Finding and Replacing Your Idols -- Tim Keller

This post is adapted from Tim Keller's book Counterfeit Gods. If you get the chance, I highly recommend you reading this short and helpful book. It is probably more eternally helpful than I will ever know.

Identifying Idols

1.) Look at our imagination.

Archbishop William Temple once said, "Your religion is what you do with your solitude." In other words, the true god of your heart is what your thoughts effortlessly go to when there is nothing else demanding your attention. What do you enjoy daydreaming about? What occupies your mind when you have nothing else to think about? Do you develop potential scenarios about career advancement? Or material goods such as a dream home? Or a relationship with a particular person? One or two daydreams are no indication of idolatry. Ask rather, what do you habitually think about to get joy and comfort in the privacy of your heart.

2.) Look at how your spend your money.

Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there is your heart also" (Matthew 6:21). Your money flows most effortlessly toward your heart's greatest love. In fact, the mark of an idol is that you spend too much money on it, and you must try to exercise self-control constantly. As Paul has written, if God and his grace is the thing in the world you love most, you will give your money away to ministry, charity, and the poor in astonishing amounts (2 Corinthians 8:7-9). Most of us, however, tend to overspend on clothing, or on our children, or on status symbols such as homes and cars. Our patterns of spending reveal our idols.

3.) Look at how you respond to unanswered prayers and frustrated hopes.

You may regularly go to church. You may have a full, devout set of doctrinal beliefs. you may be trying very hard to believe and obey God. However, what is your real daily functional salvation? What are you really living for, what is your real -- not your professed -- god? A good way to discern this is how your respond when life doesn't go your way. When you respond with sadness and disappointment, but then you go on and life isn't over then those things weren't idols. But when you pray and work for something and you don't get it and your respond with explosive anger or deep despair, then you may have found your real god. 

4.) Look at your most uncontrollable emotions.

Look for your idols at the bottom of your most painful emotions, especially those that never seem to lift and that drive you to do things you know are wrong. If you are angry, ask, "Is there something here too important to me, something I must have at all costs?" Do the same thing with strong fear or despair and guilt. Ask yourself, "Am I so scared, because something in my life is being threatened that I think is a necessity when it is not? Am I so down on myself because I have lost or failed at something that I think is a necessity when it is not?" If you are overworking, driving yourself into the ground with frantic activity, ask yourself, "Do I feel that I must have this thing to be fulfilled and significant?" 

Replacing Idols

Idolatry is not just a failure to obey God, it is a setting of the whole heart on something besides God. This cannot be remedied only by repenting, or using willpower to try to live differently. Turning from idols is not less than those 2 things, but it is also far more. Paul says we must "set the mind and heart on things above" where "your life is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:1-3). This means appreciating, rejoicing, and resting in what Jesus has done for you. Jesus must become more beautiful to your imagination, more attractive to your heart, than your idol. That is what will replace your counterfeit gods. If you uproot the idol and fail to "plant" the love of Christ in its place, the idol will grow back. 

Rejoicing in Christ is crucial because idols are almost always good things. If we have have made idols out of work and family, we do not want to stop loving our work and family. Rather, we want to love Christ so much more that we are not enslaved by these things. "Rejoicing" in the Bible is much deeper than simply being happy about something. Paul directed that we should "rejoice in the Lord always" (Phil. 4:4), but this cannot mean "always feel happy," since no one can command someone to always have a particular emotion. To rejoice is to treasure a thing, to assess its value to you, to reflect on its beauty and importance until your heart rests in it and tastes the sweetness of it. "Rejoicing" is a way of praising God until the heart is sweetened and rested, and until it relaxes its grip on anything else it thinks that it needs.  

The Gospel Gives Us Wings

After working outside with my Dad yesterday afternoon, we stumbled upon a fallen June Bug that was flipped upside down and was frantically doing everything it could to flip itself back over. It would move its tiny arms (or legs?) back and forth. It would shuffle its body around. Nothing would do. It was a hopeless scene, that my Dad pointed out was so true of us with the Gospel.

Unless someone came by and cared enough to flip that June bug over to relieve it of its suffering, it would spend the rest of its short life in a hopeless, miserable state trying to flip itself over, never being able to do it on its own. It would make noise, wiggle, and frantically move its arms to death. My Dad, out of compassion, picked the June Bug up in his hand, let it get its bearings, and then it was able to fly away.

Fallen and Can't Get Up

We are that June Bug. Because of our sin we have been flipped over on our backs and find ourselves in a hopeless situation. We are doomed to die. The clock is ticking and there is nothing we can do about it. But since we live in the Bible belt, we here a lot about being a "good" person and we get 10 steps to flipping ourselves back over. We start to wiggle by trying to read our Bibles more and cleaning up some parts of our lives. Then we move our arms really fast by going to church and serving more. We think we are making progress because we're moving, but even though we are moving around we're still not right side up and we're more hopeless than ever. Just like the June bug, no matter how many different "good" deeds or activities we add to our life, we just can't seem to fly. We are exhausted, hopeless, miserable, and at the end of our rope.

The Gospel Gives Us Wings

A famous poem by John Bunyan sums this feeling up perfectly:

"Run, John, Run the law commands

But gives us neither feet, nor hands"

The law or commands of the Bible tell us what to do, but they give us no power to do them. Much like the June Bug who keeps trying to do more things to save itself, but is left hopelessly on its back. The law of the Bible shows us that we are on our back, but can't save us and help us to fly. The good news of the Gospel isn't that if we do more good things, read our bibles, go to church, and pray then we will be able to fly. That's not good news. That's exhausting. Especially when you're on your back and dead in your sins (Eph. 2:1-3). No, the Gospel is far better news than some self-help, do it yourself salvation plan. The Gospel gives us wings. God, because of his great love for us, scoops us up, dusts us off, and gives us our wings (a new heart with new desires of the Spirit) through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son (Eph. 2:4-7). The law drove Mr. Bunyan into despair, but the gospel changed him forever:

"Far better news the gospel brings:

Its bids us fly, and gives us wings"

I pray Jesus helps you fly today. All the way to Glory.

(Special thanks to my Dad for the illustration of the June Bug. Nothing has better illustrated the beauty of the gospel to me than this)

Dear Mr. Christian

I'm a huge fan of Christian rap. Mostly because the lyrics contain real struggles, real brokeness, and constant mention of a real Savior that we so desperately need. This is one of the most convicting songs I've ever heard. The chorus is enough to stop your heart:

"Dear Mr. Christian, I know you're on a mission. I know you say the answer to my problem is religion. I know I'm supposed to change the way I live and stop sinning. But I'd appreciate it if you'd take some time to listen. 

Written from the perspective of non-christians, I think it is a message we all need to hear and take in. I pray it helps us become more like Christ, who had compassion and cared for the broken and marginalized. He didn't just give them a quick buck or advice, but he gave them what they needed most: himself.