I realize that I changed the flow this past Tuesday and that I flooded you guys with information. I knew going in that would be the case. Thanks for hanging in there and bearing with me as I attempted to cast a bit of vision for us going forward.
Summer is usually a time where we tend to slack off in many areas. For me, that includes my pursuit of Godly wisdom and knowledge. And community! The goal for the coming weeks, how ever many that may be, is to prepare to have a faithful summer. To train and discipline ourselves so that we avoid the pattern of the world that would cause us to lose the ground we have taken in our faith, our pursuit of righteousness and in our relationships.
Our goal for the coming weeks is to grow in the disciplines that bring about faithfulness. I thought the best place to start would be to discuss two things that threaten our faithfulness: Idleness and Idolatry.
Idleness – (my definition) A lack of discipline in abiding with the Lord through prayer, reading our Bibles and fellowship with other believers. This leads to apathy about our sin. In our idleness we often close our eyes, ears and hearts to the things of God. From there our reverence for God starts to wane. It is in our nature to worship. When our affections are no longer for the Lord, that means we are already worshiping something or someone else. We call those things idols.
Idols – I dealt with two types of idols (Branches and Roots or Surface and Source)
Branch/Surface Idols – I listed about 12 of these but this is a list that could could on and on. These idols are the ones easily identified (materialism, body image, status, etc). Merely chopping down things on the surface does little to eradicate the things underneath that are actually responsible for growing the branches.
Root/Source Idols – I gave four of these (These come from the Sermon on the Mount). The way to track a branch to its root is to figure out what you are hoping to gain through your surface idol. For example, it could be that I idolize work (branch/surface) because I think it the harder I work, the more money I make, the more CONTROL (root/source) I have over my future.
- Control
- Power
- Approval
- Comfort
Control Worshipers
- Seek self-discipline, certainty, standards
- Choose loneliness and forsake spontaneity to maintain control
- Fear uncertainty
- Can be condemning towards others
- Often marked by deep-seated anxiety and worry
- Attempt to micromanage every area of their life
Power Worshipers
- Seek success, victory, influence
- Fear humiliation and will do anything to avoid it
- Desire to dominate others
- Tend to use the people around them for selfish gain
- Angry (at times volatile)
- Prone to gambling and addictions
- Gain identity through competition
Approval Worshipers
- Constant need for relationships and approval
- Seek affirmation almost constantly
- Willing to forsake independence
- Prone to cowardice
- Struggle with insecurities about their decisions and opinions because they fear it may cost them someone’s approval
- Consumed by others’ opinions of them
- Seek love and affirmation from those they deem important (INSTEAD OF God)
- Often over-commit, over-promise, and overstate in order to gain affirmation
- Fear the rejection of people
- Their neediness often smothers those close to them
Comfort Worships
- Seek privacy, lack of stress and freedom
- Strive to avoid stress and demands
- Can view other people as obstacles to their comfort/freedom
- Struggle to make and maintain authentic relationships (because they do not like to put in the work required to do so)
- Try to avoid vulnerability (seems too costly)
These are the negative traits of people who worship these idols. I want to stress again, there is something redeemable in all of these areas. For example, I think a person with control tendencies could also have some positive traits. There is nothing positive about following a sinful desire to control things, but being wise, cautious and disciplined are all good qualities. It’s like Connie said, (I think I’m paraphrasing) “A flaw is a gift gone awry”. When I start to believe that I am a better captain of my ship and I can steer better than God, that’s when my gifts go awry.
My hope in presenting these idols is that we might be able to discern if we are currently (or have a tendency to) worshiping at an altar that is not God’s. If we are worshiping one of these source idols, then we are suppressing the truth of God and we are calling God’s character into question. All of our idol worship is an accusation against God.
When it comes to idols, God would simply have us repent.
First we name our idol. After we name it, we unmask it – discover how it lies to us. Then we consider the price Jesus paid for us to be set free and made whole. From this place of brokenness and godly-sorrow, we repent, ask for forgiveness and then rejoice because God has looked on Him who was slain and pardoned us.
The only way to remove these idols from your heart is to allow Jesus to reign and rule in your life in such a way that He displaces them. When you see that He is the only one worthy of your worship and the only one who faithfully gives the things He promises, you will turn from all other idols.
If, like me, you have strayed from God’s altar, know that a loving, merciful, and forgiving God beckons you to come back to His open arms.
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