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That’s my heart—an idol factory.  By its God given nature it will manufacture something or someone to idolize, i.e. to trust, to obey and to love.  Its capacity and need for this is endless and constant.  It never takes a break.  Now, if God made it that way, then idolizing or worshiping is not itself a bad thing or a good thing.  It’s neutral.  The real issue is the object.  Therein lies the problem, but also the solution.

Why am I writing about this, about idols?  I’ve been thinking all along that the next blog entry should be on thanksgiving, joy, peace—you know, the desired emotions and feelings of the season.  But, I just finished a new book by Tim Keller entitled “Counterfeit Gods, The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters”(New York: Dutton, 2009).  I simply couldn’t not write about its subject matter, so purifying and freeing is the effect on me of what Keller has to say.  Anything by Keller grabs my attention.  I think he is brilliant.  What God is saying and doing through him and the church he leads in New York City (Redeemer Presbyterian www.redeemer.com) inpsire and inform so much of my current thinking on many issues within the realms of following Christ, advancing His Kingdom and building His Church.  Ironically, I have to note that my heart could make an idol of Keller (or any other author, philosopher, politician, counselor, teacher, sports hero—come on, what guy wouldn’t want to be Tim Tebow or Colt McCoy after their recent performances—the list goes on and on).

Citing Paul in Romans 1:21, 25, Keller points out that idolatry is the root sin of the heart.  "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him….They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator."  Dig up any sin and dangling from its roots will be an idol.  It’s not just that we are weak and fleshly.  In every situation of sin there is something—human approval, reputation, power over others, financial advantage—more important and valuable to our hearts than God (p. 166).  It’s in service to that something that we sin.  We usually make idols out of good and right things, even things like being a great parent, espousing right doctrine, succeeding in business or ministry.  But, when we elevate those things to be ultimate things in our hearts and we look to them for our justification, security and meaning in life, we commit idolatry.

Bottom line, asks Keller, “What is operating in the place of Jesus Christ as your real, functional salvation and Savior?” (p. 174).  To help identify our idols, he says to consider the following:

1. What do you enjoy daydreaming about?
2. How do you spend your money?
3. How do you respond to unanswered prayers and frustrated hopes?
4. Look at your most uncontrollable emotions and thoughts.

I’ll add a fifth one: 5. What person or relationship occupies more real estate in your mind and heart than God?

If your results are anything like mine, you are sobered and convicted.  Here’s a sampling.  My answer to no. 2 confirmed what I already knew, that I spend too much money on too many material things that I don’t need and too little on Kingdom matters.  My answer to no. 4 revealed that I idolize job security because I experience too much anxiety over the thought of losing my job due to a bad economy, personal failures or becoming ineffective.  No. 5 exposed approval idolatry in my heart where certain people are concerned.  If I were to lose their love and respect, what I would experience would go far beyond understandable sorrow. 

Ultimately, says Keller, idolatry is setting our whole heart on something (anything) besides God.  Remember the first two commandments: "You shall have no other gods before me.  You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of ANYTHING in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below." (Exodus 20:3-4a).  Repentance and willpower to live differently are not remedy enough.  We can’t stop at identifying and uprooting our idols.  We have to replace them or “plant” something else in our hearts so the idol won’t grow back.  That something else is the love of Christ as demonstrated by His birth, death and resurrection all for the sake of saving us from the destructive and deadly consequences of our idolatry.  In short—surprise, surprise—it’s the Gospel.  But, even knowledge of the Gospel truths doesn’t replace our idols.  We have to take that cognitive knowledge and work it into our hearts and imaginations as life-shaping and life-changing reality.  And for that we need patience, perseverance and spiritual disciplines (or practices) like private prayer, corporate worship and meditation.  Spiritual disciplines are basically forms of worship and it is worship, says Keller, that finally replaces the idols of our hearts (pp. 171- 175).  Remember the second part of the second commandment: "You shall not bow down to them or WORSHIP them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God..." (Exodus 20:5a).  Two excellent works on spiritual disciplines are Richard Foster’s “Celebration of Discipline, The Path to Spiritual Growth”(New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998) and Dallas Willard’s “The Spirit of the Disciplines, Understanding how God Changes Lives” (New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1988).

I hope I’ve stirred your heart to consider any idols that lie therein and to replace them with the loving God who made you, saves you, sustains you, and who, ultimately, will glorify you.  As I read and processed all this, my heart was eventually filled with gratitude, peace and joy like I have not known for some time.  How wonderful that the Spirit left me with these since they were the very things I was first after when I started thinking about this blog entry.