Our hearts the Idol Factory

image  “They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them.” 2 Kings 17:15

Since attending the Advance ‘09 conference in June, I have been thinking about idolatry and trying to identify the idols that claim the affections of modern believers. These quotes have been helpful to my thinking.

“Idolatry is the most discussed problem in the Bible and one of the most powerful spiritual and intellectual concepts in the believer’s arsenal.  Yet for Christians today it is one of the least meaningful notions and is surrounded by ironies.  Perhaps this is why many evangelicals are ignorant of the idols in their lives…Contemporary evangelicals are little better at recognizing and resisting idols than modern secular people are…There can be no believing communities without an unswerving eye to the detection and destruction of idols”

Os Guiness & John Seel

image “An idol is not simply a statue of wood, stone or metal; it is anything we love and pursue in place of God, and can also be referred to as a ‘false god’ or a ‘functional god.’ In biblical terms, an idol is something other than God that we set our hearts on, that motivates us, that masters or rules us, or that we serve.”  Luke 12:29, 1 Corinthians 10:6, 1 Corinthians 4:5, Ps. 119:133, Matt. 6:24

Ken Sande

“There is always a reason for sin.  Under our sins are idolatrous desires…Sin isn’t only doing bad things, it is more fundamentally making good things into ultimate things.  Sins is building your life and meaning on anything, even a very good thing more than God.  Whatever we build our life on will drive us and enslave us.  Sin is primarily idolatry.”

Tim Keller

“A triune God could never be a God of human invention. Our idols, our made up gods, are monads – self centered autonomous deities, a bit like bigger versions of us really, a million miles away from the true, and stunningly beautiful, three-personed, eternally loving God.”

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