What Are Your Functional Gods?

"Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming."

-Colossians 3:5-6 ESV

Sometimes, despite having the right beliefs, we live as if something or someone other than the one, true God is our functional god. We commit idolatry.

Paul shows, in Colossians 3:5 (shown above), that not all idolatry is fashioning a literal idol and bending down and worshiping it. Instead, it can be as subtle as covetousness (i.e., wanting what someone else has).

So, as a follow up to my previous post on idolatry titled, "What or Whom Do You Worship? | Idolatry," I thought I would share a summary of the thirty-five excellent X-ray questions from David Powlison to help you discern your functional gods (found in his book titled Seeing with New Eyes, 130-140).

1. What do you love? Hate?

2. What do you seek, aim for, and pursue? What are your goals and expectations?

3. What do you fear? What do you not want? What do you tend to worry about?

4. Where do you find refuge, safety, comfort, escape, pleasure, security?

5. Whom must you please? Whose opinion of you counts? From whom do you desire approval and fear rejection? Whose value system do you measure yourself against? In whose eyes are you living? Whose love and approval do you need?

6. Who are your role models? What kind of person do you think you ought to be or want to be?

7. What would bring you the greatest pleasure, happiness, and delight? The greatest pain and misery?

8. Whose victory or success would make your life happy? How do you define victory and success?

9. What do you pray for?

10. What do you think about most often? What do you talk about? How do you spend time?

Sometimes questions such as these help us identify functional gods that are driving us below the surface. Once you identify an idol, repent and turn away from it. God’s grace through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is sufficient. As Paul says, "flee from idolatry" (1 Cor. 10:14).

Bibliography:

-Powlison, David. Seeing with New Eyes: Counseling and the Human Condition Through the Lens of Scripture. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R, 2003.