Modern Day Idols: Heart Check

Modern Day Idols: Heart Check

Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 1 Corinthians 14:14

Idolatry: extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone.

Idolatry is anything that we love and pursue more than Christ. It is anything that we put our trust in and give our devotion to outside of our Heavenly Father. It’s so easy for something to become an idol for us. Most times, we don’t even realize it until it has become a bigger issue. Most idols start as good things but become idolized when we place them before God.

 God makes it very clear in His Word how he feels about idolatry. The first commandment that God gave was to have no other gods before him.

“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. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,” Exodus 20:3-5

God hates idolatry. His word tells us that he is a jealous God. He doesn’t want anything or anyone else to take the place that only He belongs. Our worship belongs to God alone because He is the only one worthy.

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Psalm 96:4-5

He reminds us over and over that He is the Lord, our God. Anytime there was talk of idols or idol worship in the Old Testament, the Lord told the Israelite’s to burn it, tear it down, and get rid of it quickly and for good! Most of the idols and gods of that time were built by hand. This included statues and metal images and the people would worship them. The people would turn from God and look to these man-made statues for guidance and direction. They would praise these things as if they were God.

‘Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 26:1

In today’s culture, we have somewhat shifted from physical idols to more intangible idols. Modern-day idols can be in the form of people such as public figures, influencers, or peers. Another big one I believe we deal with today is materialism.  We idolize the pursuit of wealth and luxury which in turn drives our focus. We idolize our careers, social media, fitness, marriage, our kids, our comfort, food, and even ourselves. Most times when idolatry creeps in it is very subtle. For example, putting in extra work and trying to reach for a promotion in your career is a good thing. God wants us to grow and develop into leaders in the workplace. But that promotion changes over into an idol when we put the goal first in our lives. When we put all our energy and base our life around achieving the promotion, we begin to operate out of a place of desperation. We start believing that the promotion will bring us full satisfaction. Our heart posture begins to shift. We focus on the promotion instead of God and slowly begin to raise its significance over Him.

“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.” Matthew 6:24

God’s place is central and first in our lives. God desires our full devotion but when we make idols of lesser gods, they slowly begin demanding our attention. They start to steal our joy because they lead to spiritual emptiness. These idols lead to empty promises and unfulfillment. They keep us anxious. They exhaust us and cause stagnation, holding us back from where God is trying to take us. They drive us away from God’s purpose for us and instead pushes us to pledge allegiance to a false substitute. When we idolize things, we eventually build our lives around it causing a spiritual disconnect from God. It creates a barrier between us and our Creator making it harder to hear from him and to do His will. All sin stems from idolatry because it arises when we love something else more than God. Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell said it best when he said “idols will own you, betray you, and cost you your soul”.

It’s easy to get caught up in idol worship because we spend much more time filling ourselves up with what’s going on around us instead of getting in the Word and presence of God. This causes us to be led by our flesh instead of The Spirit. (Remember whatever we feed is what grows!) God wants our hearts to be centered around him and for us to be available for His glory. He needs our minds to be fully focused on doing Kingdom work. Nothing should be more important to us than our relationship with Christ. Nothing.

“But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Joshua 22:5

It’s important that we take inventory of our desires because they can help us keep in check any start of idolatry within us. A good way to figure out what has become an idol in your life is to take a look at your time, talent, and your money. What do you spend most of your time doing? Where have you invested your talent lately? Where are you spending your money? Any new obsessions? Think about it in comparison to your relationship with Jesus. Is your relationship with God being put on the back burner to any of these things? Is something else at the center of your life other than Jesus?

Heart Check. Ask God to reveal any hidden idols. Prioritize spending time with God to prevent chasing a false sense of hope that can only be found in Christ.

Thanks to the work of Jesus Christ, we have freedom from the bondage of idolatry!

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