Modern Idolatry - Understanding and Overcoming the Attraction of Our Broken Cisterns - Part Two
This article was first published in the Journal of Biblical Counseling and is presented by the author as a two part blog post for Advent Christian Voices
My People have committed two sins: They have forsaken me the fount of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that can not contain water.
Jeremiah 2:13
The Levels of False Worship
We are by nature worshipers. We worship with our mind, our emotions, our will and our words. These dynamics are in one sense working simultaneously and apply to false worship, as well as, to the worship that the living God calls us to give to him. Another way to look at worship is to speak of the levels of worship.
1. There is the desired blessings we seek from the object of worship. We desire such things as wisdom, strength, riches. We could add to this list: pleasures, a good reputation, gratification, and being loved by another. It is whatever the idol can give me. It is the pleasure, power, recognition, or success that will benefit me.
2. There is The idol-object of our worship. The object is the means to the blessing. In Dan’s case, he wanted success, a good reputation and money. The job was the means to these desired goods. Susan wanted to be loved and to realize security. Her marriage to Dan was the means to these longings. Idol-objects can be any number of things. Things which are in themselves good: health, house, hobby, spouse, girl friend, boy friend. Things which are evil or illicit: drugs, an adulterous affair, fornication, a shady business deal.
3. We seek to promote self by our idolatrous worship. I want to secure my own kingdom, my independence, my way. Hence, I am self-seeking, self-trusting, self-reliant. I want to be valued, praised and even envied by others. I commit myself to the object (number 2) for its promised benefit (number 1 above). I am the real idol. Self-worship is really what fuels my idolatry. One of the proofs that this is true is our reaction to a perceived threat against our idols. If we think that the blessing will not come to us from the idol, we become angry, depressed, bitter and filled with self-pity. Marty’s depression was the result of his idol-object leaving him. Dan’s anger toward Susan was due to the fact that he saw her complaints as spoiling his derived success and accomplishment from work.
In other words, I want to possess wisdom so I might be wise ( seen as wise etc., Jeremiah 9:23-24). I want to possess strength so I might be strong, in control, dominant, in charge. I want to possess riches so I might be rich. Riches make me self-sufficient and self-reliant. They also enable me to live for my pleasures.
Idols Are Leaking Cisterns
In Jeremiah 2:13 the Lord rebukes Israel for two sins. They forsook the Lord who is the fountain of living water and dug their own cisterns which were broken and could not contain water. Yet Israel kept returning to their broken and leaking cisterns. Our idols may work for us for a long time. For some people, it seems that their idols have a very slow leak. Yet, even for those whose idols are empty, the pull and power they have over them can be life-controlling. Take the junkie whose veins are collapsing because of the heroin. While he does not receive the high he once did, the pull of the idol remains.
For a while our idols may seem to work for us but sooner or later they will start to curse us and hold us in sinful bondage. The Lord chastises his people for their pursuit of idols and reminds them of how ineffectual they are.
Dan resented Susan’s complaining. It spoiled for him the pleasure he got from his job. However, other issues were making it harder for him to enjoy his job. There was conflict with other workers. He was being criticized by his boss. His job was slowly no longer a good thing. It was leaking.
Susan’s disappointment and disenchantment with her husband were growing every day. The relationship they had in their early years was gone. In fact as she reflected on her marriage it became obvious that she was the one who really wanted a relationship and she was the one who had done all the giving. Yet Susan had done all the giving in order to get. In order to get the kind of marriage she wanted. The kind of marriage for which she had dreamed It was now leaking and she was becoming disillusioned and angry.
Bob was excited about finally taking the helm of a church. Granted it was a small church, but he had spent four years in Bible college and was eager to put into practice what he had studied. He wanted to serve God. He wanted to see people’s lives changed. What enthusiasm he brought to the ministry. The first two years went okay. There were problems but he felt that in time things would work out. People praised his preaching and kept coming back for more. He did a lot of visiting and people liked it. Yet whenever he began to speak of vision, change, reaching into the community it seemed that nothing happened. Many would agree that such things were needed but nothing happened. Into the third year Bob started to develop health problems. He continued fighting colds and seemed to be always on edge. He even woke up one night with chest pains, thinking he was having a heart attack. He was rushed to the hospital. No heart problem. The doctors attributed it to anxiety and stress.
He found that his preaching began to take on a certain sharpness, he was angry when he preached. One day he just could not take it any more. He began to weep uncontrollably in his study and felt that God and the church had let him down.
The Solution Is Found In True Worship
The only solution for Dan and Susan, Tammy and Bob and Marty is to begin to truly worship God through the power of the Gospel. They must return to the Fount of Living Water and freely drink!
Genuine Worship is a true delight in God. God is the goal. A relationship with Him is what we value. He alone is valuable. Or to use a more biblical expression: He alone is worthy. True worship is our delight in God as God. We know this by faith.
1. By faith we see (understand) that God is valuable. He is the desired blessing.
2. By faith we long for him and we delight in Him. He is the great object of our worship.
3. By faith we give our allegiance to Him. We become God-centered. Our allegiance is no longer with ourselves but with Him.
Bob did get help. He discovered that he had turned the ministry into his idol. He had an inordinate desire for a successful ministry. He was in bondage to success. After much counseling and repentance, he rediscovered the grace of God in Christ and was renewed. Ministry was now an opportunity for him just to be faithful. Its ups and downs did not upset him (as much). When he finds himself becoming upset, he now stops and reminds himself where the good news is found. He is accepted by God in Christ, he is a son of God, he is not alone. God will help him. All God calls him to do is be faithful.
Dan and Susan got help too. Dan and Susan repented of their idolatry. Susan came to see that her only encouragement was found in Christ (Philippians 2:1ff.) Dan could never make her happy. In fact the only way she was legitimately to view Dan was in terms of how she could minister to him and thus honor God. She came to terms with her idolatry and began to believe the Gospel. Her encouragement was found in her faith union with Christ. As she learned to meditate on Christ’s love for her, she found real and lasting comfort. She was not alone, no matter how many hours Dan stayed at work, she believed in the partnership she had with the Holy Spirit. She was freed from Dan the idol and could now love and minister to Dan, her husband.
Dan too was convicted about his sin. He had looked to success in the business world to give him contentment. In doing so he neglected his wife. He confessed that he did love his job more than Susan. Yet his job was something he was using to get other perceived treasures: success, reputation and money. He was broken over his sin not only against Susan but against God. He began to see that only Christ could give him a true contentment of heart. To raise his job above Jesus was offensive to his Lord. As his treasure began to change, he took specific steps away from his idol. He cut back on his hours. He Got involved in a men’s accountability Bible study at church. He began to apply the commands of Philippians chapter two to his relationship with Susan.
Keeping Your Heart
The Gospel is God's offer of amnesty for idolatrous traitors and of restoration to Himself, the only true and living God. The condition is our surrender to Jesus Christ, as our savior and Lord. We enter into this relationship forgiven, with a new record and as sons. A record that is one of perfect and permanent righteousness. This is the righteousness of Christ imputed or credited to us.
Bob, Susan and Dan quickly learned that though they were free from those idols, they were not far away and that there were always new ones ready to take hold in their hearts. They learned that repentance is continually necessary for us as sons. It is necessary because we still believe the lie that the "broken cisterns" are valuable and we still harbor lusts for their favors. Temptation is always an allurement to false worship. Sin is always an act of false worship. Because every transgression entails the three levels of worship.
1. I lust for certain favors from lesser gods which are really no gods. These longings are powerful and lead to covetousness, or inordinate desires. What Paul calls the lusts and passions of the flesh (Galatians 5:24).
2. I perceive that certain things, objects, situations and people can provide me with what I desire. They become the idol-object. I am deceived at this point by sin. I make commitments to these idol-objects. Such commitments are what may be called the acts of sin or sinful acts, whether deeds or just thoughts (sinful fantasies etc.). If I am blocked by others from my idol-objects then I will become angry, impatient, brooding, unforgiving etc. The acts of the flesh are most often manifested here.
3. It is for the promotion of myself and the securing of my way or my kingdom that I lust for certain delights. I commit myself to certain objects, things, situations, and people whom I believe will give me what I desire. I do so in order to secure my own way (i.e. kingdom). This is the flesh. To live according to the flesh is to live my life for myself and not for God. I make heart-commitments to idols whom I believe will help me in my desire to remain in control of my life.
Repentance Has To Occur On All Three Levels of Idolatry
Repentance means that I must have a change of mind about what is really valuable.
1. I turn from seeking the blessings of the idol (wisdom, strength, riches etc.,). I no longer agree that such issues are valuable. I must hear and receive at this juncture the truth, heavy doses of the truth, coupled with sincere prayer for grace to see the vanity in the allurements and enticements of the idols. There is pleasure (even security of sorts) in sin for a season. I value by faith the understanding and knowing of the true God. "let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord..." (Jeremiah 9:24).
Tammy made modest gains from Christ-centered counseling, but the pull of both her idols remained basically unbroken. While she was tired and hurt from the vise-like grip of her competing gods, in her heart she still curried their promised favors of quick satisfaction and physical attractiveness. As long as these longings ruled in her heart, she could not receive the help that only Jesus can give. Jesus does not offer her physical beauty or cheap comfort, but instead He offers her Himself. Having Jesus on His terms and desiring Him had to become more valuable to her and more desirable than being attractive, thin, or good-looking. Drinking from the fountain of living water had to become more satisfying to her than sucking the mud from the leaking cistern of bingeing. For real change to occur, Tammy needed to repent on this level of her false worship.
2. I turn from the object itself. The rich man forsaking his riches, the prodigal forsaking the pigs. Paul forsaking his life as an honored Pharisee. Marty came with a pack of old love letters from his former girlfriend. When he asked how he could repent. He was offered a waste can and a book of matches and was encouraged to burn the letters. This would have been a specific step he could have taken to manifest repentance. Sadly, he could not bring himself to do this.
3. I turn from self. From self-control, self-reliance, self-sufficiency. I repent of demanding my way and from brooding over not having my way (James 4:1-10). I repent of my desire to promote myself. Remember my idols are allies in my fleshly opposition to the Living God. They promise me the "goods" I desire to support my self-rule. This is what dying to self or crucifying the flesh, or conforming to Christ's death is all about.
Marty wanted to be free of the depression. “What am I to do,” he asks “to be happy again?” When given the same answer “repent and believe on Christ and his grace,” he said he does not know how. When told that repentance means that he must have a change of mind about the value and significance that this girl has had in his life and give her up and flee to Christ, he says he doesn't know how. When asked if he believes that if he died tonight that he would one day have a place in God’s kingdom, he says he is sure because he is a believer and accepted Christ as his savior at a camp meeting when he was a teenager. Yet when it is pointed out that he does not treasure God’s grace offered to him in Christ but in fact treasures this girl above Christ, Marty does not understand. “Isn’t faith simply believing that Christ died for your sins?” When Marty is told that faith is not only trusting in Christ but treasuring Christ, he is bothered and feels very uncomfortable but still when asked admits that if she came walking back into his life he would be happy.
Sin in terms of attitudes (anger, disappointment, lust, self-pity) and behavior (ignoring one’s spouse, fornication, gluttony, preaching when angry), really goes much deeper. It is important that attitudes and behaviors change and reflect godliness, yet such issues arise from a heart that wants to remain in control and independent (which is pride) and which looks to things in this life (job, ministry, marriage, attractive appearance) to make life meaningful and happy (which is unbelief or misplaced belief). The attachment that our proud and unbelieving hearts have to the things of this life (some good in themselves, some evil) is basically idolatrous. We worship, treasure and trust in that which is not the Triune, Living God. It is ultimately what we want and who or what we worship that has to change. From the heart flow such evil attitudes, and behavior. Our hearts are hardened, darkened, deceived but also possess and are possessed by idols.
Sometimes what our idols are is very clear to us. At other times we are only sensitive to the presence of sinful affections or passions or we have a state of mind that is marked by anxiety, worry, anger, bitterness, depression, fear. We may not be clear on the cause but more than likely it is a sinful and idolatrous view of life that needs to change. We need to know where our idols are. Another way of understanding the connecting link between sin and idols is to read carefully Paul's words in Romans 6. Here the kingly power of sin is underscored. Sin always leads to our being dominated by sin. Sin takes many forms: rebellion, disobeying God, falling short but it is also seen in terms of idolatrous bondage that we have had a part in forming. The good news is that through Christ we can repent and no longer worship our idols.
One last thought. God loves idolaters! He sent his Son to die for idolaters. Jesus receives idolaters. What must idolaters do? Trust in Jesus. You need do nothing else but flee to Jesus Christ. You say, “I did this but my idol is back and I am worshiping at its shrine. How can I go to Jesus again?” Repentance is really the same thing as faith and faith is always repentance. All you need do is repent. It is not a work, it is not a prerequisite to coming to Jesus. It is how you must come. Repentant faith and faith-filled repentance continue to be necessary for us. Our idols will seek our worship again and again. So we must flee to Jesus again and again. How is the power of idolatry and sin broken? At the cross of Jesus Christ and no other place. It is in coming and believing in Jesus that change occurs and the attraction and pleasurable offers of our idols are unmasked for what they are. Jesus removes the lie and opens our eyes to see what treasure is inherently valuable.
“By faith Moses chose to be mistreated along with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ to be of greater riches than all the treasure of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward” (Hebrews 11:24-26).
When we trust in Jesus our eyes are open to the lies of our idols and we will stay close to the one who alone is the rightful object of all our worship, glory and praise.
Idol Detecting Questions
These questions are geared to help you detect where your idols might be.
What do I not have in my life that if I only had would make me happy?
What do I now have that, if taken away would leave me unhappy, devastated?
What do I have now that I spend a lot of time maintaining and would fight to keep?
What is it that I now have in my life that I can't live without?
References
Keil, C.F. and Delitzsch, F. Commentary on the Old Testament . 10 vol. Reprinted ed. , Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978.
Bobick, Michael W. From Slavery To Sonship: A Biblical Psychology For Pastoral Counseling. Westminster Discount Book Service: Scarsdale, N.Y., 1989