Tag: Idolatry

Jesus Among Our Other gods

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals2 Comments

Idolatry

When my schedule allows, I attend a local Pastor’s luncheon. It’s purpose is to encourage, pray for, and minister to pastors in Wise County. We usually gather at a local pastor’s church, have lunch, and hear a word of encouragement from a member of the group.

A Trip to India

Yesterday, we heard from two pastors who just returned from India. Through their preaching many were saved, challenged, and taught. There are many things I could share with you about their trip, but one thing that stuck out was the Hindu idea of many gods.

As they ministered to the people, they quickly realized there was an openness to hearing about Jesus. Not only was there an openness to hear about Him, but there was an openness to worshipping Him. Sounds like a win, and it was, until they realized the people weren’t turning from their gods. They were just adding Jesus to the long list of gods they currently worshipped.

Their message then shifted slightly. They began to explicitly denounce the Hindu idea of worshipping multiple gods and told the people to turn from their gods to Jesus. People listened and acted. They turned from idol worship to Jesus. Many families removed idols from their house, smashing them at the local church. For the first time, these people were truly worshipping Jesus. Praise God!

The American Church

The American church is similar to Hinduism. Just like they are willing to add Jesus to their list of gods, we are also willing to add Jesus to our list of gods. The only difference is that we are not as open about it.

We, in America, are fine with Jesus as long as we don’t have to give up anything. For that reason, we have placed Jesus right alongside our other gods. Pornography, sexual satisfaction, drugs, drunkenness, materialism, power, status, acceptance, approval, family, and sports are some of the gods we worship. As long as we can add Jesus to the mix, we are fine saying we are a Christian.

Exclusive Worship

Jesus, however, demands our exclusive worship. In Exodus 20:3, we read,

You shall have no other gods before me.

If we are going to turn to Jesus, we must turn away from other gods. We must give them up.

Conclusion

So then, the message these pastors preached to those in India is also a message needed in America. We need to quit putting Jesus among our other gods and worship Him exclusively.

Question for Reflection

  1. Are you putting Jesus among other gods, or are you worshipping Him exclusively?

Resource

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What Do You Treasure?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals3 Comments

Treasure Chest

What do you treasure? Is it earthly treasure or heavenly treasure? We would all like to think that we treasure the things of heaven, but that is not always true. Since that is the case, Jesus commands us not to store up earthly treasure. Instead we are to store up heavenly treasure.

In order to work against storing up earthly treasure, we need to know what we might have a tendency to treasure. I believe we can figure that out by thinking through a few questions.

What Do You Have Tendency to Treasure?

(1) What are the things you protect the most?

  • What do you keep behind lock and key at your house?
  • What do you rarely use for fear it might get messed up?

(2) What are the things you put before Godly activity?

What I mean by godly activity is: Reading your Bible, Prayer, Worship, and Christian fellowship

  • What takes the place of your Bible reading or prayer?
  • What is it that you are willing to do instead of coming to the worship service?
  • What is it that keeps you from times of fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the week?

(3) What do you pour the most energy and effort into?

  • Your house or yard?
  • A car you are fixing up?
  • Finding the best deal?
  • Things you create such as art, pictures, books, or blogs?

(4) What are the things that tug at your mind or emotions?

  • What are you constantly thinking about?
  • Planning to do?
  • Day-dreaming about?

Conclusion

Answering these questions honestly can help you determine what you have a tendency to treasure. Figuring that out is important so that you can guard yourself from storing up earthly treasures.

Question for Reflection

  1. Would you be willing to share what you have a tendency to treasure?

Resource

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Do You Know Your Identity Idols?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Books, PracticalLeave a comment

Idol

What are your identity idols? In other words, what do you find your identity in besides Christ?

That question is a broad one, but it is one we can answer with a little information. In order to help you answer it, and provide a follow up to my last post on Identity, let me offer five categories of Identity Idols from Mark Driscoll’s latest book: Who Do You Think You Are? 

Identity Idols

(1) ITEMS – Car, clothes, technologies, home, jewelry, furniture, etc.

If our idol is our items:

  1. Our possessions define our identity.
  2. We are driven to obtain certain items to gain status and prestige with our peers.
  3. Our possessions are not valued by their usefulness, but in how they increase or decrease our status and prestige among our peers.

Our identity and our drive to gain status and prestige are why we fought our parents in school to buy us Polo and Air Jordan’s instead of Wal-Mart brand clothing and shoes. We wanted to fit in. Have our friends think of us in a certain way and Wal-Mart shirts were not going to cut it.

If we are honest with ourselves this drive to fit in has not subsided. It has just gotten a bit more expensive since we have traded our Air Jordan’s for Mercedes’ or BMW’s. Seeking status is why most Americans are in perpetual debt and are constantly overpaying.

So you may ask yourself:

  • Why am I in debt?
    • Is it because I am a bad steward of my money?
    • Is it because I am seeking status and prestige?

Answering those questions honestly may be your ticket to financial and spiritual freedom.

(2) DUTIES – The things we do – Job, hobby, sport, parental and grandparent duties, marriage duties.

If our idol is our duties:

  1. We will always be searching for something to excel in.
  2. When we find the thing we can excel in, we will become overcommitted and extremely competitive.
  3. Winning puts us on top of the world, but losing crashes our world, which can result in depression and others not wanting to be around us.
  4. Winning consumes us so we don’t care about others.
  5. Pride will creep up and we will only boast in ourselves.

Those who find their identity in their duties often lose their compassion for others because being better than the next person is all that matters. It is all about winning.

Not only does compassion decrease, if our idol is our duties, but selfishness increases. Activities then tend to be focused on us as well as conversations as we fish for the praise of others.

(3) OTHERS – Broadly in our identification with a collective tribe. Narrowly in our individual relationships.

Our tribe is the greater community we closely identify with, which can be our family, city, school, class, sports team, nationality, race, gender, ethnicity, culture, income level, hobby, political party, theological affinity, or even sexual orientation to name a few.

Don’t get me wrong community is good, but community can easily be turned into an idol.

When we make our tribe into an idol we:

  1. Demonize other tribes.
  2. Are devastated when our tribe loses or fails.
  3. Push for our tribe to win/succeed at any cost.

Tribal idolatry often results in hostility between tribes. Think high school football rivalries or the demonization of another political party.

Not only does tribal idolatry result in hostility, but it also results in a desire to win at any cost. Breaking God’s Law, hurting or using others doesn’t matter. It is all about winning. No price is too high to pay.

Alternatively, when we find our identity in individual relationships, we make personal relationships unhealthy because we turn them into an idol and a place where we find our identity.

When we find our identity in others we typically:

  1. Give into peer pressure
  2. People please
  3. Have a codependency problem
  4. Fear man
  5. Change appearance and/or behavior depending on the group we are around.

Idolatry of individual relationships is why peer pressure is so powerful. Acceptance and subsequent identification is why a person may perform acts that are out of character. As well as it is why they may act a certain way around their church friends but another around their neighborhood or school friends. The desire to fit in by pleasing others is powerful and can only truly be combated with the cross.

Identity with relationships can manifest itself in one of two ways: Independence or Dependence. 

Some signs you find your identity in being independent are:

  • You want nothing to do with others.
  • You avoid close relationships so you won’t be hurt.

Some signs you find your identity in dependent relationships are:

  • You can’t be alone.
  • You have unrealistic expectations of relationships.
  • You are demanding, smothering, and needy.
  • You are easily inflated by praise or deflated by criticism.
  • One word either makes or breaks your day, giving others god-like control over you.

(4) LONGINGS – It is a hope that tomorrow will bring something better.

We all have longings. Our longings are what get us up in the morning, cause us to pray to God, and keep us hoping for Christ’s return. These are good longings to have.

Even so, our longings can become an idol when they become the source of our identity. When our longings become our identity, our life becomes excessively governed by our feelings and future, rather than our present, and God’s past, present, and future work on our behalf.

Living for the future can cause our identity to be based in getting physical healing, getting married, having children, fulfilling our vocational ministry goals, achieving financial security, or reaching the next season of life, just to name a few.

An unhealthy idolized view of the future can cause our life to shift in a moments notice leaving us:

  1. Feeling powerful and hopeful when we are healthy, receive good news, or receive an achievement.
  2. Feeling powerless and hopeless when we are sick, receive bad news, or fail to achieve a goal.

In addition, when we live for the future, our identity is always out there and governed by what will happen next. When we set our identity in who we will be in the future, we sin because we are not trusting in who we are in Christ right now. As well as we are setting ourselves up to be swayed by our feelings and future.

Often longing idolatry is most evident when people are diagnosed with a terminal disease. If their world comes crashing down and they become depressed, that may be a sign their future was their idol. However, those who stand strong in the face of death prove they do not find their identity in who they could become in the future, but in something else. Hopefully, that something is Christ and who He has made them right now.

(5) SUFFERING – Emotionally, financially, mentally, physically, relationally, spiritually.

We will suffer in this world in many ways. When we suffer, our hurt and pain can become our identity if we are not careful. My mom constantly dealt with her suffering becoming her identity, as do a number of guys at my church.

While my mom fought Scleroderma, several men in my church are fighting back pain. Their constant pain is a real struggle for them physically and mentally. As they quietly suffer, the one thing they tell me over and over is that they refuse to allow their pain to take over their life. In other words, they refuse to allow their pain to become their identity, which in a real sense it could.

Since suffering often presents itself front and center, we must fight especially hard against this identity idol when presented with the temptation.

In Christ

Instead of finding our identity in our idols we should find it in Christ. He is the One who has made us a new creation, gives us hope, joy, satisfaction, and eternal life. We should not, then, find our identity in our sins, occupation, addictions, hobbies, items, duties, others, longings, or sufferings.

Christ defines who we are by what He has done for us, not what we do, or fail to do for Christ. In Him we are a new creation and a child of God. Being God’s child is one identity that will not let us down. Instead it will change us so that we are able to accomplish our purpose in this life – to glorify God.

So then, as Christians we can say we live from our identity in Christ, not for our identity.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Which category or categories do you fall into?
  2. Does understanding what could be your identity idol help you fight for your identity in Christ?
  3. Are there any other categories you might add?

Resources

Post adapted from: Who do you think you are? Ch. 1

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What are the Types of Idols We Make?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn PracticalLeave a comment

Idolatry is just as common today as it was in the ancient world. While we often do not make man-made statues, we do produce idols. John Calvin once said that the heart is an idol factory. He meant that we constantly produce idols because we are good at making just about anything into an idol.

What is an Idol?

An idol can be anything that comes before or occupies the place of God in our lives. It is anything other than God that we allow to dominate and control us. It is any activity that we do more for our own self-image and unmet emotional needs than for the pure pursuit of Christ’s Kingdom [1]. We can make idols out of just about anything: our children, our work, our success, our church involvement, our home maintenance, our family obligations, or anything else that we find more joy, peace, acceptance, or worth in other than God. We all have them, we just need to know how to find them, so we can uproot them.

Three Categories of Idols

In Subversive Kingdom, Ed Stetzer, pulling from one of Tim Keller’s sermons, says that our idols tend to orient themselves around three broad categories: Personal, Religious, and Cultural [2]. Here is how he defines each of these categories:

Personal Idols

These are those desires and temptations that individuals commonly pursue: greed, sex, power, various forms of personal indulgence and experience.

Religious Idols

These are those beliefs and practices we employ to quiet our fears and invite inner comfort without having to resort to dependent devotion toward God.

Cultural Idols

These are those idols that present themselves whenever we pursue our hopes and ambitions through the deceptive promises of our world’s ideologies and values.

Conclusion

While we are good at making idols, we have been given the power through Jesus Christ to root these idols out of our lives, and that we must do. As Christians, we are to have no other gods before the One true God (Ex. 20:2). Our God is a jealous God (Ex. 20:5). He desires our singular devotion. So we must fight to shut down the idol making factory in our heart, keeping it closed for business.

The first way for us to rid idols from our lives is to understand the types of idols we make, those being personal, religious, and cultural. In addition, we must then pray that God, through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, would shut our idol factory down. After which, we must preach the gospel to ourselves. Always reminding ourselves of what Jesus has done for us, that we are fully accepted in Him, and that we have more joy, peace, and worth in Him than in any man-made object.

Questions for Reflection

  • Do you know the common idols in your life?
  • Are you willing to ask God to reveal your idols?
  • What do you think about the three categories Stetzer uses? Are they helpful?
  • Do you see your heart as an idol making factory?

Resources

[1] Ed Stetzer, Subversive Kingdom, 144-145.
[2] Ibid.

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Do You Have An Idol?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals7 Comments

Lately, I have been reading J.D. Greear’s new book Gospel. If you do not have a copy, I would highly recommend it. While preparing for my latest sermon, I happened to read his section on idolatry. In that section, he gives several questions we can ask ourselves to determine what may be an idol in our lives.

Idol: Can you define that, please?

An idol is anything that we allow to take the place of God in our lives. It is those things we give the most weight to, or think are necessary for life and happiness. Ultimately, an idol is anything that stands between us and God, hindering our relationship with Him because we are giving it our love, affections, and worship instead of God.

John Calvin likened our hearts to an idol factory because we are good at making things into idols. If our hearts are little idol making factories, how do we know if we have made something into an idol? J.D. Greear’s list of questions is helpful at this point.

Questions to Ask Yourself

(1) What thing have you sacrificed most for?

  • A scholarship?
  • A successful career?
  • The perfect body?

Sacrifice and worship often go hand in hand. What you worship and prize the most is often shown by what you pursue the most. What you pursue the most could very well be your idol.

(2) Who is there in your life that you feel like you can’t forgive and why?

An inability to forgive could be connected to the fact that someone took away from you something you can’t be happy without. Something you depended on for your life, happiness, and security. Determining why you cannot forgive someone, could help you discover an idol in your life.

(3) What one thing do you most hope is in your future?

  • Career success?
  • A certain salary?
  • Owning your own home? Or even a second one?
  • Having the respect of your peers?

If you believe having these things will bring you happiness or acceptance, then the one thing you most hope for in your future could be your idol.

(4) What is the one thing you most worry about losing?

  • Your job?
  • Your family?
  • The respect of your kids?
  • The love of your spouse?
  • Your money?

If you believe the loss of these things would be life ending, then the thing you most worry about losing could be your idol.

(5) If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

  • Your looks?
  • Your job?
  • Your zipcode?
  • Your car?

If you believe you would be happier by changing these things, then these could be your idol.

(6) When you do you feel the most significant?

  • In other words:
    • When do you hold your head up the highest?
    • What is there that you hope people find out about you?
    • Do you constantly mention:
      • Your job?
      • The job you hope you get ?
      • Your new car?
      • Your house?
      • Your college degree?
      • Does your heart soar with pride when you talk about your kids or grandkids?

Your identity is often wrapped up in what makes you feel the most significant. Discovering what makes you feel the most significant could help you determine your idol.

(7) Where do you turn for comfort when things are not going well?

  • Your work?
  • Pornography?
  • Food?
  • Alcohol?
  • Drugs?
  • A truth about yourself? Like, I may not be a great athlete, but academically I am far above my peers.

Where you turn for comfort when things are not going well could reveal your idol.

(8) What triggers depression in you?

  • Your kids not calling?
  • The struggles in your marriage?
  • Not getting the recognition you think you deserve?
  • How little you think you have accomplished?

Barring any medical complications, depression is often triggered when something you deem essential for life is denied or taken away. The things that most often trigger depression in you could be your idol.

Conclusion

By honestly answering these questions, you should have a good idea if something is an idol in your life.

Resources

J.D. Greear Gospel: Recovering the power that made Christianity revolutionary, 70-75.

Understanding Your Idols

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals3 Comments

Are you aware that there are two types of idols present in our lives? One is more evident than the other. However, the one that is less evident is the one controlling everything. The two types of idols I am referring to are “Deep Idols” and “Surface Idols” [1].

Deep Idols

Some “Deep Idols” we may have in our lives are a desire for (1) Influence and Power, or a craving for (2) Appreciation and Approval. Others may be (3) emotional and physical Comfort, or a desire for (4) Security and Control [2]. One of these categories is typically more prevalent in our life and is our “Deep Idol.” They control our actions and desires, and are often hidden well by those who are enslaved by them.

Surface Idols

“Surface Idols” are things such as our house, money, sex, possessions, our spouse, or our children [3]. The purpose of these “Surface Idols” is to appease and satisfy our deeper idols [4]. This means eradicating our “Surface Idols” may not always rid us of our “Deep Idols.” As a result, we must work to understand the different between “Deep Idols” and “Surface Idols”, and seek change at the deepest level.

Example

Surface Idol = Money

Deep Idol = Power or Approval or Comfort or Control

People will tend to use money as a means to gain power and influence people. Others will use money as a means to gain approval from the world. Still some will use money as a means to gain comfort, living a lavish lifestyle. While others may save all their money because they are seeking to satisfy their desire for control and security [5].

The Gospel

Only the Gospel can break the hold these “Deep Idols” have on us. When we understand the Gospel, we will no longer have a desire to obtain power and influence because we will see others as made in God’s image, not pawns in our own chess game. We no longer are stingy with out money because we see the grace God pours out on us as a result of the cross, remembering that Christ gave up everything and became poor, so we might live. In the Gospel, we also recognize that God is the only one in control of this chaotic world, allowing us to feel secure knowing whatever happens is the result of God’s plan, not our own. Lastly, in the Gospel we seek comfort in God, not in a lavish lifestyle, realizing only in Him will we find true and lasting comfort since only He is eternal and true [6].

Conclusion

We all have idols, some of our idols are “Deep Idols” and some of our idols are “Surface Idols.” When we are aware there are two types of idols, we will not be satisfied to rid ourselves of our “Surface Idols” only. Rather, we will want to tunnel down deep into our heart to see which idol we have more of a propensity toward, and rid our “Deep Idol” from our lives. While some of us may have more of a propensity toward Power, some Control, while others Approval, and still others Comfort, we can be assured that by applying the Gospel to our lives, we can rid ourselves of these idols.

Resource

[1] Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters,64.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid., 65.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid., 66.
[6] Ibid., 67-68.

Image: Sura Nualpradid / FreeDigitalPhotos.net