We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.
What Is an Idol?
We all believe lies about God that have caused us to mistrust him and therefore to look elsewhere for life. This is what an idol is. It’s anything we try to use to fill what only God can fill.
God never intended anyone or anything other than Jesus Christ to meet our core need for unsurpassable worth and absolute security. So when we try to meet these most central needs with something-or-someone other than God, that something-or-someone becomes an idol.
Idols always fail. They leave us with profound experiences of disappointment, frustration, hopelessness, and a host of other painful emotions. We try a wide variety of tactics to numb these painful emotions (alcohol, drugs, pornography, food, etc), or we distract ourselves from them (work, television, movies, sports, politics, etc). But distractions are only momentary and the Novocain of the idols eventually wears off.
A common idol we face today is related to “the American Dream.” Many ‘get life’ from what they achieve, what they possess, or whom they impress, which leads them to work eighty hours per week, sacrificing family and friends in the process of climbing arbitrary ladders.
Others chase peak experiences, believing that the next risk-taking adventure, the next experience of falling in love, the next lurid sexual experience, or the next drug-induced high will make them feel fully alive.
Christians tend to have a distinct set of religious idols. By this I don’t mean golden calves, statues, or shrines. Instead, some religious people have tried to find their ultimate worth and security in special rituals. Others have adopted righteous behaviors as a way to try and feel loved by God. And still others make an idol out of their tribe, making it superior to others because of their distinctive beliefs.
These are all forms of idolatry. God has established our worth, has accepted us into his family, and has secured us in his great love. Yet many fail to dwell in that love, fail to experience that security, and struggle to believe the worth they genuinely have. So with great hustle, and futility, they try to establish all of these things on their own.
—Adapted from Benefit of the Doubt, pages 63-65
Related Reading
Have You Taken a Gospel Immunization Shot?
Why does being “Christian” in America make so little difference in so many people’s lives, when the kingdom movement revealed in the New Testament revolutionized people’s lives? This drastic difference is hardly surprising when you consider that the gospel that people are often given today is little more than a contract of acquittal that is…
Election Benediction
On this election day, when so many Americans are experiencing high levels of anxiety, I thought it would be good to share an “Election Benediction” that was written and sent to me by Kenneth Tanner. Let it ground you in the love, peace and security of Christ and his Kingdom. An Election Benediction By Kenneth…
Peter Enns Doesn’t Believe in God
R’eyes via Compfight Peter Enns is the master at creating blog titles that are both clever and provocative. The other day he wrote a post that he entitled Why I Don’t Believe in God Anymore. As usual, the title shouldn’t be taken at face value. Peter is actually writing about the challenge of going beyond belief…
Faith in the Midst of the Storm
This last weekend Greg was in Michigan preaching at Mars Hill. If you’d like to download the audio of the sermon click here. Greg continues his thoughts on faith and doubt in this sermon, focusing on the gospel account of Jesus walking on the water. What does it mean to have faith?
Honesty, However Ugly
For last week’s sermon at Woodland Hills Church, Greg spoke about the importance of being honest with God about our struggles and doubts. This is part of what it means to be in a genuine relationship with God, and the Bible is full of characters who demonstrate this for us. Is it difficult for you…
Faith and Mental Illness
Greg talks about mental illness. http://traffic.libsyn.com/askgregboyd/Episode_0055.mp3