“Formerly,
when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature
are
not gods. 9 But
now
that you know God—or rather are known by God—
how is it that you are
turning back to those weak and miserable forces?
Do you wish to be
enslaved by them all over again?"
Galatians 4:8-9 (NIV2011)
Galatians 4:8-9 (NIV2011)
You
must not have any other god but me.
“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind. . ."
Exodus 20:3-4 (NLT)
“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind. . ."
Exodus 20:3-4 (NLT)
Tim
Keller writes in the introduction to his book, Counterfeit gods .
. . . .
“[An
idol] is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs
your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you
what only God can give.”
“A
counterfeit god is anything so central and essential to your life that,
should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living. An
idol has such a controlling position in your heart that you can spend
most of your passion and energy, your emotional and financial resources,
on it without a second thought. It can be family and children, or
career and making money, or achievement and critical acclaim, or saving
‘face’ and social standing. It can be a romantic relationship,
peer approval, competence and skill, secure and comfortable
circumstances, your beauty or your brains, a great political or social
cause, your morality and virtue, or even success in the Christian
ministry.”
“When
your meaning in life is to fix someone else’s life, we may call it
‘codependency’ but it is really idolatry. An idol is whatever
you look at and say, in your heart of hearts, ‘If I have that, then
I’ll feel my life has meaning, then I’ll know I have value, then
I’ll feel significant and secure.’ There are many ways to
describe that kind of relationship to something, but perhaps the best
one is worship.”
Read
through the following self-assessment.
Answer the questions in the first list and check whatever boxes
in the second list apply to you.
Then ask, “Lord, what is it that you have revealed to me?”
Where
in your life might you be looking for salvation, not from Christ but
from false “saviors”? The
following questions are geared toward helping you to tease out where
your security and identity lie.*
□
What
do
I worry
about
most?
□
What,
if I
failed or lost it,
would cause
me to
feel that
I did
not
even want
to live?
What keeps me going?
What keeps me going?
□
What
do
I rely
on
or
comfort
myself with
when things
go bad or
get difficult?
□
What
do
I think
most easily
about?
What does
my mind
go to
when
I am free? What
preoccupies me?
preoccupies me?
□
What
unanswered
prayer would make
me seriously
think about turning
away from
God?
God?
□
What
makes
me feel
the most
self-worth?
What am
I the
proudest
of?
□
What
do
I really
want
and expect
out
of
life? What
would
really make
me happy?
□
What
is my
greatest nightmare?
What
is too important to me? What
is it I tell myself that I have to have in order to feel of worth
and without which I cannot received life joyfully?*
□
Power
idolatry: "I
only feel of worth when I have
power and influence over
others.
□
Approval
idolatry: "Life only
has meaning
when I am
loved and
respected by
□
Comfort
idolatry: "I need
a certain pleasure/ experience/a
particular quality of
life
in order to be happy.
in order to be happy.
□
Image
idolatry: "I
only feel
of worth if I
have
a particular
kind
of
look
or
body
image.
□
Control
idolatry: "I’m
only worthy if
I have mastery over
my life
in
the area
of
."
□
Helping
idolatry: "I am valuable insofar
as others are dependent on
me and
need
me."
me."
□
Dependence
idolatry: "I’m of worth if someone is there to keep me safe”
□
Independence
idolatry: "I’m only happy when I’m free from
obligations."
□ Work idolatry: "I only have worth if--I am highly productive getting a lot done."
□ Achievement idolatry: “I only have worth if--I am being recognized and excelling”
obligations."
□ Work idolatry: "I only have worth if--I am highly productive getting a lot done."
□ Achievement idolatry: “I only have worth if--I am being recognized and excelling”
□
Materialism
idolatry: "I
can’t be happy without
financial freedom/possessions”
□
Religion
idolatry: "I only
have worth
if I
am living up to
Christ’s moral standards”
□
Individual
person
idolatry:
"I
only have
worth if-this
one person
is in
my life
and
happy there and/or happy with me."
happy there and/or happy with me."
□
Irreligion
idolatry:
"I’m only happy
independent of
organized
religion”
□
Inner
ring idolatry:
"Life
only has
meaning /I
only have worth
if--a particular
social z
grouping
or professional grouping
or other
group lets
me in."
□
Family
idolatry: "I can’t be happy
unless my
children/my parents
are happy
with
z
me."
□
Relationship
idolatry: "I
can’t live happy unless Mr. or
Ms. 'Right' is
in love
with
me."
□
Suffering
idolatry:
"I
only feel worthy
of love
when guilty or hurting and have
problems”
□
Ideology
idolatry: "I’m not happy unless my
political/social cause is winning”
*Assessment
tools excerpted from Tim Keller. Suggested
Reading: Counterfeit Gods
by Tim Keller
For
more:
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