Christian

Do Christians Today Have Idols?

Cindy Dawson

As I read through 1 Kings, I was stunned when I read these words about King Solomon:

 “As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.  He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.” 1 Kings 11: 3-6

Notice that Solomon started doing what “everyone else” was doing. He probably thought, “All the kings have lots of wives and concubines. All the kings have idols. I’m just doing what all the kings do. Things are different now from when my father was king.”

We can do the same thing today by accepting what the world puts forth as truth rather than holding on to God’s Word, which is the real Truth.

Ashtoreth was the pagan goddess of war and sexual love. How is that any different from the sexual freedom found in today’s world?

Molek was an Ammonite god who required propitiatory child sacrifice. A couple sacrificed their firstborn by burning the child on a metal idol of Molech, believing that Molech would ensure financial prosperity for the family and future children. (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) How is that any different from the abortion industry, which is really all about money, not women’s rights?

Idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than God as if it were God.

So what do we worship as if it were God? It doesn’t have to be a pagan statue. The Apostle Paul tells us more.

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.” Colossians 3:5-6

Here the Apostle Paul plainly states that idolatry doesn’t only refer to a golden calf.

“Idolatry starts in the heart: craving, wanting, enjoying, being satisfied by anything that you treasure more than God. That is an idol. If we find God to be so boring or so negligible that we must put other things in his place that really satisfy us more than he does, then we not only offend him, but we also destroy ourselves.” John Piper

“They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.  In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” Romans 1:25-27

“Since the fall, the hearts of humans have been inclined toward idolatry” Dr. Jeff Reynolds

Things like a job, money, a car, or any number of created things could become an idol. But don’t let the devil condemn you, saying this is your idol and that is your idol. Ask the Lord with a sincere heart to show you if you have any idols. The Holy Spirit will bring conviction, but not condemnation. Conviction makes you want to change, but condemnation makes you want to give up.

“Yet I am glad now, not because you were pained, but because you were pained into repentance [and so turned back to God]; for you felt a grief such as God meant you to feel . . . For godly grief and the pain God is permitted to direct, produce a repentance that leads and contributes to salvation and deliverance from evil, and it never brings regret;” 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 AMP

With Love, 

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This Is My Journey Unscripted.

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30 thoughts on “Do Christians Today Have Idols?”

  1. Good post. The problem with idols today is that they are so ingrained in society and Christian culture as socially acceptable. The Word of God can be an idol. The version we use can be an idol. Teachers we love to listen to can be an idol. They are so prevalent that we cannot see them.

    This is compounded by the fact that our own ‘self’ nature and satan are in cahoots to deceive us about what is actually an idol in our lives. It is so bad that we, ourselves, have absolutely no capacity to correctly assess what idols lay in our hearts. We need someone outside of us to tell us. Even then it is useless to point out a person’s idols if they are not willing to give them up and repent of them.

    The key to successful idol removal lies in a desire to free of them which requires surrender and repentance. Neither is easy. When an idol is buried deep within us we cling to it for security and meaning instead of God. Before we can let go we need to see that God is a trustworthy replacement. This takes time and cannot be done by the mind. Idols are solely an issue of the heart. Only when our heart knows that it is safe to abandon the false security an idol offers will we let go.

    God will help us leave our idols behind but His answer requires sacrifice. If we are not even willing to start letting go the idol will continue to remain.

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  5. Great post Cindy! Loved this line: “Conviction makes you want to change, but condemnation makes you want to give up.” I am going to write that down somewhere so I remember it — perhaps I’ll post it on the fridge. ❤️❤️
    Regarding idols, back when the ‘American Idol’ TV show came out, I thought it was interesting how much we have actually ’embraced’ idolatry in our culture. So much of what we get carried away, particularly in sports and entertainment, has parallels to the idol worship of old — which often involved crowds gathering, etc. Great things to prayerfully examine; yet as you said — be convicted about without condemnation.

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    1. I’m glad the “condemnation vs. conviction” spoke to you. It has taken me a long time knowing God to figure that out! It’s just normal that the world has idols, but Christians should know better. Thanks for your thoughtful comments. Blessings, Salt!

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    2. Point worth mentioning about sports idols – what are they named after?

      Animals – the Falcons, Orioles, Eagles, Dolphins, Seahawks, Cardinals, Wild Cats, Bluejays, Rams, Bears, Cubs, Jaguars, Panthers, Broncos …… and the list goes on.

      True. Guilt, Shame & Manipulation do not come from God. They are all tools of Satan.

      God brings conviction for the purpose of repentance … to turn one around towards Salvation.

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    1. I know that the enemy wants to make being a Christian “hard”. He is the accuser, after all! He likes to make us think we aren’t good enough. But the Lord is merciful, compassionate, and kind. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Yari!

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