A Homemade Religion

The last five chapters close the book with two stories about everyday life in Israel. There is no judge in sight. Micah builds his own place of worship, makes idols, and appoints one of his sons as priest. Later he hires a wandering Levite from Bethlehem for ten pieces of silver a year, clothing, and food. The chapter explains the problem: every man did what was right in his own eyes.

• Every religious word in the chapter is correct: LORD, consecrate, priest, blessing, house of God. The vocabulary is correct; the practice is invented.
• The idol is funded by returned stolen money and dedicated with a blessing. Mixed motives run all the way through.
• Micah thinks God must bless him because he has hired a Levite. He treats religion like a way to get what he wants from God.
• The Levite is for hire. A man called to the priesthood negotiating a salary package is the picture of ministry as a career.
• Verse 6 names the root problem. There is no king, so everyone makes his own rules. The problem is not only idols. Each man has made himself the final authority.

1. 01Where is your practice inherited from culture or family rather than from Scripture? Name something specific you have never actually checked.
2. 02Micah believed having the right man on staff would secure God's favor. What is your version of that — a program, a mentor, a schedule, a role?
3. 03What is one area where you are acting as your own authority instead of obeying God?
4. 04The Levite sold his calling for room, board, and wages. What would it take to make your ministry a job to you, and how close are you?
5. 05How do you personally test whether something you believe is biblical or just familiar? Walk through your actual process.
6. 06Micah's mother blessed the LORD and built an idol in the same breath. Where does your worship contain an idol you have sincerely dedicated to God?
7. 07If a new believer copied your daily time with God exactly, would they be shaped by Scripture or by your preferences?

• Deuteronomy 12:8

  'Ye shall not do... every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.' Judges 17 is the direct violation of this command.

• Exodus 20:4-5

  The second commandment — the idol was of the LORD, and that was the problem.

• Colossians 2:20-23

  Will worship — self-made religion that has a show of wisdom and no power against the flesh.

• 1 Peter 5:2

  Feed the flock, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. The anti-Levite-for-hire text.

• Isaiah 8:20

  To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, there is no light in them.

In the end, a man follows either Scripture or himself. There is no third choice. Being sincere does not make a wrong belief right. Name one belief you hold only because you have always believed it. Compare it with Scripture this week.

Recovery programs often include made-up spiritual ideas, higher powers, and borrowed practices. Respect a man's honest search for help, but lead him to the truth of Scripture instead of your own opinions.

Submit one opinion to Scripture out loud. Repent of using ministry as leverage with God. Ask for a teachable heart.