Bow Down to Nothing But God (pt. 4 of Idol Week)
So this week we have looked at a few ministry idols.
BUSYNESS, COMPARISON, & SUCCESS being the idol you worship.
If you did not have one moment where you related to any of these idols then I invite you to please call me so that you can tell me what it’s like to walk on water! There could be many more idols that I have not mentioned and the ones that I have mentioned have lots of different forms and faces, but these are some of the ones that I have most recognized in the world of ministry because they are some of the ones that I have most recognized in myself. Many of us in ministry have invisible altars that define who and what we truly worship. The things that exist on our disguised platforms of preference are the forces that drive our intentions, decisions, and actions. We are called to a life of having no other god’s but the one true God, yet we continue to bow down to a wide variety of golden cows.
You don’t have to turn to far into the pages of scripture to see idol worship all over of the place. The very first sin of the Bible was a form of Idol worship. Adam and Eve were not content with who they were and with all that God had given to them. They selfishly wanted to be like God so they put themselves ahead of their maker and took the apple. The second they yanked that Granny Smith from the tree they made their desires more important than God and therefore they made themselves an idol. Any time we put someone or something ahead of God we worship an idol.
And God spoke all these words:
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God
- Exodus 20:1 – 5
God made it explicitly clear, He has an issue with Jealousy. Not the kind of immature jealousy where a guy won’t let his girl-friend talk to another guy. It’s the kind of healthy jealousy that the maker of the universe is entitled too in not wanting to share His alter with our self made idols. Even though God clarified his desire for the human race you can span from Genesis to Revelation and the universal tendency to place value on something or someone in a way that rivals the love and affection that only belongs to God is stained throughout the story of humanity. From Baal to Buddha people have been bowing down to man-made gods for centuries. So who are we to think that we aren’t capable of being idol worshipers ourselves? And if we are… what do we do?
“So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.”
Colossians 3:1 – 2
Maybe today is a day to come clean with the idol(s) in your life. Maybe today is the day to start to pursue the things of Jesus – pick your eyes up, be released from the things that are absorbing you right in front of your face, confess your need for grace and bask in the freedom and truth and hope that you are free in Christ and you need to start living like it.
So if you want – leave a comment and let us know the idol that you are renouncing in your life and how you are going to live a life that only worships the one true God.
Bowing Down to Comparison (pt. 2 of Idol Week)
The idol of COMPARISON is a trap that quickly entangles way too many of us. I know I have found myself smack dab in the middle of the ugly snarls of wishing something was different about my life as I look at the life of someone else. Comparison never puts us in a better place – in fact it always puts us in a losing posture. When you find yourself in the middle of comparison it either causes you to think too highly of yourself or too lowly of yourself.
Comparisons seem to happen all the time – especially in ministry. Have you ever found yourself in a conversation with another person and the whole time you’re talking you are internally comparing what you see or hear to your own life? You judge the intentions of their heart. You wonder if their life or ministry is really deep and helpful, or if its just good easy entertainment that keeps people coming back. You judge what you don’t really know to make yourself feel better about what you are doing. Could it be that your insecurity and fear of failure have become more important than the God who uniquely created you and called you to a unique purpose. Could it be that COMPARISON is your idol.
Think about if there is a person that you keep wishing you were more like or a person that you continue to judge –
Now, what might God be saying to you about the idol of comparison in your life? Maybe you need to deny the power of comparison in your life. Instead of feeding the idol, maybe you should instead bless the person that you continue to compare yourself to.
Bowing Down to Busyness (pt. 1 of Idol Week)
I think many of us would say that as we look around culture we easily recognize a society that is obsessed with all sorts of idols. The idol of money and material possessions. The idol of relationships. The idol of power and control. The idol of food, alcohol, and drugs. The idol of narcissism – wanting to do life according to your desires on your clock. I think you get the point.
Idol worship is not just an Old Testament problem. It is very much a problem of today, but I think those of us that work in full time ministry or volunteer at the church we try to escape with a free pass on this one, but I (Jeanne) believe that Idol worship is running rampant throughout our lives and throughout the church and over the next few days I am going to talk about some of the most popular idols in the church today.
The first idol is BUSYNESS – and yes I will begin by saying I am guilty of bowing down to this idol far too often.
- Have you ever had weeks where it seems like every moment is a moment of hurry? Off to the next meeting, always 5 minutes behind, trying to juggle a bunch of tasks that you know you should have said no too, disappointing people that are important to you, and consistently injecting your self with caffeine just so you have enough energy to make it through the day.
- Have you ever had those moments when you leave your cell phone or calendar at home and you feel as though you don’t know how to function.
- Do people regularly start their conversations with you by saying, “I know that you’re so busy…”
Could it be that you have made busyness more important than the actual ministry you have been called to do?
Maybe BUSYNESS has become your idol.
What if today you denied the power that BUSYNESS has taken in your life? What would it look like for you to slow down and choose to Worship the One True God that is never too BUSY for you?
