Idolatry

I've recently taken on the task of asking God to remove my idols. Why, you ask? I had no idea, either... at first. As I began to undergo the renovation (a.k.a. demolition) of the throne of my heart, I came to realize God is truly a jealous God. I see that his jealousy is one born of love, wanting what is already his: my heart, my soul, my mind.

As defined by the 1828 Noah Webster's Dictionary (go buy one tomorrow), an idol is: an image, form or representation...consecrated as an object of worship; a pagan deity; a person loved and honored to adoration. Anything on which we set our affections; that to which we indulge an excessive and sinful attachment. An idol is any thing that usurps the place of God in the hearts of his rational creatures. A representation.

An idol is anything that becomes falsely bigger than God, and that takes His place. Being a "rational creature," naturally, I read on...

Rational: Having reason or the faculty of reasoning; endowed with reason; opposed to absurd; agreeable to reason; acting in conformity to reason, as a rational man. It is to our glory and happiness to have a rational nature.

It is irrational to have idols. It is, in fact, absurd.
An idol is a counterfeit to the real thing. The craziest (and I mean that literally) thing about all of this, is that we seek freedom in our idols; and, they leave us as perpetual prisoners. They are greedy. They are never full. They are never done consuming our lives. Why, then, is it so easy to replace the truth of God for a lie? (Romans 1:25) Fools do that...absurd, crazy, irrational fools.

We are deceived by the counterfeit; by an impostor.
(Last one...maybe...)
Impostor: One who imposes on others; a person who assumes character for the purpose of deception; a deceiver under false character.

I can draw the conclusion that an idol's purpose is deception. That's a big deal. Jesus came into the world to testify to the truth (John 18:33-38). Do you have any idea how profound that is? Let me say that again: Jesus came into the world to testify to the truth.

So, what are my idols? I didn't get enough sleep last night to talk about all of them. But, I will mention one very close-to-home idol of mine. It sits comfortably on the throne of my heart. It fits nicely into my need for control (they feed each other, actually, isn't that cute). It thinks me back awake and keeps me happily selfish (and justified, of course). It never leaves me. It masquerades itself as a reason to "pray, and seek the Lord." It's what I have to fall back on when I-don't-want-to-wait-anymore-Lord. When I can soothe it, I feel better. I like feeling better.

Fear.

It's a small word. That's part of it's disguise, I think. It's an impostor. It's a counterfeit to having faith. Fear will make you pray. Faith will make you pray. Fear will keep you awake trying to reason your way out of this out of this out of this out of this. Faith will make a way. Fear, like anything, will grow if it's fed. Faith, like anything, will grow if it's fed.

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7)
The Greek word for Spirit used here is pneuma. The Biblical usage of this word includes: the Holy Spirit, it is used to emphasize his work and power, life giving spirit. That's the Spirit at work in us. That's the Spirit we were given. We were not given the spirit of fear (we are just given over to it). We were given a spirit of power (dynamis) meaning: ability, power consisting in or resting upon armies. We were given the spirit of Love Himself. We were given the spirit of self-discipline (sōphronismos) meaning: "a calling to the soundness of mind." The Spirit of the only living God, the only Living God, should have His truthful place on the throne of my heart, my soul, my mind.

At the beginning, I thought it crazy to be asking God to remove my idols (when having them, at all, was the crazy part). It is no request for the faint of heart. What I came to realize is, that in His grace, apparently, I am not the faint of heart, the absurd, the timid, or the weak.

And neither are you.