Do you really think that idols only come in Pre-Aryan burnished bronze? Society may quickly dismiss the idea of idols existing in modern times, but have you checked your purchase history lately, or considered what you talk to your friends about the most? After all, you can worship God and still polish that Buddha holding a goldfish bowl that you bought at Ross. You can be obsessed with your weight, pining over the Barbie-branded physique, but since all the women at the PTO meeting are too, it's considered "normal". Surely the family unit can survive the sacrificial altar of career, right? Whatever religion you choose is fine, whatever you want to label yourself is fine, political beliefs, friend-groups, TikTok videos, you name it—all in the name of happiness, inclusivity, and being "woke".
Don't get me wrong, there is absolutely NO judgement here. I have waded through the inferno and back too many times to have an ounce of that left. What I do have, however, is experience. I know for a fact that it doesn't matter if you're a Christian or not, we all have had, or currently have idols in our lives. Contemporary ones are typically a bit more subtle than a multi-armed diva, but often just as seductive.
Simply put, an idol is anything, or anyone (even yourself), that takes up the space in your heart meant for God alone. It's a matter of the heart, the mind, and those dark corners where obsession lurks.
Jeffrey Curtis Poor at Rethink, dissects this concept with four questions:
Where Do I Spend My Time?
Where Do I Spend My Money?
Where Do I Get My Joy?
What’s Always On My Mind?
He asserts, "When a good thing becomes an ultimate thing, ultimately it becomes a destructive thing in our lives. That’s idolatry. That’s idol worship."
Today's idols could be appearances, the contents of bank accounts (or the house/car/toys that reflect it). They can disguise themselves as job titles, awards, or even as inappropriate searches deleted from that browser history. They can masquerade as significant others or even happiness itself. Get ready parents... they can even be your kids. Ouch, right?
Christians, it's our turn—idols might look like service, performed to show others how "godly" we are, or so we can feel important in God's kingdom. Our idols can also look like always being the one to volunteer or to never falter in that legalistic spiritual discipline check-list, when the heart is actually trying to get attention and feel better about our spiritual walk. This particular mask/idol is sometimes tricky to identify.
Image by gstudioimagen via Vecteezy
We can even put ourselves in the place of God, rationalizing that we can do whatever we please because "this is just who we are, we can't change, and others need to get over it. If God wants me to change, He'll make it happen." Stepping on toes here? Good... my feet are sore too.
In a nutshell: Our actions reflect the gods we serve.
Oh my goodness, OK. Let's read that again—
OUR ACTIONS REFLECT THE GODS WE SERVE.
How many families, marriages, friendships, and careers could be saved from destruction if we would step outside of ourselves long enough to identify the idolatry in our lives?
Be bold enough to do a little self-examination. Idolatry isn't an archaic idea that fell with ancient Rome; it's just as pervasive today, and just as dangerous, if not more so, because it's often disguised. Beyond the fact that these idols have taken the place of Creator-God in our lives, there's another major problem if we allow them to persist, and it has to do with our relationships with them...
WE WORSHIP THEM—THEY DESTROY US.
They are snakes in the grass and wolves in sheep's clothing. They're sly, exciting, and often times lucrative (in the short term). However, if you entertain them for too long, the cost can far exceed what you bargained for. Count that cost; is it worth it to you? Is it worth your health, or your life, to be skinny enough to fit in the size 4 jeans from high school, or to risk a steroid-induced heart attack in the pursuit of a set of Arnold abs? Would you risk your family for the money you gain to take care of them, or trade steadfast friends for "cooler" ones? Is it worth your relationship with God, the One who knows you better than you know yourself, and who can lead you into real fulfillment, just to have your cake and eat it too?
I'm not flippant about this. On the contrary, I am fully aware of how dangerous our idols can be, which is why you will never see a tasty sugar coating on anything that I write... it's just too important. If you doubt what I'm saying here, look at the last thing that went really south for you or someone you love. It could be an addiction, a broken marriage, or something else entirely, but how many of those tragedies could be traced back to an idol that was allowed to rule?
So, what does Scripture say about this? A lot! I won't list out all the verses here that address idolatry, but I will focus on this one from Colossians 3:1-10 that seems to summarize it all.
Did you see that part at the end of verse 5 where it says these things are idolatry? Anything that takes God's place in our lives is idolatry. It's scary, and we don't want to admit it—but it's right there. Yeah, I don't like it either. It hurts to stretch, doesn't it?
We don't have to worry though. First of all, God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) . That means that even if we have no idea how to get rid of the chains we feel around our hearts, we can still be set free—because God's grace will do the work for us, with true surrender. It might not be all at once, or as quick as we'd like, but He'll do it. We simply need to follow Him and, as I always say, GET CLOSE ENOUGH TO GOD TO HEAR HIS HEARTBEAT.
Alyssa Cottrell said it perfectly in her article, "The Antidote to Idolatry," at Well-Watered Women.
We cannot break the cycle of seeking idols by simply not worshipping them. We must shift our affections to worship the One who is worthy. The One who never leaves us empty or dissatisfied. The antidote to idolatry is gazing on the beauty of God and worshipping Him as more than enough.
Modern-day idols are often thought patterns that have amassed enough power to slowly destroy our lives. The only way to break a bad habit is to replace it with a good one. When our hearts are committed and consumed by anything other than God, we must put Him back on our heart's throne, fast! There's nothing wrong with enjoying things and God gave us many things in this world to take pleasure in. However, He never intended for us to elevate the created above the Creator.
Ready to ditch Barbie and Buddha for an Abba that sees you as holy and redeemed, regardless of your past? Message me for more info if you don't know what I'm talking about. If you do—well then—Keep Moving Forward!
Full disclosure:
I absolutely adored the Barbie movie! I saw it with my daughter and while I don't 100% agree with everything normalized in the film or the touch of extreme feminism, I did love how they focused on empowerment and true identity for the Barbies and Kens. If only we could get it through society's thick skull: it's not one gender over the other! We're ALL in this life thing together and we couldn't do it without each other (seriously, there'd be no more people). So, MEN and WOMEN, lift each other up! Psst... ladies, don't let your man think he's "just Ken". You'd never want to be "just Barbie."
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