Category: Idolatry

Passion Points

On By BrianIn Idolatry, PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading – all on the topic of worship and idolatry:

Why I John Ends With A Command – John’s last line properly leaves us with that most basic question which God continually poses to each human heart: Has something or someone besides Jesus the Christ taken title to your heart’s trust, preoccupation, loyalty, service, fear and delight?

The Idolatry of Spiritual Laziness – Laziness is idolatry. It is closely related to its opposite—workaholism. Both the sins of laziness and workaholism are sins of self-worship. The behavior looks different, but the root idolatry is the same.

Worship Distorted – The root of idolatry is pride….  Pride is seen as detestable to God precisely because it steals from God’s glory and his preeminence. Pride is rebellion, but it is much more than rebellion against God’s authority. Pride is self-centeredness rather than God-centeredness. A proud heart sees itself as central and God as the one who must find his place of orbit in the proud heart’s universe.

Why Do You Worship – Worship is not first an outward act; it is an inner spiritual treasuring of the character and the ways of God in Christ.  It is a cherishing of Christ, a being satisfied with all that God is for us in Christ.  When these things are missing, there is no worship, no matter what forms or expressions are present.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshipping our great God with your local church!

What Are You Seeking?

On By BrianIn Heart, Idolatry2 Comments

What are you seeking?

This is Jesus’ question to two of John the Baptist’s disciples.  It is also an important question for us to ponder as we end this year and begin a new year. 

The answer to the question determines how we lived in 2011. 
The answer determines how we will live in 2012.

The answer tells us what we worship, what we desire. 
It reveals idols in our hearts.  It shows how much we love God.

So as you evaluate the past year and look to the next, ask yourself the question:

What are you seeking?

 

Trust and Blessing

On By BrianIn Idolatry

Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.

O Israel, trust in the LORD!  He is their help and their shield.
O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD!  He is their help and their shield.
You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!  He is their help and their shield.

The LORD has remembered us; he will bless us;
he will bless the house of Israel;
he will bless the house of Aaron;
he will bless those who fear the LORD,
both the small and the great.
– Psalm 115:2-13

Where are you placing your trust?

Where are you seeking your blessing?

Passion Points

On By BrianIn Idolatry, PASSION Points

Well it has been another busy week, and I haven’t had much chance to blog.  Hopefully more next week.  In the meantime, here are three good posts for your weekend reading:

Voddie Baucham talks about the line between prosperity and idolatry.

Paul Tautges shares 6 tips and one challenge from Susan Heck on memorizing Scripture.

Finally, Jared Wilson shares an eye-opening story from John Phillips about the incredible privilege we have as Christians to draw near to God.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day celebrating our great God and Savior!

Idolatry and Anger

On By BrianIn Idolatry

Yesterday we considered how we get anxious when our idols are threatened.  I suggest we often get angry too.  Some examples:

If I make comfort my god, when I am pulled out of my comfort zone, I am likely to get angry.  If I make sucess (however I define it) my god, and someone or something blocks my success, I am likely to get angry.  If my agenda is my god, and things don’t go according to my plan, I am likely to get angry.  Whatever your idol, when it is threatened you will be tempted to get angry.

So next time you are getting angry, stop and ask why.  What idol is being threatened that you need to knock down?

Anxious Idolatry

On By BrianIn Idolatry

 No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other,
or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat
or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.
Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  
– Matthew 6:24-25

In answer to Jesus’ question: Of course life is more than food and clothing.  But if you make your life about food or clothing or money or any number of other things, you have made that thing into an idol.  It has become your god.  It has become your master whom you serve.  And your idol will make you anxious.  Why?  Because your idol can be threatened.  If you treasure anything on this earth, it can be lost (see v19).  And when your idol (what is central to you) is threatened or lost, you will become anxious.  You will worry.

How different if we make our life all about God.  He cannot be threatened or lost.  If our lives are about him, we need not worry.

Next time you catch yourself worrying, ask yourself: what idol in my life is being threatened?  Then repent of your anxious idolatry and turn back to the one true God.

Passion Points

On By BrianIn Idolatry, PASSION Points

Here are some good reads for your weekend:

Gospel

Mark Altrogge ponders the suffering of our Savior.  Meanwhile, here is another post refuting the idea that we are worth dying for.  (See my post from earlier this week here.)

Idolatry

Here is a helpful interaction with Johan Herman Bavinck’s thoughts on three common idols – money, honor, and pleasure.

Family

Matthew Barrett gives us an interesting look at Martin Luther’s marriage to Katherine Von Bora as he brings out the idea that marriage is a context for growth in character.

Church

Finally, R.W. Glenn shares nine things you should pray for your pastor.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshipping the Lord with your church family!

Bittersweet Graduation

On By BrianIn Idolatry1 Comment

I attended a high school graduation last night.  As a pastor, I usually attend at least one every year to watch our teens graduate.  I confess I find such ceremonies to be bittersweet.

They are sweet indeed as we celebrate their accomplishment.  They have learned and grown much over their years in school.  Many have achieved much in their pursuit of education.  Further, this ceremony marks the edge of adulthood in our culture.  A new stage in their life is beginning.  This is worth celebrating.  This is sweet indeed.

And yet I find it very bitter too.  In the midst of all the celebration, there is no mention of God.  There is no acknowledgement that God gave these graduates life, that he gave them the abilities, the brains, the gifts to achieve all that they have accomplished.  There is a gaping hole in the ceremony where God should be. 

This gaping hole is particularly evident in the speeches given.  It is customary to give advice for life in these speeches, but without God, the advice misses the central aspect of what life is all about.  Yes, I heard good things like the need for sacrifice, the recognition that we are not perfect, and the call to respect each other and work hard.  And yet in at least two of the speeches there was the spoken assumption of a rugged individualism where each person is to walk to the beat of their own drum, and the main point of life is simply to do whatever makes the individual happy.  Jettison the truth that life is all about God, and all we are left with is the idolatry that life is all about me.  It becomes a pagan ceremony, celebrating the idol of self. 

Of course this godless ceremony is not necessarily the fault of the speakers.  While some speakers may endorse a worldview without God and encourage the idea that life is all about me, others may be Christians caught in a ceremony that seeks to exclude everything Christian.  Our community school has a Baccalaureate Service for anyone who wants to attend that addresses the Christian dimension, so that the Commencement Program can be completely secular.  But by splitting the two, it makes the latter hollow indeed.  And we are left with some good advice that misses the best advice, alongside the idea that life is all about me instead of God.  This is bitter indeed.

Passion Quotes

On By BrianIn Idolatry, Idolatry Quotes, PASSION Quotes

Here are a few more quotes – this time on the gospel and idolatry.

The Gospel

Tim Keller: You’re more sinful than you ever dared believe; you’re more loved than you ever dared hope.

Tullian Tchividjian: When you trust in Jesus, your identity and worth is no longer based on what you can accomplish but on what Jesus accomplished for you.

Tullian Tchividjian: The gospel is meant to bring us to the end of ourselves so that we finally place our meaning, purpose, and sense of well-being in Jesus.

Idolatry

D.A. Carson: The heart of all idolatry in the world is the de-Godding of God.

 Louie Giglio: Worship should really matter to you – whatever you worship, you become.

Web Weekly

On By BrianIn Idolatry, PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

First, some posts about the gospel.  Tullian Tchividjian talks about the important connection between the gospel and our Christian growth in two posts here and here.  Meanwhile, Trevin Wax suggests that worry comes from a failure to grasp the gospel.

Second, another post on idolatry.  Thabiti Anyabwile gives us a quote from Paul David Tripp that ties our desires, idolatry, and spiritual adultery together.