Oct
06
2009
Counterfeit Gods
Tim Keller has written a new book entitled Counterfeit Gods which comes out at the end of this month. He wrote it “to expose how we make lesser gods of good things, turning them into ultimate things that drive our lives, and how this inevitably leads to disappointment, discouragement, and even despair.” The recent economic events, according to Tim, “provide a unique opportunity to show how these idols of the heart can never truly satisfy and point to the one true God–the living God who, if you find him, can truly fulfill you, and if you fail him, can truly forgive you.”
In the book, Keller writes:
What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give. A counterfeit god is anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living. An idol has such a controlling position in your heart that you can spend most of your passion and energy, your emotional and financial resources, on it without a second thought. It can be family and children, or career and making money, or achievement and critical acclaim, or saving “face” and social standing. It can be a romantic relationship, peer approval, competence and skill, secure and comfortable circumstances, your beauty or your brains, a great political or social cause, your morality and virtue, or even success in the Christian ministry. When your meaning in life is to fix someone else’s life, we may call it “codependency” but it is really idolatry. An idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts, “If I have that, then I’ll feel my life has meaning, then I’ll know I have value, then I’ll feel significant and secure.”
What are those things, or who are those people, that you depend on more than Jesus to provide the meaning and purpose and security and significance you long for? In other words, what are your idols? Experiencing God’s deep rescue begins with identifying what idols you worship.
Update: If you missed “Nightline’s” interview of Mark Driscoll (Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle) on idolotry Monday night, click here. Mark does an excellent job explaining idol worship in America.