Counterfeit Gods

I think Tim Keller was smart in calling his book Counterfeit Gods instead of Your Sins: Idols Edition, because counterfeit sounds a lot nicer than sin and makes me much more apt to pick up the book and read it. Alas, I did pick it up and read it, and oh how it called me out like nobody's business.

I've always known I had idols in my life. Doesn't everyone have idols they struggle with? Little did I know just how many idols I had. I think each chapter brings up another one, and every chapter I sat there and thought: "Dang, there's another idol on my list of idols I need to remove from my life." I thought of idols as these vague ideas, like pride or wealth. I think my first experience with realizing just how vast idols could be was when God stripped me of my snowboarding idol via a little accident.

Fast forward 5 months and here I'm reading about Abraham and how he must sacrifice his son because God told him to. Abraham had made an idol of Isaac (it would be difficult not to, when your wife popped him out at around 90 years of age), and God wanted to make sure HE was number 1 in Abraham's life. Abraham passed the test, and Isaac was spared. Awesome. I've heard this before, don't let your idols be bigger than God.

Then chapter 2 began. I never thought about the possibility of making relationships an idol. But after reading this, the light flooded my heart and I knew I was making idols of more things than I could ever imagine.

Boom. idols of relationships, friendships, girls.

Next chapter. Boom. idols of money, finances, and possessions.

"One sign that you have made success an idol is the false sense of security it brings....Successful people are much more shocked and overwhelmed by troubles."

Boom. idol of success.

"Rather than accept our finitude and dependence on God, we desperately seek ways to assure ourselves that we still have power over our own lives."

Boom, idols of power and glory.

"Another form of idolatry within religious communities turns spiritual gift and ministry success into a counterfeit god. "

Boom, idols of religion.

Those are just some examples of idols I discovered in my own life. Needless to say, I was shocked after I got through the first 6 chapters of this book. Never would I have thought that I had so many idols in my life. Hadn't I given my entire life to God? Apparently there were still parts of my old self clinging on to my heart and they needed to be ripped out.

Now if Keller ended the book, I think a lot of people would be depressed and overwhelmed after reading it. Fortunately, Keller shares God's perfect plan for dealing with idols.

"Have you ever heard God's blessing in your inmost being? Are the words 'you are my beloved, in whom I delight' an endless source of joy and strength? Have you sensed, through the Holy Spirit, God speaking them to you? That blessing--the blessing through the Spirit that is ours through Christ--is what Jacob received, and it is the only remedy against idolatry."

That's it. Want to get rid of idols? Turn to Jesus and him alone, because if you look to anything else for an outlet, you will merely create a new idol. It's so simple, yet so profound. I think this is what blew my mind the most. we constantly create new idols in our lives while we're not looking solely towards God. Once we do, however, those idols are slowly removed. It's not an easy or particularly "fun" process, but it's good.

The second part of the healing process has to do with replacements. Your heart is like a bucket that has to always be full (I'm bad with analogies, just roll with it). If you take out one idol, there is a hole where it used to be. Now you have a choice: you can either replace that hole with God or let a new idol fill the void. Just an idea, but I would go with filling the void with God. This is why you shouldn't try to rely on your own strength to remove idols; they have this magical way of always replacing themselves. Rather, we must give ourselves to God and let him do the ripping out in our hearts.

Moral of the story? I have way more idols than I thought I could possibly have (idol of pride, add that one to the list), yet I have a perfect Father who wants more than anything I could imagine for me to be free of the idols. When I give myself to Him, He will take those idols away and replace them with more of Himself. Also, it's crazy how, as God strips you of big idols, you find more even farther back in the depths of your heart. This is a life-long process of sanctification. Give yourself to God and let Him do work.