Chained to a Pillar of Shame

"You shall not plant for yourself any tree, as a wooden image, near the altar which you build for yourself to the LORD your God.  You shall not set up a sacred pillar, which the LORD your God hates. (Deuteronomy 16:21,22 NKJV)

   Sacred “totems” were common among the pagan Canaanites. Some were carved similarly to those we are familiar with from Northwestern indigenous tribes, having images of actual living things. Others were carved with created images, and some were left uncarved. Both Alaskan and Canaanite ancients had another similar totem called a “pillar of shame”.  In modern Alaska, a few remain. One has the image of Exxon’s CEO. It is a “pillar of shame” for the perceived unpaid debt to Alaska for damage done when the Exxon Valdez spilled oil and polluted the local environment. The concept is that the pillar will stand until the debt is paid. Images carved on totems tell a story, and pillar of shame totems repeat at every glance the story of unpaid debt. In Croatia, an ancient pillar of shame still stands. People who had committed various misdemeanors were  chained to it for a day of public humiliation.

   The worship of God must be pure. Yahweh commands that we don’t worship anything but Him. You shall not plant for yourself any tree…I know I’ve erected several totems to myself over the years. Before I knew Christ, I enjoyed being exalted. When I read this verse today it made me consider that I may have also erected some pillars of shame. You shall not set up a sacred pillar…. I didn’t cut down any trees to do it, but instead tried to carve someone’s sin into a permanent pillar by repeatedly  mentioning it, ….which the LORD your God hates. Although I haven’t initiated a Christian sin totem carving class, I have too often repeated the past sin of others. When I preserve someone’s pillar of shame by mindlessly gossiping about their sin, I am denying the existence of Christ’s work on the cross. The damage done to a fellow Christian by verbally re-carving their sin stories is small compared to the damage to our Lord. Sin gossip can turn Christ's church into a minefield of unrelenting shame.

   I know that nothing I have done or can do has remitted my sin. Amazing Grace is God’s alone, but sometimes I seem to want God to require more than that of others. Grace seems like a sentence too light for them. I want and enjoy immediatef reedom from my transgressions of the law but prefer if my cellmates aren't paroled before their due time. The bible says of Jesus -- He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (Hebrews 9:26b) If I erect a sin pillar of someone's shame, I deny my Lord’s plan and purpose. If I repeat the sins of others I re-animate their sin, and I am saying that the blood sacrifice of Christ is an insufficient payment. And it’s not enough to just stop repeating the sin totems of others. I need to stop listening to them, too. Listening to Christian gossip is sin. 

   The Lord is not absent minded. He chooses to forget my sin. He is a just God and his unwillingness to even hold the memory of my forgiven sin reveals His justice. My sin is gone to prove it is forgiven, to validate the righteousness and finality of the sacrifice and the One who was sacrificed to remove it. OK God. Help me stop carving pillars of shame. Praise the Lord, let it be so.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29 NKJV)

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