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HIGHLY ESTEEMED ABOMINATIONS "And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God." (Luke 16:15)In the immediate context, Jesus had been preaching against the hypocrisy and covetousness of the Pharisees, so the abomination was the Pharisees being deceitful and promoting themselves as being holy and honorable among men when God saw right through their dirty hearts. Though men might have revered the Pharisees, the Lord's point is that men often revere the wrong people and the wrong things. Israel had just come though some 1,500 years of largely setting at naught God's counsel while exalting and highly esteeming the useless, vain traditions of men, and that's why they were under Roman rule all during the ministry of Jesus. So, contrary to proving any real value or honor, being popular and highly esteemed among men often proves an ABSENCE of value and honor, or, as Jesus worded it, an "abomination." But notice that Jesus didn't merely say that the PHARISEES were an abomination. He said, "that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination." That means ANYTHING can be an abomination in God's sight, or, better stated, anything can BECOME an abomination in God's sight when the heart isn't right. That's because the thing has become unduly exalted and is now highly esteemed to the point of becoming an idol. God, being a holy and jealous God (Exo. 20:5), abhors idols and views them as abomination. That's why Jesus said "that" which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. It can be anything. There are many things that can fall into this category, and I'd like to deal with some of them today. These are things that are not sinful in and of themselves, but they become sinful when men exalt them and highly esteem them above their proper level of importance. Let's consider some of these highly esteemed things that need to be kept down at their proper level . . . I. RICHES There's nothing wrong with money until men start loving it (I Tim. 6:10), and there's nothing wrong with riches until men set their hearts on them. Psalms 62:10 says, ". . . if riches increase, set not your heart upon them." That's when they become a highly esteemed abomination. A thing cannot be highly esteemed unless men choose to highly esteem it. When they do, it often becomes an idol. When they don't, it remains an asset or a tool that can be used for the glory of God and for the benefit of man. So it is with riches. Many men have done a great deal of good with riches, creating needed jobs and financing great causes, but a great many more have corrupted themselves with riches by allowing money to reach their hearts. John Wesley was afraid of this, which is why he said, in so many words, "Anytime I come into some money, I rid myself of it as soon as possible, lest it find a way to my heart." He esteemed money, as do we all, but he didn't want to HIGHLY esteem it.II. FAME OR POPULARITYPeople are wired differently, so some people are naturally more social than others, and the big temptation with such people is to be popular, to be well liked, and maybe even to be famous, if possible. Caring what people think about them ranks high on their list, and it often becomes an idolatrous abomination. If that seems harsh, or at least inaccurate, just ask one question: Do they have as much concern with what God thinks of them? Usually, they do not, in which case their popularity or fame has grown into an abomination. That's why most Christians would make lousy politicians, and very few movie, music, and sports stars ever shine as Bible-believing Christians. Their popularity has become a highly esteemed god, therefore an abomination in the eyes of the True God.III. POWERThere's an old adage that says, "Put a beggar on horseback, and he'll ride away in a gallop." The temptation is usually just too strong for one to stay humble when power and strength are within reach. Ambitious Lucifer was the first to err in this manner (Isa. 14:12-15), and millions have met tragic ends by following his steps. Having power is good, since all power comes from God (John 19:11), but to lust for power and to highly esteem it for selfish purposes is an abomination. The best way to never highly esteem power is to just always remember Psalms 62:11: "God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God." If you or I ever possess any power, it's only on loan from God. May we use it wisely and only for his glory.IV. EDUCATIONThere are a couple ways in which education can become a highly esteemed abomination. One is to become puffed up with pride, as Paul spoke about in I Corinthians 8:1. The key is to be very knowledgeable while remaining very humble, but the devil is always at work, tempting men to think higher of themselves than they ought to think (Rom. 12:3). When this happens, the very knowledge that should make a man more useful to God makes him an abomination instead.Another way in which education becomes a highly esteemed abomination is through the "prestigious" system of honors and degrees. A man can lack moral character and humility, yet the world will bestow upon him one of their many "degrees," and then the temptation begins. The degreed individual now thinks he is immediately qualified for this or that position, even though he has no experience and has not proven worthy of anything more than a chance to work his way up and prove himself. This high esteeming of untried and unproven people often leads to major problems and is an abomination in the sight of God, the one who believes in promoting men "in due time" (I Pet. 5:6), rather than on the basis of flattering titles that are often not worth the paper on which they're printed (Job 32:21-22).V. NUMBERS Paul said in I Timothy 6:5 to withdraw ourselves from people who suppose that gain is godliness, people who highly esteem numbers and choose their friends and enemies on the basis of numbers. Whether it's through tallying people or tallying dollars, the way of the world is to persist in knowing "how many" and "how much." Yet, we know from the experience of a man after God's own heart that the high estimation of numbers can get one into a great deal of trouble (I Chr. 21). Having many or much can be a good thing, but to have a heart that highly esteems such while overlooking the small, weak and base things and people of life is abomination in the sight of God (I Cor. 1:18-29). VI. PLEASURE When Paul said, "But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth" (I Tim. 5:6), he wasn't saying that pleasure in and of itself is sinful. There's nothing wrong with buying some new clothes or spending a few bucks to have one's hair redone occasionally. There's nothing wrong with a man buying a new gun or spending a few relaxing hours on a golf course. The problem is when one LIVES for such things. Eating out can be a good thing, but eating out every day can be a very bad thing, because it could mean that one is living to eat, instead of eating to live. It's all about the heart and how it prioritizes the various aspects of life. Paul said that the odour, or fragrance, that he received from Epaphroditus was "wellpleasing to God" (Plp. 4:18), but that's because he wasn't known to be a man who lived in pleasure for material things. He was a man who believed in being content with "food and raiment" (I Tim. 6:8), so anything extra was viewed as a rare blessing. Paul LIVED a crucified life for Jesus Christ (Plp. 1:21; Gal. 2:20), so any pleasures along the way were few and far between, not daily norms, and certainly not things for which he lived. They were simply blessings which God occasionally gave as little rewards for his servant. Pleasure never became an abomination, because Paul never lived for pleasure or highly esteemed it.VII. FLESHI'll give one more sampling of a highly esteemed abomination and then we'll be done. No doubt, the flesh is often an abomination. That's an understatement. The flesh is USUALLY an abomination in the sight of God. We read in I Corinthians 1:29, "That no flesh should glory in his presence." So, anything that we do to glorify the flesh becomes an abomination to God. If you go to the gym for the purpose of staying healthy, good, but you don't have to wear sleeveless shirts and shorts a foot above your knees. Keep the flesh covered. "So, I can't show off my body?" Sure you can, to your spouse in your bedroom, but keep it covered everywhere else.If you've ever been to a gym, you've probably noticed that they are covered up with mirrors. They say that's so people can observe their form while working out and not injure themselves. I might believe that, except I've seen too many of them strutting like peacocks from one machine to the next. There's clearly an undue emphasis on the flesh, and usually while the spirit is being starved to death. THAT is abomination in the sight of God. When God told us that this is a "body of death" and that we are to "mortify" its members (Rom. 7: 24; Col. 3:5), our job is to respect those words and view this flesh as a natural enemy of God, not to decorate it and glorify it and see how much attention we can draw to it. Look at I Peter 3, and I'll show you what I mean. Speaking of Christian ladies, look at what Peter says in verses 3 and 4: "Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." He's not saying that it's wrong for a lady to look nice. He's saying that it's wrong for her to highly esteem the flesh while neglecting the spirit. He's saying that if you want to ADD ORNaments to yourself (adorn), then let it be mostly to the inner man, the spirit, and not to the flesh. He's obviously not saying to never put on ANY apparel, nor is he saying to wear no gold at all or to never fix the hair. He's saying to not highly esteem such things. Focus on the heart, where God focuses (I Sam. 16:7), and all will be fine as everything else finds the right balance. Just remember, no matter how much we focus on this flesh and try to make it appear attractive, it will stink in two days, if we don't bath it, and even the lost world agrees that it needs to be buried or burned one day, and God will NOT take it to heaven before CHANGING it (I Cor. 15:51-52)! The flesh is clearly undeserving of the attention that most of us give to it. There are many things that we should highly esteem, such as the word of God and the people of God who need to grow spiritually. Paul even said that spiritual leaders are to be highly esteemed (I Ths. 5:13) by Christians, but let's get our learning and examples from the word, and not from the world, lest the very things in which we invest our time and energies become abominations in the sight of God.