Egocentric idols

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TODAY'S SPECIAL: Isaiah1-4; Psalm 109

TO CHEW ON:  "Their land is also full of idols;
They worship the work of their own hands,
That which their own fingers have made." Isaiah 2:8


John Piper takes a little swipe at a common interpretation of Jesus' command, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:39):

"The popular misconception is that this command teaches us to learn to esteem ourselves so we can love others. This is not what the command means. Jesus does not command us to love ourselves. He assumes that we do." — John Piper, Desiring God, p. 209.

It seems to me there is only a short distance between healthy self-love and idolatrous self-love. I wonder if, in our rich, possession-obsessed society, we don't indulge in such idolatry more than we realize. We regularly look to the things we own to give us a sense of worth. We dote on their excellence and how their quality will reflect well on us. When we get down, we shop for more things to help us feel better.

Making an idol out of a car or house or pair of shoes is an easy kind of idolatry to identify. However, there are other ego-centric idols that are just as widespread, but may be harder to put their fingers on. Dale Hanson Bourke in a chapter on idols in her book Embracing Your Second Calling speaks of a Bible-study worksheet (written by Tim Keller) that probed her heart in this regard:

"...the worksheet contained a list of the types of idolatry many modern-day men and women embrace. In part, it included statements like:

Approval idolatry: 'Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am loved and respected by...'


Control idolatry: Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am able to get mastery over my life in the area of...'


Helping idolatry: 'Life only has meaning / I only have worth if people are dependent on me.'


Work idolatry: 'Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am highly productive and get a lot done.'


Achievement idolatry: 'Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am being recognized for my accomplishments / excelling in my career.'

...One suggestion from the study is to think about what you fear the most or what you worry about most often. If you follow that trail, you almost always arrive at the foot of an idol." -- Dale Hanson Bourke, Embracing Your Second Calling, pp. 90-91

These thoughts convict me. I need to sweep a spotlight into and through the tucked-away rooms of my heart to see what self-idols are hidden there. What about you?

PRAYER: Dear God, please show me where I am worshiping something/someone other than You. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 109

The Bible Project VIDEO: Isaiah 1-39 (Read Scripture Series)






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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Revive us again

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Samuel 25-27; Psalm 85

TO CHEW ON: "Will you not revive us again,
That Your people may rejoice in You?" Psalm 85:6

This is a happy psalm. The Son of Korah writer begins by listing ways God has shown favour to the Israelites. He has: 1] brought them back from exile; 2] forgiven and covered their sins; 3] turned away from showing His anger in the way their sin deserved.

But all is not perfect. We detect concern in his next request: "Will You not revive us again / That Your people may rejoice in You?'

Perhaps he senses superficiality in their worship. Perhaps he knows individuals who have divided loyalties. Perhaps he witnesses hypocrisy, where people are dressed all righteous and sanctimonious when they come to the temple but change into their everyday me-first duds as soon as they leave. Perhaps he knows they aren't really 'rejoicing' in God at all but in everything else, and it is just a matter of time before they'll be casting the same old sinful fruit because they are still living from a sinful root.

A brief look at some of the revivals in the Bible show such uprooting:

• Asa banned perverted persons and removed idols from the land - 1 Kings 15:12.

• Jehu and Jehoiada broke down the Baal altar and temple - 2 Kings 10:27; 2 Kings 11:18.

• Josiah took all the religious paraphernalia associated with idol worship out of the temple and burned it - 2 Kings 23:4. Then he insisted people serve God - 2 Chronicles 34:33.

• Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah removed the wooden images and high place altars from the land - 2 Chronicles 19:13; 2 Chronicles 31:1.

• Nehemiah stopped commerce on the Sabbath - Nehemiah 13:19.

• The people of Ephesus collected their occult books and burned them - Acts 19:19.

These drastic actions attacked deep loyalties and removed what was usually an idol of one kind or another. In our quest for revival, maybe we need to do some of the same life-altering uprooting:

• Confess and get rid of known sin.

• Sort out areas where we have mixed faith in God with beliefs from other religions (syncretism).

• Identify and remove idols—anything that claims our affection above God.

• Change our lifestyles to show our sensitivity to what does and doesn't  please God.

PRAYER: Dear God, I so glibly pray for revival, but do I really want the deep spirit work that the answer entails? May the prayer for revival be the honest cry of my heart. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 85

MORE: Modern idols

In her book Embracing Your Second Calling, Dale Hanson Bourke lists some modern idols—ones I know I've been guilty of bowing to (she attributes Tim Keller's book Counterfeit Gods for the original list):

• "Approval idolatry: 'Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am loved and respected by …'

• Control idolatry: 'Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am able to get mastery over my life in the area of …'

• Helping idolatry: 'Life only has meaning / I only have worth if people are dependent on me.'

• Work idolatry: 'Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am highly productive and get a lot done.'

• Achievement idolatry: 'Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am being recognized for my accomplishments / excelling in my career.'"  

Embracing Your Second Calling, pp. 90, 91.

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The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.

Treating the Martha Syndrome

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 10:38-42

TO CHEW ON: "But Martha was distracted with much serving and she approached Him and said, 'Lord do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.'" Luke 10:40

I have on my bookshelf a thoughtful book that makes me want to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen. Embracing Your Second Calling by Dale Hanson Bourke helps women, specifically women in the second half of life, find direction and purpose for the rest of the journey. She makes a statement in a chapter on idols that I think is relevant to this little Mary-Martha vignette:

"I have come to believe that leaving false idols is at the heart of our ability to hear and obey our second callings" (p. 85).

Luke describes Martha as "distracted with much serving." But that is merely the outer symptom of obedience to a dictator in her heart which, I think, we could call an idol. Because there is nothing wrong with serving. But Martha's petulance at being left to do it alone shows that something besides serving is at stake here. There's an agenda (idol) that she's finding hard to satisfy.

Perhaps the motive for her dedicated service is to maintain her reputation as a good hostess and cook. On this of all days, she can't risk a shoddy or late meal. Or maybe she's fussing because this just isn't how you entertain guests—sit around listening to them while neglecting to do the usual. Tradition isn't being served. Or perhaps this is the Mary she's lived with all her life—the one who always slipped away from chores to do the interesting stuff. Today she's had enough. She is simply wanting Jesus, who would know what's fair if anyone would, to recognize and uphold her right to have help.

I've been all three of these Marthas. My sympathy is with her all the way. Mostly, I'd like to help her / myself get to the bottom of this and any dis-ease in my spirit that shows me some little demigod isn't happy. Sniffing out those idols is, I think, the key.

PRAYER: Dear God, You can have the full run of my heart today. Please help me identify and root out idols that keep me from hearing and following You. Amen.

MORE: Other thoughts on this passage

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World is a twelve week devotional by Joanna Weaver that delves into this little story in depth. Here is a reader's guide to the book (which gives a taste of what it's about).

Weaver has since come out with another book exploring the topic in even more depth. Janet Sketchley reviews Having a Mary Spirit (2006) on her blog here.

I've written about this Martha/Mary story previously before in a poem, which begins:

The Martha In Me

Too often Martha takes charge–
I schedule service with conditions,
workboots clomp on everything
threatening my control –
I curse the one who’s late,
ignore the longing in my daughter’s eyes to chat,
dismiss women with Watchtower at my door –
not aware I’ve stamped out
embers of His presence.

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