This past Christmas was my second trip to Africa. Before moving to Capetown, my brother, Brian, was a missionary in Benin. A little over three years ago, my son, Taylor, and I visited this country in West Africa.
In Benin, there is much pagan worship. Voodoo is practiced openly and sacrifices are made to ancestral spirits. When one becomes a Christian, he turns his back on the false gods of his land. Disciples of Jesus understand they cannot worship idols and make sacrifices to demons while following the one true God. Though they often face persecution and hardship for choosing Jesus, they know true life is forfeited if they go back to the old ways. In the belly of the big fish, Jonah stated truth that holds today: “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.” (Jonah 2:8)
Upon our return to this land, I saw clearly with spiritual eyes the things I had seen with physical eyes in West Africa. The same forces at work in Benin, that cause men and women to bow to a crude idol, are at work in the western culture. It is a frightening thought, but in some ways I think the people in Benin have an advantage. There the idols are seen. Here they are not recognized. When a person chooses the Lord there, it is clear he is rejecting the other gods of the land. A person who hears a call to follow the Lord here may not hear a call to count the cost.
Jesus spoke plainly about these matters when He walked the earth. He knows idolatry does not just involve graven images. He also knows what will be forfeited if man does not boldly choose to follow Him.
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26)