CE 1 YEAR: 12 Your Idolatry

Week 12

Your Idolatry

The danger of idolatry

In the previous week you learned that God created you with emotional needs like security and significance. You also learned that God’s love can fulfill those needs. Both Scripture and experience teaches us that no one and nothing in this world can fully satisfy your need for love. But what happens when you try to get your emotional needs satisfied by possessions or people? You experience the disappointment and pain of IDOLATRY.

IDOLATRY is worshipping, serving, and depending on a false god. Your god is whoever or whatever you depend on to meet your needs. The real God offers to meet your needs through His love. But Christians often seek false gods like money, success, and other people to meet their needs. This is IDOLATRY.

God’s Prophet’s continually warned God’s people about idolatry. For example, in Jonah 2:8 the Prophet warned that “idols” are a “worthless” false god that deceives you into thinking it can make you happy, but actually hurts you. Because you love an idol, and depend on it to satisfy you, you “turn away from God’s love for” you and do not experience the love He has for you.

SIN IS SIMPLY AND ALWAYS AN ATTEMPT TO SATISFY YOUR GOD-GIVEN NEEDS IN A DESTRUCTIVE WAY. The needs are not bad. God created you with them. But when you satisfy your needs for security, acceptance, significance, or pleasure apart from God’s ways, you hurt yourself. Almost all of your trouble and pain and sin will come from trying to find love somewhere or in someone other than God.

Remember, all of God’s commands are designed to tell you how to meet your needs in a safe and satisfying way. For example, God created sex and He invented marriage as the safe and satisfying place to experience it. But people ignore God’s commands and become less happy (and even less human) every time they pursue sex in sinful ways.

Again, God created your “heart” to desire happiness, and created you to find that happiness in your relationship with Him. The Bible says that those who seek after false gods will suffer more and more (Psalm 16:4). However, if you “delight in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps 37:4). God personally invites you to a fulfilling life of serving and depending on Him, rather than false gods. If you seek what you need from anything or anyone other than God, you will increase the pain in your life.

Types of idolatry

In the OT and in many countries today people worship idols or statues thinking they give them favor with the gods. But the most popular idols today are more spiritual in nature and much more disguised. For example, Jesus warned about the idol of money when He taught, “You cannot serve both God and money” (Matt 6:21-24). If you believe money will make you feel happy, secure, and valuable, then you will “serve” money as your “master” and it will be your god. As a result, you will not “love” or “be devoted” to God. This is because there is only room for one god in your heart and life.

Money is one of the most popular, powerful, and idolatrous religions in the world and even invades Christianity. Job asked a question you should ask yourself: “Have I put my trust in money or felt secure because of my gold?” (Job 31:24).

How do you know if money or something else is an idol? You feel fear when your idol is threatened. You fear losing money, a job, a person, or your reputation because these are idols and you trust them for your security, significance, and satisfaction.

The Bible warns: “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim 6:9-10). Notice that it is not money itself that is evil. It is “the love of money” and your dependence on it to meet your needs that leads to evil. This is true of many idols. Enjoying the things of this world is not necessarily evil. God gives us all kinds of things for our enjoyment (2 Tim 6:17). But when you love anything or anyone more than God, you hurt your life.

How can you protect yourself from the great threat of money to ruin your life and relationship with God? GIVE IT AWAY! When you give generously, then God can safely give you more because He knows you do not depend on it for your security and significance (cf. 2 Cor 9:6-11; 1 Tim 6:17; Mal 3:8-12).

Unfortunately, even very good things can be corrupted by idolatry. Parents can make an idol out of their children because they depend on them for their sense of security and significance. Pastors can even make an idol out of their ministry for the same reasons. Spiritual gifts can be perverted and even falsely claimed because people are seeking significance in them. Likewise, people can seek education and occupations to feel more secure and significant.

Other powerful false gods are things that make you feel special and better than others. These are things the world greatly values. They include physical looks, intelligence, and athletic ability. Other things the world greatly values but that can be an idol is the search of pleasure in food and entertainment. But Jesus warned that “Whatever people value highly is detestable in God’s sight” (Luke 16:15). Again, being athletic, pretty, smart, or having food or entertainment can all be gifts from God. But when they are used to meet your needs for security, significance, and satisfaction then you make them an idol. God hates the things the world loves, and makes into idols, because worshipping them instead of Him hurts people.

God is reluctant to bless you if you love false gods. This is because 1) They really will not make you happy, and 2) You will love God’s blessing more than Him. Imagine a child who only loves their dad because of what he gives to them. The child is not interested in a relationship with their dad, but only loves the things they can get from him. The more a dad gives to a child like that, the more they love the gifts rather than their dad. Such gifts actually come between them instead of drawing them closer.

This is one great danger of the “Prosperity Preachers.” They deceive people to believe that happiness is finding your security and significance in the things of the world like money, worldly success, health, and popularity. People who believe them crave those things and experience great disappointment and pain. The “Prosperity Preachers” promote idolatry among the people of God. But now you know better.

Worshipping people is the most powerful and painful idol in the world

Remember the woman at the well whom Jesus met and who had been married to five men and was living with another one (John 4:18). What a miserable life! What was the woman looking for? Like so many people, she was seeking her need for love in another human being. Depending on people for love can be a disappointing and painful idol in your life. Therefore, God warns that “it is a curse to put your trust in mere humans” (Jer 17:5).

The worship of people is by far the greatest false god in the world. The one thing that competes for your devotion to the real God more than anything else is people. Parents, spouses, children, boyfriends, girlfriends, and Pastors can all become idols that you depend on for your security, significance, and satisfaction more than God. This is why Jesus said that you must love Him even more than your parents, wife, and children (Luke 14:26).

You probably have experienced the pain of being disappointed and hurt by humans you depended on for love. You were looking for love in the wrong place like the woman at the well. Again, you were created to only be safe and satisfied with God’s perfect love. If you turn from it and seek your security and significance in another person, God warns your idolatry will cause unnecessary pain in your life.

This is why Scripture says: “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in people” (Ps 118:8). Why would you make a god out of another person? People are so imperfect! Relationships with people do more to expose your need for God, than actually meet your deepest needs.

Don’t misunderstand. God created you to need relationships. Even He lives in a Trinity. And even when Adam had a very personal relationship with God, the Creator said, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Gen 2:18) and He created a companion for him. God wants you to have human companions. But God never intended any mere human to fully satisfy your need for love.

Jesus only needed His Father’s love. Did it disappoint Him when His closest friends abandoned Him at His darkest hour? It seems so. But His Dad’s love carried Him through His trial even when humanly speaking He was all alone. And the same is true for you. This does not mean you should not have friends. But like Jesus, God needs to be your Best Friend and the One who always makes you feel secure and significant.

Why are you so tempted to depend on people more than God? Because we hate living by faith and having our closest friendship with Someone we cannot see, touch, or hear. So, we seek love from flesh and blood people. But God expects us to live by faith. The Bible says: “You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy” (1 Pet 1:8). This is because your faith in the love of a God you cannot see, meets all your needs for love.

How do you know when you are worshipping a person instead of loving them? The answer is: How do you FEEL when they do not love you? How do you FEEL when they say or do something that communicates rejection or criticism? Does someone or something make you AFRAID or ANGRY? Then you are depending on them too much for love and have made them an idol.

Another sign that a person is an idol in your life is that you are very afraid to displease them. Their opinion of you is more important than God’s opinion. You might even pretend to be someone you are not because you think a person will like you more.

This is why the Apostle Paul wrote: “Our purpose is to please God, not people” (1 Thess 2:4; cf. Gal 1:10). Solomon wrote: “Fearing people is a dangerous trap” (Prov 29:25). Never let it be said of you: “They loved human praise more than the praise of God” (John 12:43). Do you see how your fear of displeasing people can keep you from obeying Christ? If you live to please God, then you will please the people you are supposed to please, and you will displease the people you are supposed to displease.

Determine to make God’s love the emotional “rock” of your life and Who you always depend on. He wants you to love people like He does. He wants people to love you. But God does not want you to depend on people loving you. He wants to be your first love. If you put a human being in His place, you will be committing the sin of idolatry and causing more pain in your life.

Practical Application: In the previous weeks we discussed the vital issues of having your identity in Christ and recognizing idols in your life. These two things are obviously related. Not having your needs met by God results in seeking to meet them apart from God. A lack of identity in Christ results in idolatry. Which is why the following questions regarding idols is also a test of your identity.

Therefore, it is important to recognize any false gods in your life. These can be painful to admit. Remember, God has already forgiven you for any idol in your life. But it hurts Him that you love them more than Him. And He is very concerned about how they are hurting your life.

Spend some time with God and honestly consider the “Probable Signs of Idolatry.” We say “probable” because a few of them may not be in certain situations. If you feel one applies to your life right now, mark it.

For any possible idol you have marked, memorize and begin to believe or obey the suggested verse of Scripture provided under “God’s Desires and Promises.” Or you can find other Scriptures that you prefer.

In addition, consider fasting for a period of time from something that has become an idol in your life. Whether it is a person, thing, or activity, doing without it for a while will help you assess the strength of its hold on you. Fasting will also help you experience God without the false god.

√	Probable Signs of Idolatry	God’s Desires or Promises
Possessions
	I often worry about money	Matt 6:32-33
	I depend on my spiritual gifts or ministry to feel significant	1 Cor 4:7
	I am jealous of the possessions other people have	Ps 23:6
	I have a lot of debt for things I do not need	Heb 13:5
	I do not give 10% of my income to my local church	Mal 3:10
	I believe that worldly possessions are an important sign of success and God’s love	Job 2:3
	I am really afraid of losing my job	Col 3:23-24
	I feel very bad if I do not do well in a test, or get a bad grade in school	Col 3:23-24
	I feel diminished when others are publicly praised for things I think I am good at	Rom 12:3-8
	I love animals or nature more than people	1 Tim 1:15
	I constantly obsess over saving money	2 Cor 9:6-11
	I often spend money I do not have	Heb 13:5
People
	I feel condemned by someone	1 Cor 4:3
	I feel afraid of someone	Prov 29:25
	I feel great pressure from someone to perform or succeed	Gal 1:10
	I am obsessed with someone	Matt 10:37
	Someone really frustrates me	Col 3:13
	Someone is making me feel like I am not valuable	Eph 1:3-8
	I feel alone	Heb 13:5
	I am very afraid of losing someone	Heb 13:5
	I really hate displeasing people. It is very hard for me to tell them “no”	1 Thess 2:4
	I am very angry/bitter toward someone	Phmn 1:17-18
	I really hate conflict with people	1 Cor 4:3-4
	I am very concerned about what people think of me	Gal 1:10
	I feel like my happiness or success is being blocked and hindered by someone	Phil 4:11
	I am very tempted to be sexually immoral	1 Cor 6:18
	I am very concerned about my physical looks	1 Sam 16:6-7
	I crave the praise of people	John 5:41
	I have a boyfriend or girlfriend but am not spiritually or financially ready to be married, or do not intend to marry them.	Song 8:4
	I keep seeking my sense of security and significance in other people	Jer 17:5
	I am afraid to correct someone when they need it	Gal 6:1
	I feel responsible for meeting needs in someone’s life that only God can satisfy.	Matt 11:29-30
Pleasure
	I often feel bored	John 15:11
	I spend a lot of time being entertained by television, games, books, sports, a hobby, etc.	Matt 22:37-38
	I look at pornography	Job 31:1
	I often eat more than I should, especially when I am feeling sad, afraid, angry, or insignificant	1 Cor 10:31

In your small group meeting this week, share praises and prayer requests and then discuss these questions:

1) What is idolatry?

2) What does idolatry cause in our life?

3) What are different types of idolatry?

4) Why do we say that people are perhaps the greatest idol?

5) According to the test above, what are some idols that you would like people to pray about for you?

6) What was especially meaningful to you in this chapter? Why?