The god of My Own Making

INTRODUCTION

Good morning! Happy 2025!

My name is David Sorn, and I’m the Lead Pastor here at Renovation Church.

We are kicking the New Year off by starting an important, and brand-new series called, “America’s Golden Calves.”

And we’re going to be looking at the most common ways that we as American individuals (so not “America the Country,” but us, as Americans) tend to revise God into a different & falsified image.

As you’ll see in our Bible passage later, we’re not talking about idols per se, but rather the twisting, or revising of who God truly is.

Let me show you where we’re going in this 4-week series.

1/5: THE gOD OF MY OWN MAKING

Today will be sort of an introduction to the whole concept of the series

And then, the following 3 weeks, we’re going to cover 3 of, what I believe are the biggest heresies or twistings of the truth that the modern, American church is facing in our day.

1/12: THE gOD WHO HAS BIG PLANS FOR ME

Because…this idea that God is always there to “slay all your giants for you” is unbelievably popular right now, and unbelievably dangerous.

1/19: THE gOD WHO DOESN’T CARE ABOUT GENDER

Let me say more about that in a second.

1/26: MYSTERY TOPIC

That one is so deeply embedded into our current American version of Christianity, I don’t even want to mention it now, because, well, you’re just going to get mad…and not listen to the rest of today’s message.

But you’ll have to come back that on that Sunday, bring a seat belt, and let yourself be challenged.

And that after this series, we’re going to be teaching through the Book of 1 Timothy, which is an EXTREMELY challenging book to our culture.

We preach right through every verse of a Book, so we’re going to have to cover some really tough topics like Modesty, Church Discipline, what does the Bible say about Women in Ministry.

So if you’re looking for a church that just teaches feel-good stuff with some TED talk tips, let me save you the heartache, this isn’t it.

But if you want to go deep in your faith, and you’re looking for a church that talks about the hard stuff of real life.

You’re in the right place.

I do want to say a bit more about that 3rd week (the 19th) because we’re going to be doing something very unique, powerful, and special that week..

(Laura Perry Smalts Slide)

…and we will be bringing in one of the most famous detransitioners in the United States, Laura Perry Smalts.

Before Laura gave her life to Christ, she actually lived as a man for 8 years, but she has since transitioned back to living as a woman.

And she is now a follower of Christ.

I recently had an opportunity to speak alongside her at a conference, and she is amazing.

I will be interviewing her on stage that Sunday morning, the 19th, two weeks from today, and she’s going to tell her story.

And then, that evening of the 19th, at 7pm, Laura will also be doing an evening session on “Understanding Gender Dysphoria”…

….and also the “Dangers of Gender Transition.”

That will be really helpful if someone in your family has been affected by this, or even if you know another Christian family in our area who has.

Especially if you would like to come and ask questions as well.

Also, believe it or not, but almost 800 of you are new since we did our monumental Gender & Sexuality Series last January…

(Gender & Sexuality Series Slide)

I think it would be EXTREMELY helpful if you listened to that series online or through our app before Laura comes in 2 weeks.

Or at minimum, that you listen to the first message which is “What does the Bible say about Gender?”

We want you to be caught up with a good Biblical understanding of this issue before that Sunday the 19th.

And even if you were here last year, it might not hurt to review.

GOLDEN CALVES REFLECT THE CULTURE MORE THAN GOD DOES

Okay, let’s open up the Bible and get to our passage

Exodus 32:1-6

Page 61

Let me give you some historical context on where we are.

God’s people, the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt for 400 years, but God sent them a deliverer in Moses.

God rained down 10 plagues on Pharoah and the Egyptians, and eventually Pharoah let God’s people leave.

They escaped Egypt, God miraculously parted the Red Sea, and they are hoping to finally make it across the vast wasteland of the Sinai Peninsula, to the Promised Land.

Just before our passage, God had audibly given the Israelites the 10 commandments as his voice rang out from Mount Sinai.

And now, Moses, their leader has gone up the mountain to meet with God, but it’s been 40 days, and he hasn’t been seen since he went up there…and now, the people are getting antsy to say the least!

(Exodus 32:1-6) – NIV

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” 6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

(The god of my own making)

And so these same Israelites who saw God do miracles (like turn the Nile River into blood…)

…are now worshipping a golden calf as God.

What happened?

This is important to figure out because plenty of us still metaphorically make golden calves out of God today.

In fact, I want to give you 4 reasons why the Israelites did this, and why people still do this today.

Let’s take a look at a 1st reason

4 REASONS PEOPLE STILL MAKE GOLDEN CALVES TODAY

#1: Golden calves reflect the culture more than God does

…and we love our culture!

By the way, on your way into the Worship Center, I hope you saw our New Year’s Gift to you: A new Renovation Church note taking notebook.

We’d love for you to take notes about the Bible passages you study here, and this is a great way to it.

If you do it in the app, or somewhere else, that’s awesome too.

There are studies that say that even if you take notes, and never look at them again, your retention of what you hear, still goes up!

And all the more, if you have something to look back on.

SO I encourage you to let 2025 be the year you start taking notes on our Bible teachings, and dive deeper into God’s Word.

Okay, as we talk about this first reason (Golden calves reflect the culture), I want you to notice something a lot of people miss when they read Exodus chapter 32.

Look at very end of verse 4 again

They finish making the Golden Calf, and then they said, “This is who brought you up out of Egypt!”

Well, who brought them out of Egypt?

Yahweh, that’s the personal Hebrew name for God!

And they know He did.

Or look at the end of verse 5, Aaron says, “Tomorrow, there will be a festival to the Lord”

The Hebrew (original language) actually uses the personal name of God there, Yahweh.

At the festival, they’re going to worship the golden calf, who they are calling…YAHWEH

See (and this is so important if you’re going to under this passage…), the Golden Calf is not a replacement of God, but a revision of Him.

And typically today, when people revise God, they almost always revise Him to look more like, what?? Their culture!

Now, to you and me, it seems kind of odd that the Israelites would say, “Let’s revise God…I got an idea…how about a golden calf?!”

Like, it’s probably not the first thing you’d come up with.

But remember, the Israelites had just spent 400 years in Egypt.

And this is exactly how the Egyptians worshipped their ‘gods’

IN fact, many Egyptians worshipped the bull-God Apis…which would have looked very similar to what the Israelites built when they built their Golden Calf at Mount Sinai

And I think this “revising of God” is more appealing to us than we’re willing to admit.

…because when you can revise God to look more like your culture…you don’t have to feel as weird for being a believer.

So, Perhaps, the God of the Bible feels too violent for you

So in your mind, when you picture God…He’s revised a little bit…

…And He’s not all that wrathful.

Maybe you don’t like what God says about money…

So in your mind, you’ve revised Him into a god that doesn’t actually care what you do with your money.

Or maybe you don’t like that Jesus talks about hell and everlasting judgment.

And so in your mind, you’ve revised God into a God that sends everyone to heaven.

The truth is, the vast majority of Christians do this.

Esteemed Sociologist George Barna recently said this:

“Only 6% of those who call themselves Christians actually have a worldview that matches the Bible.” – George Barna

That means 94% have revised God in some cultural way that feels more palatable to them,
and thus made him into a golden calf

GOLDEN CALVES OFTEN ARISE OUT OF IMPATIENCE & DIFFICULTY

But let’s dive deeper into the WHY.

Let’s look now back to the beginning of verse 1 now.

“When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain”

The 2nd reason we still make Golden calves is right there in that verse:

4 REASONS PEOPLE STILL MAKE GOLDEN CALVES TODAY

#1: Golden calves reflect the culture more than God does

#2: Golden calves often arise out of impatience and difficulty

Let’s remember the context here.

The Israelites thought they would be marching towards the Promised Land

And now…they’ve just been STOPPED.

Camped alongside this mountain for 40 days…

They left Egypt in a flash, in the middle of the night…

And now they’re standing around…and Moses and God are doing who knows what up on that mountain!

Maybe Moses is dead?

Killed by a rabid Mountain goat or something…

Who knows?!

Plus, these are people with families.

Stuck in the middle of the desert.

No homes. No jobs.

They could be attacked at any point….

They’re thinking, “Let’s get this show on the road here!”

“God, what are you doing?!?”

So we could say: God wasn’t acting like they thought He should be acting.

And when God isn’t doing what you think He should be doing, know there will then come a dangerous temptation in your life to revise who God is

…to reshape him into a “god of your own making”

Think about this.

People don’t typically begin to deconstruct their faith, and change their image of who God is…when life is going great.

It almost always happens when life isn’t going how they thought it should be going.

And God is taking a “long time coming down from the mountain” as verse 1 says.

And that illness isn’t going away

Or your job prospects aren’t ever getting better

Or your singleness doesn’t seem to be changing

And so it’s usually in our difficulties that we say, “Maybe, God isn’t who I thought He was”

Maybe He just created the Universe, but doesn’t interact with it.

Maybe He doesn’t care about me

Maybe He’s real, but the Bible isn’t true.

My friend, if you’re in a season right now where, God, in your eyes, “is taking a long time coming down the mountain”

…beware of this temptation to revise God.

Do not doubt in the dark what you knew to be true in the light.

GOLDEN CALVES CAN BE CONTROLLED

Look at verse 1 again, there’s even more here.

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us

See, that’s what they wanted!

They wanted to get out of the desert!

On their way to the good times of the Promised Land!

And so they made this golden calf of the Lord and they said, “This is a ‘god’ who will actually go before us.”

Because that’s what the Lord had been doing before

He had been leading them by cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night…going before them and leading them toward the promised land.

But now, they “seem to be” stalled out at Mount Sinai.

But, the Israelites think, “If we can just make this golden calf, then that calf, can conveniently say, “Hey everybody, it’s time to get MOOOOOVING!”

And honestly, this verse shows why so many of us feel tempted to revise who God is.

We don’t want to suffer in obedience to God’s ways or God’s plan…or God’s timing.

We want to control His plan.

4 REASONS PEOPLE STILL MAKE GOLDEN CALVES TODAY

#1: Golden calves reflect the culture more than God does

#2: Golden calves often arise out of impatience and difficulty

#3: Golden calves can be controlled

They can say whatever you want them to say.

I remember, in the very early years of our church, I met with a couple who wanted me to officiate their wedding, but they were living together.

As a church, we’ve always had a policy that we don’t marry people who are sleeping together…because Scripture is incredibly clear that marriage is meant to be the coming together of one flesh.

And as I tried to very gently walk them through the Scriptures, talking to them about how they could still be obedient to God and separate before their marriage.

I’ll never forget what the woman said to me:

She said, “Sorry, I just disagree. That’s just not how I see God.”

But think about this:

She didn’t say, “Well, actually, I disagree because of a different verse in the Bible that explains who God is”

She didn’t even say, “Sorry, I disagree because I don’t believe the Bible!”

She just, without hesitation, said, “that’s not who I believe God is.”

No facts, no verses, nothing.

How can she do that?

She did that because we live in a culture that says we can each define our own truth…

…and facts, therefore, seem almost irrelevant.

And even as Christian believers, our sinful hearts gravitate towards these sorts of things because if we can revise God however we want (with no objective reality, or verses, or evidence to back it up)…

…and we can just devise a God of our own making…

…then there’s no need to suffer the difficulty of obedience.

We can just say, “The God I believe in doesn’t care if I get divorced, or if I forgive my parents or not, or if I should take that job where I might have to do some unethical things…

And so here we are, thousands of years later, still popping out Golden Calves

GOLDEN CALVES ALMOST ALWAYS ALLOW MORE SIN

And this brings me to our 4th reason

4 REASONS PEOPLE STILL MAKE GOLDEN CALVES TODAY

#1: Golden calves reflect the culture more than God does

#2: Golden calves often arise out of impatience and difficulty

#3: Golden calves can be controlled

#4: Golden calves almost always allow more sin

Look at verse 6 again

6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings.

So they did their “spiritual thing” (everybody went and “got their church on”), and now they can feel good about it…but look at what their new version of god allows them to do.

It says:

Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

The Hebrew word here signifies drunken, immoral, mass sexual sin.

Similar the NT Word: Debauchery.

Apparently, this new version of God allows them to do anything they want.

But don’t ever fall for a “god” like that.

That’s the illusion of freedom.

A life without guardrails doesn’t lead to more freedom; it leads to more pain.

(The god of my own making)

Listen, real, true life is found in a relationship with the real God.

Let me explain it this way.

Can I get a volunteer to come up here?

Someone who’s willing to share some facts about themselves?

Can you tell us your name?

What city do you live in?

What do you do for a living?

Random question: How good are you at basketball?

Okay, thank you, you can have a seat.

Now, let’s say I want to develop a deep friendship with _____.

BUT, I insist on believing that:

And that he actually lives in California.

And that he plays basketball for the Los Angeles Lakers

And makes 4 million a year

And has committed to giving me half of his money.

If I revised all the facts about _______,

…and I insisted to myself, to my friends, and even to ___ himself that that is who he is…

Let me ask you: If I believed that, could I ever develop a deep friendship with him?

No, I couldn’t.

It’s not grounded in reality.

That’s not who he is.

And the same is true with God.

God is who He is.

In this same book of Exodus, He says, “I am who I am.”

…not whoever we want Him to be.

He is who He is.

God is a real, amazing, and specific Being with specific character traits that have been revealed to us in Scripture.

And so it’s really important to understand this:

A real encounter with God can only be found when we truthfully acknowledge who He really is

And so if you want to deeply know God (and I pray you do)…

…realize you can’t do so, unless you are on a quest to deeply discover who He truly is.

Because “the God of your own making” doesn’t exist.

So how are you going to get to know the Real God better this year?

Maybe it’s time to sign up for a House Church, and let other people help you grow in your faith.

Maybe as we start a new year, it’s time to set a resolution to study the Bible this year.

Maybe you need to take one with you even today.

Or maybe you just need to be more serious than ever about questioning if what you believe is actually backed up by evidence in the Word of God or not.

But listen, the way to find true meaning & true friendship with God it is founded in deeply discovering who He really is.

And that’s the best version anyway.

Way better than anything you or I could come up with.

Let me pray.