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.

No need to flaunt, prove, or push

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Philippians 2:1-11

TO CHEW ON: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men." Philippians 2:5-7

Nowadays the common wisdom is if we want people to buy our product, patronize our business, or read our writings, we must get noticed. Thousands give advice on how to establish our presence on the internet using Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs, and a myriad of other ways to generate buzz and business.

I wonder how Jesus would have handled all this. What would He have put on His Facebook update? What would He have tweeted? What would He have written on His blog? Would He even have been online?

I love what a sidebar article in my Bible says about Jesus' humility:

"Chrlstlike humility is manifested in the freedom of God's Son to affirm the fullness of all God has placed in Him, without needing to flaunt, prove or push it through self-advancement. Jesus' complete absence of any need to "clutch" for power or attention is manifest humility" - Fuchsia Pickett, "Christlikeness," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1662 (emphasis added).

Though media pundits do advise us to exhibit interest in others the underlying motivation is often selfish. The hope is that the attention will be reciprocated and we will get what we are after—something for ourselves.

There was no such self-service in Jesus' humility. He exchanged the role and status He had in heaven ("...made Himself nothing" - Philippians 2:7 NIV) and gave the ultimate (His life) in order to buy us back to God.

His humility did result in exaltation, though—an honor higher than any person could give, bestowed by God Himself (Philippians 2:9-11).

Our Bible commenter helps us understand how this call to be humble works for us:

"Just as Christ's humility received ultimate exaltation (Phil. 2:9-11), so our call to 'humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up' points to the way for the rise of God's highest purpose in each of us (James 4:10). Humbling ourselves opens us up to increased grace (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5), and childlikeness is the doorway to the dynamism of 'kingdom come' in our life and service (Matthew 18:4)" Fuchsia Pickett (source quoted above, emphasis added)

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for Your humility, shown when You relinquished all Your rights, even the right to live. Help me to begin to understand what true humility is and how to live it in 2012. Amen.

MORE: Humility quotes

"The reason we see hypocrisy and fraud and unreality in others is because they are all in our own hearts. The great characteristic of a saint is humility—Yes all those things and other evils would have been manifested in me but for the grace of God, therefore I have no right to judge" - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, June 22nd reading.

"The passion of Christianity is that I deliberately sign away my own rights and become a bond-slave of Jesus Christ." Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, November 3 reading.

"Humility is so shy. If you begin talking about it, it leaves” - Tim Keller (quoted by John Piper in "The Shy Virtue of Christmas."

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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.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The powerlessness and power of idols

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TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 115:1-18

TO CHEW ON: "May the Lord give you increase more and more,
You and your children.
May you be blessed by the Lord
who made heaven and earth." Psalm 115: 14-15


Psalm 115 contrasts trust in idols with trust in God. The writer outright ridicules idolatry, pointing out that the object worshiped is made with common materials, is the work of a human person, and has no senses—no sight, hearing, smell or touch—and no abilities  to hold things, talk or walk - Psalm 115:3-8.

So what's the appeal of an idol?

There is within us all a need for someone or something beyond ourselves. We want help and advice from someone bigger and more powerful than we are when circumstances go against us. We long for someone or something to admire and aspire to. In Bible times people responded to this need by carving or molding images, ascribing power to them, and worshiping them instead of God. Satan used and uses that worship impulse to take the allegiance of mankind for himself and his minions. Bible writers unmask the occultic magnetism of idol worship:

• Moses calls idol sacrifices "sacrifices to demons" - Leviticus 17:7; Deuteronomy 32:17.

• The writer of 2 Chronicles characterizes the high places for idol worship made by Rehoboam as built "for the demons" - 2 Chronicles 11:15.

• Psalm 106 calls child sacrifice to idols a sacrifice "to demons" - Psalm 106:37.

• The devil himself, recognizing that an idol doesn't have to be an actual image but can  be something abstract, offered to Jesus, after showing Him the kingdoms of earth: "All this authority I will give you, and their glory … if you will worship before me" - Luke 4:6,7.

• Paul in 1 Corinthians speaks frankly about how idols are two-sided—powerless images but with the power to corrupt and degrade because of their connection to the demonic - 1 Corinthians 10:14-22.

• John sees that the worship of idols and other creatures will be a force for Satan in a time still to come - Revelation 9:20; 13:4; 14:9; 19:20.

We are probably not tempted to worship actual idol images but do we realize that the idols we do worship—that resemble the type of abstract idol with which Satan tempted Jesus—are just as powerless to deliver true joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment?
Do we realize, as well, who is behind them—trying to get our worship for himself?

But we don't have to worship idols. We can bring that impulse to worship to  the One who has the power and means to deliver true success and happiness.

May the Lord give you increase more and more

You and your children.

May you be blessed by the Lord

who made heaven and earth." - Psalm 115:14-15

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to recognize and tear down anything that is an idol in my life. Amen.

MORE: Some modern idols.

Some of our modern gold and silver images may be:

"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 ablt 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.' - by Tim Keller in Counterfeit Gods, quoted by Dale Hanson Bourke in Embracing Your Second Calling, pp. 90, 91.

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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.

Egocentric idols

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Isaiah 2:1-22

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.

MORE: More from Tim Keller:

Pastor and teacher Dr. Tim Keller develops the concepts of modern idolatry further in his book Counterfeit Gods. A talk he gave at The Gospel Coalition in 2005 is summarized  in "The Grand Demythologizers: The Gospel and Idolatry." Follow this link to hear/watch the entire talk.

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