Here’s a quote I came across a few days ago…

“God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.” —John Piper

Have you thought much about what God is wanting to say to you in this shelter in place moment? I keep thinking this disruption is a major opportunity. It’s a time to get real with God and it’s a time to get right with God. Getting real, or owning our own stuff, is the best (and fastest?) way to get right with God. We all accumulate idols.

Idols are those activities that we engage in when we’re stressed out and looking to medicate. In this 21st century culture, idols are everywhere. We have music idols, sports idols, Instagram idols—and we even have a long-running television show to make our own “American Idol” (which I have generally enjoyed by-the-way).

Within the sinful nature of our human hearts, there is a need, a hunger to idolize. Tim Keller, in his book, Counterfeit Gods, explains that Scripture teaches the human heart is an “idol factory.”[1] Idolatry quietly and subtly slips into our lives when we allow good things to become ultimate things.[2] Another way to understand this is to think of idols as functional saviors. Jerry Bridges defines functional saviors in the following way: Sometimes we look to other things to satisfy and fulfill us—to ‘save’ us. These ‘functional saviors’ can be any object of dependence we embrace that isn’t God. They can become the source of our identity, security, and significance because we hold an idolatrous affection for them in our hearts—which often begins as a dalliance. Idols can begin to preoccupy our minds and consume our time and resources. They make us feel good and sometimes, they can even make us feel righteous (religion can become an idol). Whether we realize it or not, they begin to control us, and we worship them.[3] It’s been said that all sin is idolatry because in that moment we are worshiping something or someone other than God.

Still another way to understand the contemporary form of idolatry is to think of it in terms of defining where we obtain our hope. At the heart of every culture lays its main “hope.” Any dominant cultural “hope” that is not God Himself is an idol.[4] We tend to think of idols as bad or evil things, yet they almost never are. The greater the good, the more likely we are to expect the idol to satisfy our deepest needs and hopes. Anything or anyone can become an idol, especially the very best things in life.[5]

So, in this anxiety-filled downtime let’s identify the primary idols that hold a prominent place in our hearts? Here are ten common idols: self, security (or control), approval, relationships, success, wealth, health, food, sex, and comfort. All legit things, right? Perhaps a good conversation with your spouse or close friend might be to identify and confess those idols that are attempting to become a primary hope in our lives? (One of mine is comfort.)

I believe that God is up to something big in this moment of history. We must make the decision to no longer tolerate our idols and our low levels of faith, our personal dysfunctions, and give ourselves over to God’s longing to remake us in Christlikeness. Only God can do the changing, but we can choose to surrender afresh.

The next great awakening in the Church and in our country must be centered on our hearts being changed by God. It will begin by replacing the pseudo-Christianity of the consumer-driven lifestyle enhancement model of church (i.e., what can I get from God and church?) with the Spirit-filled faith of biblical Christianity model (i.e., we surrender to Him our whole heart, soul, and mind). Then we, as the church, will offer the renewal of authentic godliness to those who are being malformed by the plethora of cultural idols in the deepest parts of their hearts.

[1] Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods: xiv (quoting John Calvin).
[2] Ibid. Adapted from Keller.
[3] Jerry Bridges & Bevington, The Bookends of the Christian Life: 72.
[4] Andrew Delbanco. The Real American Dream: A Meditation on Hope. Quoted in Counterfeit Gods: 129-130.
[5] Keller: xvii.