Modern Idolatry - Understanding and Overcoming the Attraction of Our Broken Cisterns (Part One)
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
Idolatry Is A Problem For Everyone
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
Tammy is a pretty woman of 30. She is married and has a child. Her husband loves her. Yet she has two problems. She does not think that she is very attractive. She worries about her weight and is very insecure in relationships. The other problem is that when she has had a rough day and is stressed out she secretly binges on food, downing a whole box of cereal or a half gallon of ice cream. For a moment she feels satisfied. Then her satisfaction turns to horror and fear. Afraid of gaining weight she runs to the bathroom and forces herself to vomit. What would you say is at the root of Tammy’s problems? Just telling Tammy that she is wrong or that she is sinning will not help her. She knows that she is sinning. She needs help to understand the dynamics of her sin, so she can really change.
Sin is often and correctly seen to be disobedience and rebellion. Yet it is also idolatry; idolatry of the heart. As such, sin is binding and blinding. Sin is also foolish and stupid. My purpose is to get you to think about the issue so you will be better able to repent and humble yourself under God's gracious and mighty hand. Just do not think of idols as statues or icons. They are “no-gods,” for sure, nevertheless idols control our hearts as we foolishly give ourselves to them.
Idols are false gods to which we attach ourselves for desired favors. It is important to know that idolatry is first an issue of the heart. The phrase "idols of the heart," is found in Ezekiel 14:1-11. (see verses 3, 4, and 7). Here the prophet describes the elders of the people as having idols in their hearts. Commentator C. F. Kiel remarked, "we have not to picture these elders to ourselves as given up to gross idolatry. 'Idols in their hearts,' means, to allow anything to come into the mind, to permit it to rise up in the heart, to be mentally busy therewith." Dr. Mike Bobick writes that "the nature of idolatry is heart-worship. Anything to which one is devoted in opposition to God can properly be called an idol."
Our idols really become sinful allies in our opposition to God. In Hosea 4:17 the phrase "unite" or "be joined with," idols is used to describe the sin of Ephraim. Certainly these idols were allies in an obviously figurative sense. Apparently these idols were Ephraim's allies against the one true God. Idols are confederates in one's rebellion against the creator. (Bobick.) Our idols help us obtain what we want over against what God desires for us.
The Dynamics of Idol Worship
What does Tammy want? Tammy is sinning but she is sinning not simply by disobeying God in terms of lack of self control and vanity. She wants two things more than she wants God’s grace. She wants attractiveness so others will notice her. This works powerfully in her heart robbing her of the joy of delighting in Christ, who is inherently attractive in his glory and grace. She wants comfort when stressed, so much so, that she will commit gluttony, rather than find satisfaction in the bread that Jesus offers to the hungry soul. She doesn’t eat because she is hungry. She eats for the sensation and comfort the food brings.
Tammy’s sin and sinful habits or patterns are really expressions of false worship or idolatry. In a sense the dynamics of false worship are the same as the true worship we are to offer to the living God. You develop your bonds with your idols (we all have plenty of them) through the dynamics of worship. I worship what I value. Or as Jesus taught, my heart is where my treasure is. What I treasure I worship. Worship entails my whole being. I give myself to the object I worship. Worship is a dynamic and living response to what I value or treasure. This happens in four connected ways:
1. You worship with your mind. This means that I place value on a certain object. I make a value judgment, an assessment of an issue, person or object. I judge that it is valuable. Or to put it another way: I assess that this situation or object will bring a blessing into my life. In the case of the worship of God the judgment is true. In the case of idols the judgment is based on a lie. This intellectual dynamic of worship is an assessment or an evaluation. I perceive the object as valuable for certain reasons. In Tammy’s case she valued two issues: an attractive appearance and comfort from physical gratification when she was stressed.
2. You worship by your desires. This means that I have an affectionate attachment to the object I want. I long for it. I delight in it. I desire it. I must have it. I think about it. It is this level that really drives the worship. It is this level that shapes the intellectual level. I find a certain object desirable for what it can do for me. Tammy did not simply make a judgment that being pretty was valuable, she desired to be pretty. It was something that she deeply wanted and for which she desperately longed. Likewise when she was upset and hurting inside from the pressures of life, she really desired some comfort. At those moments comfort became the treasured craving.
3. You worship by your will. Tammy made choices. She gave herself to the pursuit of achieving an attractive appearance. She became very loyal to her two gods. She gave her allegiance to them. When the god of attractiveness said “You must lose weight.” She did. Yet she tried to cheat this god. When she was upset, the other god of physical relief offered her the blessing of comfort if she devoured some food in bulk, she believed this god’s promise. She found the comfort but not for long. The other god was angry and required a sacrifice of atonement. Tammy complied and went to the bathroom and forced herself to vomit. Tammy’s idols are competing gods which powerfully bound her in a no-win situation.
4. You worship by your words. This means that I will praise what I worship. In Tammy’s case her false worship did not go this far. When my idol works for me, I will praise it. When it doesn’t as in Tammy’s case, I will not praise it, nevertheless I continue to be a slave to its required worship and obedience. This was not the case with Marty. He was distraught. He was depressed. Life was no longer worth living. Why? His girl friend dumped him. Marty is a professing Christian. She is not. He and his girlfriend had been living together for about a year. He knew that it was wrong but refused to give it up. Now she has moved out and he is devastated. When confronted on the fact that he had no business as a Christian living with her and that unless she is a believer he has no basis on which to marry her, he shrugs his shoulders and says he knows and he is sorry now.
He has been depressed over this for about a month. He was not eating or sleeping. All he can think about is her. All he talks about is her. What great times they had together. They had so much in common. Though she is gone, he still longs for her and can not but proclaim how good she was for him. He just doesn’t understand why she left him. He was singing her praises while at the same time devastated by her treatment. Though she was no longer with him, it was obvious that he was worshiping her. All he did was speak about her.
The Lie Of The Idol
Idols are served and worshiped in view of what they can give us. We want what they offer or promise to give us. In Jeremiah 9:23-24 God calls Israel not to boast about wisdom, strength or riches. The word boast or glory suggests an activity of worship. In this text wisdom, riches, and strength can be seen as desirable qualities which for Israel became more important than knowing God. The word glory is another way of describing worship. The word glory suggests three concepts. It hints at a response to an object that is viewed to possess supreme value. Whether it is supremely valuable or not doesn't matter, it is perceived by the worshiper to be valuable. It implies a deep delight in and longing for the object and finally a personal commitment of allegiance to the object in which we glory.
Another way of putting it would be to say that wisdom, power and riches are desirable because of what they do for me. If I have them, then I am smart. I am strong. I am resourceful. They become attributes that make me self-sufficient. There is in my heart a longing to be self-sufficient, self-reliant, and to be in control. There are also very strong desires to be safe, secure and attractive to others. To put it very bluntly, I want to be God! For God is inherently all these attributes and more. Now I may turn to certain objects, persons, situations or opportunities, believing that if I am committed to them or give myself to them, they will give me wisdom, power and riches.
I may pursue a certain career path, believing that if I give myself to the requirements of the job in due time I will grow in skill (wisdom) and be recognized by others as skillful and knowledgeable. Therefore I will be promoted (power strength) and have more control. The more I climb in position the more money I will make (riches). Hard work or giving an honest day's work at your job is not the problem here. The problem is that you can turn your job into an idol to which you give yourself, in order to receive its blessing (wisdom, power, riches). If this is the case, then you glory in what the job offers you.
Susan married Dan with the desire that they build a life together. Subtly she hoped that marriage would make her happy. For a while it did. After about three years it became starkly obvious to her that Dan’s first love was his job. He spent most of his time there. Now this was Dan’s sin against Susan. His idol was his job. It was Dan’s extreme attachment to his job that made the job an idol for him. It was Susan’s extreme attachment to the ideal of a certain kind of marriage that made marriage an idol to her. Dan was looking to his job to give his life meaning. Susan was looking to marriage to give her life meaning. Susan complained to Dan constantly about how he was spending too much time at work. Dan justified this by saying he was doing it for her and the kids. This was his way of loving his family. Susan wasn’t buying this excuse.