Type of Doctrine: Primary
"You shall have no other gods before me."
-Exodus 20:3 ESV
Why Does It Matter?
What or whom do you worship? Upon what or whom do you build your life? God clearly indicates that worshiping anything other than him is sin. It violates his commandments (i.e., called idolatry).
This is typically considered a primary issue. All Christians agree that God must be worshiped above everything and everyone.
What Is It?
In his Concise Dictionary of Christian Theology, Millard Erickson defines an idol as "[a]nything less than God which is given the worship due only to him" (80). Therefore, he defines idolatry as the "worship of an idol or idols" (Ibid.). Put simply, idolatry is worshiping a false god.
An idol is a something that we build our lives upon and worship as if it is a god (i.e., a false god). This can be seen clearly when one physically fashions an idol out of some material and worships it. However, more subtly, even good things can become functional gods when our hearts love them and find more joy in them than God himself. For example, when we love a person, money, career, success, comfort, power, experience, approval, image, politics, sports, entertainment, and anything else more than God, it has become an idol.
While numerous Scriptures address the topic of idolatry, God is exceptionally clear in the Ten Commandments. In Exodus 20:3, Moses reports that God etched this phrase on the tablet of stone, "You shall have no other gods before me." In other words, idolatry is putting a so-called "god" above God.
John Calvin has famously stated that our hearts are idol factories (see this article for more). Surely, like me, you know this to be true of your own heart. Our hearts seem to constantly drift towards worshiping false gods. How can we identify our idols? In his book Counterfeit Gods, Tim Keller comments,
[A]n idol is something we cannot live without. We must have it, and therefore it drives us to break rules we once honored, to harm others and even ourselves in order to get it. (xvii)An idol is something we can't live without.
We can also identify our idols by looking at what brings us happiness and despair. Interestingly, Keller points out that there is a difference between sorrow and despair. He claims that while sorrow comes from losing a good thing in your life, despair comes from losing an ultimate thing (xii). Thus, to quickly identify your idols you can ask a few key questions:
What are the things which you think you can't live without?
What makes you happier than anything else?
What makes you deeply sad as if all hope is lost (i.e., despair)?
Or, as Keller has said, "Life only has meaning/I only have worth if . . . " (204)
The following chart is not comprehensive, but it is meant to help you narrow down your idols in order to repent and ask God for grace and transformation. It is based on Keller's Counterfeit Gods (pp. 203-204) and Bob Hostetler's book titled, American Idols.
Idol Categories
Category | Details |
Theological Idols | Significant errors in doctrine which lead to the worship of a false god. |
Sexual Idols | Addictions; ideals of your appearance and/or your partner; an ideal of romance |
Magic/Ritual Idols | Witchcraft, occult, etc. |
Political/Economic Idols | Making a political view or a politician an absolute solution to the world's problems (instead of sin being the primary problem and grace being the primary solution) |
Racial/National Idols | Racism, nationalism, or mean-spirited ethnic pride which may even lead to oppression |
Relational Idols | Dysfunctional family systems or relational bonds (e.g., codependency, "fatal attractions," living life through your children) |
Religious Idols | Moralism, legalism, success, gifts, and using religion as an abuse of power |
Philosophical Idols | Systems of thought that make something other than sin the problem in life and something other than God's grace the solution |
Cultural Idols | Radical individualism (personal happiness at the expense of the community); shame cultures that idolize the family or group at the expense of the individual's rights |
Deep Idols | Deep motivational drives: (1) Power; (2) Approval; (3) Comfort and (4) Control |
Fame/Celebrity Idols | Idolizing a celebrity; love of fame; despair if fame is not reached |
Busyness Idols | An inability to rest or live at a healthy pace often indicates an idol (and perhaps a deeper motivational idol as well) |
Instant Gratification Idols | The impatience of desiring to have things immediately |
Money/Possessions Idols | Consumerism; security; the obsessive acquiring of money and possessions |
Application
As Paul writes, we should "flee from idolatry" (1 Cor. 10:14). As the Lord brings an idol to mind, apologize to him for it, ask for his grace, and turn away from it.
Where Can I Learn More?
Bibliography:
-Erickson, Millard J. Concise Dictionary of Christian Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1986.
-Hostetler, Bob. American Idols: The Worship of the American Dream. Nashville, TN: B&H, 2006.
-Keller, Timothy. Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters. New York, NY: Riverhead, 2009.
-Article from Tony Reinke titled, "The Nail in the Coffin of Our Hearts"