evening. The streets were quiet (at least for the moment), the bands at both locations stood silent, and the worshippers had either gone home or about their business. In the lot across from my hotel widow the stage was now bare, the loud speakers taken away, and the seats were empty. As I observed those stacked chairs it dawned upon me that those empty seats were a fitting representation of the emptiness of both idolatry and false so-called Christian worship. Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, the idols provided nothing of lasting value for their worshippers. The futility of their religion keeps them alienated from their Father in heaven. Its makes no difference what false god one may worship, they are all the same, be it Hinduism or blatant rejection of the God given pattern in the Bible. Whether in India, America, or any other one of dozens of countries, there are idols aplenty.

by Tom Wacaster