Idolatry: Turning to anything in our life as a substitute for God. It’s not so much the sinfulness of the thing; it’s the position we give it in our lives.

The Bible has much to say on this topic; I’m going to mainly focus on passages from Isaiah for this episode. One of the main themes in the book of Isaiah is that God alone is to be high and lifted up, exalted, and worshipped – above all else – in every area of every person’s life. That position of “above all” is appropriate ONLY for God. God alone is worthy of worship. And likewise, God should never be second place to anything. Anything else that is lifted up must be torn down. 

Central passage/image in Isaiah: Isaiah 6:1-3- “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple…” Isaiah’s response- “holy, holy, holy.”

Isaiah 2:11- “The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.”

God alone is to be high and lifted up in our lives, in our hearts. Anything else that we put in that position is offensive to God and will be judged by Him. Could be work, ministry, Netflix, alcohol, or shopping. The offensiveness to God is not only the thing that we are exalting; it’s more about the position we are giving it in our hearts, minds, and lives.

Here’s the big danger – because sometimes these idols can feel like “no big deal” to us. So maybe I watch a bit too much Netflix… or yeah, I tend to be really hard worker, that’s just my personality…. What’s the danger of allowing some seemingly “harmless” idolatry in our hearts?

We miss out on God, which is a HUGE loss. When we go to these things, especially habitually and addictively as a substitute for God, we miss out on GOD meeting us there and providing that need – and He’s the only one who can – AND we train our hearts to keep going after these things that are infinitely inferior to God. 

And God is clear – God hates idolatry and will judge idolatry. So it’s not a “fun” topic to reveal some of our personality. 

The book of Isaiah provides powerful teaching on this topic because it gives us several examples of ways we turn to other things instead of God, which are timeless truths that get to every human heart. So for example, a few “big categories” of ways people turn to and exalt man-made things as a substitute for God are- for help or strength in times of need, for a sense of worth or identity, or for pleasure. 

5 Truths on Idolatry:

1. Idolatry is ultimately about exalting SELF over God. My power, my self-sufficiency, my wisdom, instead of depending on God. 
2:8-17- haughty looks and lofty pride, trusting in own resources, protection, and power, instead of God.
3:16- wanting to impress others with their physical appearance.
9:8-10- trusting in our own strength and self-sufficiency, what we can do, instead of depending on God. Pride and arrogance of heart.
10:12-14- Idolatry of self results in arrogant hearts, arrogant speech, and boastful looks. Because of our pride and self-sufficiency, we take credit for the successes in our life as if we accomplished them instead of giving God credit. “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding.” (King of Assyria)

It’s also about turning to man-made sources of help/power, worth/identity, or pleasure. Worldly sources of power, wealth, and security. Worldly sources of wisdom instead of fearing God and trusting Him. 
 

2. Idolatry is the way of the world, of those who do not know God. It is the tendency of every human heart. Isaiah 2:8 says, “Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made.” John Calvin famously said, “Human hearts are idol factories.” The strongest, most devoted Christians in all of history have had to fight idolatry in their hearts. No one is exempt. And this is how every person apart from Christ is living. This is the philosophy of the world – to exalt man and man’s strength. 

According to Isaiah, when we fall into idolatry, we are making an alliance with worldly sources of power and wisdom instead of honoring God and asking for his help. Isaiah describes it as filling our lives with worldly things and “striking hands with the world” (Is. 2:6; 30:1-2). The wisest of the world’s philosophies are foolishness compared to God Who knows all (Is. 19:11-14). When we go after the idols of the world, we are not only believing the lies of the world and Satan, but actually lying ourselves (Is. 30:9). We rebel against God’s Word, are unwilling to hear the instruction of the Lord, and instead believe the “smooth things” and “illusions” of worldly philosophies and idolatry (Is. 30:9-12).

3. Our idols are worthless, empty, and will not help or profit us (Isaiah 30). We must be sure of this. How can this be true, when some of our idols are good gifts from God, like good food or work or health or even family? Because – when we put that thing in the position of GOD in our lives, it ceases to be beneficial for us and becomes destructive. It cannot be in that position. It is not worthy of that position; it cannot provide what only God can provide. Work and the admiration of others will never be enough to satisfy our need for worth and identity; instead it will become a destructive addiction in our lives. These good gifts go from being profitable to destructive when we make them gods. 

4. Idolatry is addictive, deceptive, and after our utmost devotion. We keep falling for the same old things, thinking they will satisfy, and they never do. Isaiah says idols bring neither help nor profit; they are worthless and empty (Is. 30:3-7), yet we continue to pursue them. Isaiah 5:11- “Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them.” We are addicted to our idols. We sacrifice for them and go to great lengths to get them. We want them daily. We are like Smeagol, cherishing them as “our precious.” They lie to us, they promise to give us what we want, and they never do. We actually often require more and more of them. We shouldn’t be surprised by this because our flesh wants instant pleasure from tangible things we can see and feel. Our idols are quick fixes. They make us feel good! And turning to God is inherently harder for our flesh. It takes some effort and time and faith. 

5. God has designed our hearts to worship. We are worshippers. Every day, we will be worshipping something. Our hearts will exalt something, will look to something to fill us up. If we are not training our hearts to turn to God, they will ALWAYS turn to something else. That is why it is not enough to try to remove false idols from our lives; we simultaneously need to be training our hearts to worship God. 

Worshipping God through singing is clearly commanded over and over in the Psalms. It is not optional. Just like a lack of prayer in our lives is sin, a lack of worship in our lives is sin. Why is God so serious about us singing songs of praise to Him? God gives us this command for our good – because God knows if we don’t worship Him, we will worship something that is unworthy of worship. Our only hope of fighting idolatry is to believe and experience that God is better than anything else. He is always the better source of help and power, worth and identity, and pleasure. So much better that it makes our idols look disgusting. This reminds me of our youngest child’s security blanket. It is stained and ragged and looks disgusting to everyone else, but she loves it and if she had her way, would have it with her every second of the day. She especially wants it when she feels sad or stressed. She doesn’t see how ugly and gross it actually is. Our idols are like that – in comparison to God they are so ugly and inferior that it’s just silly!

So, because our hearts are designed to worship, this is not only a matter of identifying and trying to tear down idols; also a matter of proactively worshipping God and focusing on prayer and the Word. 

A few tips to identify and fight idolatry-

-Spend time in reflection and prayer on where we turn for help/power, worth/identity, and pleasure. What do I need daily? What do I get frustrated about if I don’t get? How do I respond to stress? At the most basic level, it’s like, what can I not live without? Or need for my happiness? Ask the Holy Spirit for help in being really honest and allow Him to shine lights on idols in our hearts. He only shine lights on areas that He wants to give us the power to tear down and be set free from. 

-Determine to fight these. Some may be things you need to be done with forever or for a short time. For instance, we fast from caffeine for one month every year. Take fasts from Netflix/social media sometimes. Many of our idols are good gifts, like work or health. Need Holy Spirit’s help and power in keeping those as good gifts that lead us to God, not substitute for God. 

Whatever the thing is, ask yourself, “As I’m experiencing this gift, will it bring me closer to God, or will it serve as a substitute for God?”

If you have a few things you are really fighting, maybe get some post it notes on your mirror that remind you daily, “God is always better than______.” 
Try a fast from the thing you love. Are you willing to give it up for a week? A month?
Sabbath – whatever your views are on sabbath – I think a question we need to ask is, “If I’m not willing to give up a day weekly or even monthly to stop working, hmm… maybe work is an idol in my life!” That to me is more of a red flag for idolatry than just a theology issue on sabbath. 
Before watching a movie or show, if you aren’t sure, can you pray and ask God to be there with you and use it to make you closer to him?
Tell a couple trusted friends. Confess it to them and tell them you’re committed to fight it. There is SUCH power in open confession and your friends being in on the fight with you! God did not design us to fight sin and idolatry on our own! Use the resources- fellowship- He has provided for you!

-Pursue God in worship. Try to get happy in God every day! Prioritize prayer, worship, Bible study, service! Put it in the schedule, so you do it when you don’t feel like it. Don’t expect it to come easy. Netflix gives us a quick fix with no effort on our part. Prayer and worship are work. They require us to put in some commitment, some grit, before we get the reward of satisfaction and happiness in God.