The Golden Calf | How Modern Christianity Is Drifting from Christ Centeredness

 

In the Old Testament, we find a story although ancient in origin, echoes resoundingly in our modern world. The story of the golden calf in Exodus 32 is more than a historical incident of rebellion; it is a divine mirror held up to every generation—a warning, a rebuke, and ultimately, a call to repentance.

As Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the commandments from God, the Israelites grew restless. Their leader was gone. Their sense of direction was clouded by fear and uncertainty. And in their anxiety, they did something unthinkable: they asked Aaron to make them a god. “Come,” they said, “make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses… we do not know what has become of him” (Exodus 32:1, ESV). Aaron complied, and from their golden jewelry, he fashioned a calf—a glittering image of idolatry. The people celebrated it, worshipped it, and declared, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” (Exodus 32:4).

How could they, after seeing the Red Sea part, the plagues upon Egypt, manna from heaven, and the thunder of God on the mountain, stoop to such betrayal?

And yet, are we any different?

 

The Silent Golden Calves of Our Time

We live in an age where the golden calf is not a physical object, but a spiritual posture. It is the elevation of anything, any person, ideology, power, pursuit  above the sovereignty of God. 

Rather than cultivating a personal, living relationship with Jesus Christ, many now depend solely on spiritual intermediaries—“men of God” who are sometimes revered more than God Himself. In some circles, a pastor’s word carries more weight than the Bible. In other cases, people are turning to necromancy, ancestral invocations, and other practices explicitly condemned by Scripture, all in the name of "faith" and "revelation."

The Apostle John writes: “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” (John 1:16). This is not poetic fluff, it is foundational truth. Everything we need is found in Jesus Christ. His fullness is our sufficiency. His grace is our strength. His presence is our assurance. We do not need a golden calf or a modern-day version of it. We need Jesus.

Paul echoes this truth in Colossians 2:9-10: “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” This completeness in Christ dismantles every argument that suggests we need another “spiritual fix” or a middleman to encounter God. Jesus is not one among many. He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

The issue is not access; we have been granted bold access to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). The issue is allegiance. Whom do we truly serve when the lights are off and the crowd is gone? Is it Jesus? Or have we created a god in our own image?

The Israelites’ greatest failure wasn’t just the creation of the golden calf, it was their inability to hold onto God in the waiting. They had seen His hand, but they didn’t know His heart. The moment Moses delayed, they panicked. The moment things grew uncertain, they defaulted to what they had known in Egypt—idolatry.

Likewise, many believers today crumble in the face of hardship. When prayers go unanswered, when sickness strikes, when poverty persists, when God appears silent, we are tempted to turn elsewhere. But this is the test of true faith: Can we trust God in the silence? Can we cling to Him when all we have is His Word?

 

God is sounding a trumpet across the earth. He is calling His people out of superficial religion and back to a living relationship with Him. The Spirit of God is grieving over a church that praises with their lips but has wandered in their hearts.

May our hearts echo the words of Paul in Philippians 3:8: “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Amen.

 

Samuel  Boateng

sam.boateng600@gmail.com

 +233 59 387 6208

John C. Maxwell Leadership -Ghana