Yesterday, several major news outlets ran a story about a god in Japan known was the "God of Poverty." The Bimbo Gami shrine houses a wooden statue believed to be the poverty deity, a man who brings about economic misfortune. Visitors can travel to the remote location four hours outside of Tokyo where they are free to release their anger by punching, kicking, and throwing dried beans at the deity. The statue is battered by as many as 500 people per day.
It is hard not to laugh at the ridiculous concept of this god. It is hard not to smile at the foolish belief and behavior of individuals who pay money to visit the shrine only to attack the idol. Certainly, the one true and living God is laughing at the foolishness of men: "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision" (Ps 2:4).
While some will downplay the concept of beating the "God of Poverty" by saying it is merely a therapeutic release, the truth of the matter is that multitudes believe in a plethora of gods—including the poverty deity. Idolatry is still present in the hearts of multitudes and therein is the tragedy. Even Christians are susceptible to forms of idolatry.
James Packer reminds the Christian community of the temptation towards idolatry in his book, Your Father Loves You. "What other gods could we have besides the Lord? Plenty. For Israel there were the Canaanite Baals, those jolly nature gods whose worship was a rampage of gluttony, drunkenness, and ritual prostitution. For us there are still the great gods Sex, Shekels, and Stomach (an unholy trinity constituting one god: self), and the other enslaving trio, Pleasure, Possessions, and Position, whose worship is described as "The lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16). Football, the Firm, and Family are also gods for some. Indeed the list of other gods is endless, for anything that anyone allows to run his life becomes his god and the claimants for this prerogative are legion. In the matter of life's basic loyalty, temptation is a many-headed monster."
