Politicians and scandals go together like peas and carrots as Forrest said of himself and Jenny in the movie “Forrest Gump”. The only thing as common as politicians embroiled in scandal could be religious leaders embroiled in scandal. Hardly any TV show or movie today portrays a preacher as a genuinely positive uplifting faithful man. They’re generally portrayed as cold and harsh, or faithless hypocrites, or sexual predators using their positions to prey on the weak. Even the best only has to make one mistake and his reputation can be ruined forever.

Gideon the reluctant warrior is one of those who made a huge mistake that ruined his reputation and overshadowed his faith. Most people today know about his faith, while few know about his mistake that became a scandal to his house. However, the nation in his day knew, and most importantly God knew.

The scandal recorded in Judges 8:24-27 arose out his power and authority from the phenomenal victory over Midian and his refusal to accept their offer to become king. Instead he asked for a small gift offering, a tax if you will. It was an earring from each person taken from the enemy they had defeated. The people were happy to do so, and it turned out to be a huge amount of gold, about 70 lbs. At today's price that's about $2,250,000.

That wasn't his mistake though. It's what he did next that became a scandal (Judges 8:27). He made an ephod like the priestly garment used in worshiping Yahweh. No matter what he intended it was directly in conflict with God's revealed way of worship, which alone was enough to make it wrong. But the sin was compounded by how it became an idol that led people away from God.

The same principle applies to us today. Creating our own way of worship is a scandal. God revealed a pattern of worship in the Bible. But, just like Gideon we constantly create our own ways of worship that not only conflict with God's will, but become a trap or scandal for others who choose to worship God their way instead of His way. We should follow his pattern instead of our own to avoid the scandal of self-determined worship that rebels against God.