When we allow something in our lives which begins to take control over our affections and attention it is “Idolatry.” This is one of the ways our enemy intends to bring down Christian leaders. As a young Christian I memorized 1 John 5:21 in the Living Bible:
“Dear Children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts. Amen.”
It’s still a battle for me. With His help, I need to be vigilant, prayerful and on guard. The idols have changed over the years, but there are nonetheless still Idols which can cause great harm.
Brad Jenkins, Lead Pastor of Anthem Church in Tulsa Oklahoma shares some insightful ideas on what some of these “Idols” could be in this day and age.
Guest Post by Brad Jenkins
I was an 18-year-old senior in high school when I visited the Hare Krishna temple in Venice, California for the first time. Hare Krishna is a sect of Hinduism. Hinduism has been called a religion with 330 million gods, but the Hare Krishna’s worship Krishna as the ultimate of the gods.
As I walked through the dark temple, I saw physical idols set along the front of the room. People had placed food of various kinds as offerings before the idols. The room was full of people bowing and praying. It felt heavy. Honestly, it felt evil.
At 18, I was witnessing idolatry in modern-day America, but it’s been an issue for a long time.
And it is still an issue down deep in many of our hearts – including my own.
Dangerously Open
Some backstory: God had rescued His people from slavery in Egypt. He had good plans for their future, including giving them lives of freedom in a land He had promised. He would be their God. They would be His people.
The situation seemed perfect, but it wasn’t. God knew that even in the presence of a real and loving God, people are dangerously open to creating and worshipping counterfeit gods.
That’s why God spoke directly to this in the first two commandments.
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” (Exodus 20:1-4)
John Calvin hit it on the head when he said,
“The human heart is an idol factory.”
If we don’t have something to give our hearts to, or if God isn’t doing exactly what we want when we want, we will invent our own god and give our heart to it.
There are many impostor gods out there. Pastor and author Tim Keller calls them counterfeit gods. God—the one, true God—is the only thing worthy of our worship. He is the only one who can handle your devotion; anything else will crumble under the weight of it.
Idolatry is when we instead put something else in that top spot in our lives.
The question is: how do I search my heart to see if I am worshiping modern-day idols? All me to give you four idols to consider.
1. The god of pleasure
Many choose to worship the god of pleasure. This may take the form of idolizing sex, prioritizing comfort, unquenchable lust, stoking an addiction, or boundary-free thrill-seeking.
Christians who worship the god of pleasure don’t think of it as idolatry. They call their disobedience “freedom,” their loss of self-control “relaxation,” and their godlessness “liberation.”
The issue is that we have created a false god and are not giving God the worship only He deserves.
But it gets worse.
When you pursue pleasure as a god, it becomes pain.
The irony is that pleasures like food and sex and entertainment are given to us by God, “who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment” (1 Timothy 6:17), but those good gifts become destructive when elevated to god status.
When you worship the god of pleasure, it will lead to emptiness and increased cravings, which leads to addiction and loss of control, which leads to damaged relationships.
We need to learn to enjoy pleasure as gifts from God to be appreciated but not worshipped.
2. The god of power
Others worship the god of power, often manifested in a thirst for achievement and success. These people believe that if they can accomplish and attain more, it will lead to increased independence and control. They assume that a higher position will provide more power and, thus, more satisfaction with life.
But that’s not what happens.
Instead, if you worship at the altar of power, you’ll find you always compare yourself to someone who has more, which results in disorienting dissatisfaction. You lose perspective on what truly matters and will neglect your most important relationships and your spiritual life.
What’s the solution?
Jesus said what’s most important is loving God and loving people. We choose to put God’s Kingdom first and to live a humble life of service. We seek to build God’s Kingdom instead of our own.
When you adopt this perspective, that “whatever you do,” you will “do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31), you can pursue excellence while maintaining proper priorities, knowing that true success is found in faithfulness to God.
2. The god of money
Some replace the one true God with the god of money. Money seems to promise security, significance, and satisfaction, but it’s all a lie. Only God can keep us secure, make us significant, and satisfy us. That’s why people who seek money and possessions can never have enough.
God says, in Jeremiah 2:13,
“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”
The problem with any counterfeit god is that it cannot hold water – it can’t do what it promises and only leaves you feeling empty.
If you worship the god of money, you’ll find yourself constantly focused on finances.
You make major decisions based mostly on what will lead to monetary gain or preservation. You set your self-worth by your net worth. And you are reluctant to give generously; you find it painful to part with any of your money.
If this is your struggle, you need to recognize the truth of Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:24 and decide who you will worship,
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Instead of viewing money as an end in itself, choose to think of it as a tool for serving God and others. As you do, you’ll find yourself trusting in God more and money less.
3. The god of image
The last counterfeit god I’ll mention is image – being liked, approved of, popular, famous.
With the influx of social media, YouTube, reality TV, and influencers, people are increasingly concerned about their image.
It starts young.
Researchers asked 4th and 6th graders to rank seven values, including community, kindness, and self-acceptance. 40% ranked fame as the most important value. In a USA Today poll, over half of young people said they wanted to be famous, while only 30% were interested in living a life that helped people.
For some, the god of image is about the masses – gaining followers or “likes” on social media. For others, it can be an obsession with what one single person thinks. You give your time and attention to getting the love of someone or the approval of someone else.
The Bible calls this the “fear of man.” It’s when we value what people think of us over what God does.
The Apostle Paul puts in stark terms what’s at stake here.
“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10).
TAKE ACTION
When I think about those different counterfeit gods, I’d love to say that none are a problem for me, but if I’m honest, I’ve seen myself flirting with each of them at different times. If I’m being really honest, I would admit that sometimes I have gotten dangerously close to giving my heart to something it wasn’t made for.
It can be challenging to know if you love something appropriately or if it has become an idol. Do you love coffee as a gift from God to be enjoyed, or has it become an issue of idolatry? The same goes for sports, success at work, finding a girlfriend, your kids, sex, or money.
Take some time to pray and ask God to reveal to you if you have made something an idol. Some questions you may want to pray through include:
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Am I crushed when I don’t get this thing?
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Is my happiness or hope dependent on it?
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Do I complain when I don’t get it when and in the way I want to?
Ask God, “Lord, have I made this good thing a god thing? Have I made it more important than you?”
If you’re afraid that you have, be clear about your struggle and rededicate yourself to worshipping God alone. Then, ask a trusted Christian friend to pray for you and provide accountability.
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