What Infuriates You?
Everyone has a hot button or two--something that we say "makes us crazy". Are you so competitive that you can't stand for your team to lose a pickup game at the gym? Could it be that being the best is your idol? How do you respond sitting in traffic? When someone cuts you off, drives too close, speeds up and won't let you in, why does this stranger have so much power over your emotions? What about when someone embarrasses you or doesn't treat you with respect? What's the real issue here? Maybe your quick temper reveals the oldest idol of them all--the god of me.
Chapter 3--A Jealous God
In our times, it's common to live a nomadic existence, to move from city to city, from church to church within cities, from partner to partner. Our eyes are always on the horizon, looking for the bigger house, the superior career choice, the better life. We're always watching for a better deal. We live in a world where "no strings attached" is a popular choice when it comes to relationships. We seem to be a generation with one commitment: keeping our options open.
The only relationship God is interested in is one that is exclusive and completely committed. He is not interested in an "open relationship" with you. He won't consider sharing space on the loveseat of your heart.
Paul Copan (philosophy professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University) describes God' deep passion for our wholehearted devotion. People, he says, are like the dog who drinks out of the toilet bowl and says, "It doesn't get much better than this!" We could be enjoying the living water that only Christ can offer, yet we choose substitutes that are shockingly, disgustingly inferior.
Chapter 4--Calling all Gods
The gods that compete for our attention come at us based on the circumstances of our every day existence. They may have made a few costume changes over the years, but the categories are the same.
When you subtract the religious language, worship is the built-in human reflex to put your hope in something or someone and then chase after it. You hold something up and then give your life to pursuing it. And when you begin to align yourself with that pursuit, then, whether you realize it or not, you are worshipping.
The end result, of course, is that our lives begin to take the shape of what we care about most. We each make the choice to worship, and then at some point we discover that the choice to worship, and then at some point, we discover that the choice makes us. The object of your worship will determine your future and define your life. It's the one choice that all other choices are motivated by.
Joshua--"Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve." **At least, he is saying, make an educated decision on the great goal of your life. Otherwise you will passively flow into some choice by mere osmosis, a little bit of you at a time, until you find yourself inside a temple bowing down to a god you never consciously chose.**
We raise our children in the faith we have--or the lack thereof. We may not do so consciously, but we are constantly erecting idols in our homes and teaching our children about who or what is worthy of our worship.
The law of exposure means that our minds absorb and our lives ultimately reflect whatever we are most frequently exposed to.
Here's my point: A lot of people become Christians. They invite Jesus Christ to come into their lives, to take the throne of their heart. Everything is great, but then they catch a strange whiff of something and realize they've brought stuff with them. Stuff that is embarrassing. Stuff that is fragrant, and not in a good way. Stuff that should have been destroyed a long time ago but managed to come along for the ride. It's hard to understand because they know their sins are forgiven. If they've been thoroughly cleaned, why is this stuff still clinging to them? In many ways, they haven't changed since their conversion; they still have the old desires, the old habits, . They've invited on Lord into their lives, but they're still paying attention to the old gods. That is the challenge for many of us: the problem is that we have tried to follow him without leaving something behind.
Chapter 7--The God of Entertainment
Have you ever had a Solomon moment in which you watch your fourth straight "reality show" or flipped through hundreds of channels and concluded, "there is nothing on!" What you're really saying is "Meaningless, meaningless! Utterly meaningless!" Instead of being entertained, we increasingly become the opposite--bored.
Neil Postman (author) wrote that popular culture is dumbing down our world at a startling fast rate.
Solomon seems to say, "It just wears me out. You work hard and what do you have to show for it? I mean really." He uses the rotation of the earth and weather patterns as examples of how he feels about life. It's like we're just spinning in circles. He wrote these words before the internet, iPods, and satellite TV. Never in the history of humanity has there been so much entertainment and so little satisfaction.
C.S. Lewis--"Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger...well, there is such thing as food. A duckling want to swim, there is such a things as water. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing."
We want pure, unadulterated joy, and the trail finally leads to God himself.
We were made for God, and until he is our greatest pleasure, all the other pleasures of this life will lead to emptiness.
A.W. Tozer said the more vibrant our inner lives are, the less we need from the outside--that is, the more active we are in mind and spirit, the less we need to fall back on external media and other input.
There is a place in life for relaxation through various forms of entertainment, including sports, television, movies, music, and games, but the question is, Do we seek to fill the spiritual vacuum inside us with empty entertainment, or is it the empty entertainment that is creating the vacuum? But there's plenty of evidence that our increasing reliance on the flash and glamour of our entertainment is blinding us to quieter and truer pleasure.
So how do we smash these idols? How do we kick them off the heart's throne? Often it's as easy as turning the power off.
Worshipping in Haiti, they can go 6 hours no problem. Why? They have no distractions! The Lord doesn't have much competition.
Chapter 8--The God of Success
He plays on the most basic problem of humanity--that pull toward doing it our way, aka pride.
In fact, one of the most common gods of success is the worship of religious rules. We put our trust in our own mastery of rule-keeping.
The god of success invites you to save yourself instead of depending upon Jesus to do it. Being a devoted disciple means they must acknowledge their own helplessness and their ultimate need--the need for rescue. It's not easy for a successful person to admit the need for help.
That makes sense to us, because life as we know it is all about earning things, making our own way. If you want something, you work for it.
When it comes to guilt, however, there's one problem: sin has put all of us hopelessly in debt. We'll never be successful enough. There are not enough deeds or donations in the world to buy an ounce of the purity we need.
So in God's economy, success only comes when we declare spiritual bankruptcy.
The rich young ruler had come to define himself by his success and accomplishments, whether they were counted in cash or commandments. he knew that no matter how much he wanted to go after Jesus, there was a price he would not pay; there was a god he could not overthrow.
For some people, the idea of standing before God without and impressive resume is unthinkable. We want to show him our success, prove our worth. But to God, success is precisely the opposite of that. It's being willing to step away from all the stuff, all the achievements, and say, "None of that means a thing to me, Lord. I lay it all before you; you and only you are my success.
Success is a word we use to speak of something that we have done and accomplished. The circumstances of your life can be the same, but the work blessed is an indication not that you have done something, but that something has been done for you.
Let me put it this way: success is when we achieve; blessed is when we receive. If we say, "I'm successful," we are giving the glory to ourselves. When we say, "I'm blessed," we are giving the glory to God.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:3)
Jesus is describing people who know they don't have it all figured out, people who are humble enough to ask for help.
This world's success puts the emphasis on being self-sufficient and self-reliant, acting as if we've got it all figured out. But Jesus redefines a successful life as one that humbly says to God, "I can't do this on my own. I need your help."
Some of us are formal goal setters; others have more vague ideas about what direction we would like to head.
You could have a dream of playing professional basketball, owning your business, or any number of other things. The real question is, What drives your goals? What is your motivation? Is it for your glory, or God's?
But along the way, climbing, working, earning, and achieving became ends in themselves. It was no longer about what we could do, but about whom we could out-do.
And we had several unhappy surprises. One was that we hurt people as we climbed over them or elbowed them down the hill. Another was that we were always weary from the effort. Not to mention always wary of the challengers to the throne. And the greatest surprise was that the top of the hill wasn't nearly as great as we thought it would be.
Chapter 9--The God of Money
Democracy was the star of the American dream, and when people talked about their "pursuit of happiness" the god of money would think to himself, What they really mean is the pursuit of me. Money has grown so dominant in our culture that it's difficult for us to stand far enough back to get a perspective.
The man in Luke 12:16-19 doesn't seem to understand that he has what he has because God has given it to him. When we approach money from the perspective that it belongs to us, it just doesn't work.
Psalm 24:1 simply puts it this way, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it." When we keep that perspective we understand our dependence on him and we worship him as the provider.
God has given us the use of his resources for a short time here on earth, and we have much to be grateful for. Go through your day sometime just recognizing that everything is God's. Get out of God's bed and walk into God's bathroom, and turn on God's shower, and then put on God's clothes Eat God's cereal and drink God's coffee. Get in God's car and head to work. When we start to see all of our resources as God's it helps us develop and attitude of gratitude that leads to a heart of worship.
The reason money so often ends up being God's chief competition is that we tend to ascribe divine attributes to it. we look to money to do for us the very thing God wants to do for us.
And maybe you think if you could save just enough money, all your worries would go away. When we look to money as a security, it becomes our god, because that's where we are putting our hope and our dependence. Prayer becomes nice but not necessary because we have enough money to meet our own needs.
Proverbs 30:8-9 says "Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me my daily bread. Other, I may have too much and disown you and say, "Who is the Lord?" The gods of success appeal to our self-sufficiency.
If money and success are your gods, may you be so blessed as to have them taken away from you, rather than spend your life bowing don to them only to find out you missed the real thing.
But even though experientially we know that money won't satisfy us, we seem to always be chasing it. I know in my head that simplicity is highly underrated and wealth brings unanticipated complications, but something within my heart still says "more".
Where we put our money reveals what we've put our trust in. (Matthew 6:21--Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.")
Giving away money breaks its power. It's like you're saying to money, "I don't even care about you. you are so unimportant to me that I can just give you away."
Chapter 10--The God of Achievement
It's not surprising that, in our culture, personal achievement is a very powerful and alluring idol. But when our lives are all about getting things done, we can find that there is not much room for God. Instead, our approach to worshipping God can be checking off a box on our to-do list labeled "Go to church".
But Jesus wasn't preoccupied with a checklist of things to do and objective to meet that day. He wasn't a slave to his schedule but simply stated that he did whatever the Father wanted him to do. He regularly took time to get away and pray.
The god of achievement distracts us from following Jesus by distracting us with all the things that need to be done. How often do we live with good intentions of spending time with Jesus and turning our heart toward him only to find at the end of the day that's the one thing on our checklist that we never got around to?
The god of achievement offers a method of measurement. For many of us it's much easier to give our time to the tangible. We like to see what we got done.
When I get through spending time with Jesus, I don't see immediate results, but when I paint a room, the change is obvious. When I spend time in prayer and worship there isn't immediate visual evidence that I've accomplished something, but when I balance the budget, I've got something to show for it.
What we are doing may be good, but the good is bad when there is something better.
Once again we see that many of the gods that battle for our hearts don't try to lure us with what is obviously wrong or overtly sinful. The issue of idolatry comes down to one word: choice.
(Martha and Mary) Martha compares herself and seems to be keeping score. High achievers will turn almost anything into a competition.
Symptoms of the god of achievement:
1. A constant frustration with people in your life who, from your perspective, aren't getting it done. This frustration with others for not dong their fair share comes to the surface in the form of criticism.
2. Constant sense of discontentment with yourself for not getting done what you hoped you would.
When we worship the god of achievement, getting things done and getting things done right becomes more important than almost anything or anyone else. It's hard to worship the god of achievement and be still and worship the Lord God at the same time.
But that's the illusion of achievement. We begin to believe in what we've done, but it's more than that. What we've done begins to define who we are. We are our achievements. When you meet other adults these days, they introduce themselves with name and business. I know that's just how we talk, but our jobs are becoming almost hyphenated to our names, which of course is how surnames began. John the miller became John Miller, and Peter the baker became Peter Baker.
Shelia Walsh--"I measured myself by what other people thought of me. That was slowly killing me." She didn't think it [being in a mental hospital] was a big deal, because it seemed to her that she had already lost everything. And sometimes, that's what it takes for us to connect with God. The idols have to be burned down, and that can be incredibly painful. We have to let go of a lot of garbage before we can gain the one thing worth having--but we're very attached to that garbage. It seems like a part of us. It takes a lot of faith to let go of all that junk and take hold of the cross with both hands.
From the distance of the years, he realized he had gone so far and enjoyed too little. Who had time to enjoy? The work as sacred. You worked, and that created more work. It never ended.
Strange how a man can go behind bars, yet be more free than he's ever been. Don't just choose what is good, choose what is better.
Hard work is good, but why are you doing it? Is it to prove yourself? Driven people are highly busy, and they see what as a sign of their success or significance. They don't tend to enjoy their work, but only the results of it, the fact of reaching a goal. Guilt is a motivation factor in all they do.
Chapter 11--The God of Love
When you make a relationship with someone else your god, it will eventually be marked with disappointment and bitterness. When you look to someone to be your god, they are going to let you down. When you say to someone, "I want you to satisfy me; I want you to save me; I want you to be my source of significance," what you're really saying is, "I want you to be god to me." Well, that's a lot to ask of someone. That puts a lot of pressure on the relationship, and given enough time that pressure will cause some cracks.
Chapter 12--The God of Family
In C. S. Lewis's view, it's not so much that God won't let us into heaven it's what we won't let ourselves in. If we can't learn how to say, "Thy will be done," then finally God must sadly say, "Okay , then thy will be done."
We're doing what we're supposed to be doing [raising a family], we simply don't realize we've gotten things out of order.
God's greatest gifts are also His greatest tests. The more beautiful a thing is, the more capacity it has to become an idol. The more I fear losing it, the more likely I am to worship it.
As I was working on this chapter, I happened to be talking to a young mother who listened carefully as I communicated this ideas. After taking time to reflect on it she became convicted that her children had become false gods in her life. I asked her what led her to that conclusion. She explained that it wasn't that she made them to much of a priority, she said; it was more about letting them control her. Her children, and what was going on with them, determined whether or not she had a good say. If they behaved themselves and didn't throw any tantrums, she could feel good about life. Otherwise she could not. If they were happy, she was happy. If they were upset, she was upset. Her children had the power to fill her with anger or peace, with disappointment or joy. She realized that they were control-passed. This is exactly what a false go does: it recreates us in its own image.
If I am constantly critical of others for the emptiness I feel, if I am always giving the ones I live a hard time for not meeting my needs and not making me happy, it's almost likely because I'm asking them to do something they weren't made to do. They can give me love and joy, but there's a deeper satisfaction and contentment that much come from god alone. Criticism often marks our families and relationships because we want someone to do for us what only God can do for us and they are always falling short.
Chapter 13--The God of Me
In my brokenness, I feel the pull to worship me. I hear the whispered lie that Adam and Eve first heard: "Your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God" (Gen. 3-5). Why serve? You rule! You have everything you need to be your own god. Every day is a trip to that orchard; every day the snake is waiting. I must face the same choice: Will I worship God, and find my true place in this universe, the perfect place he has arranged for me? Or will I worship me and decide I can somehow come up with a better life then he Creator of all could design?
One symptom of worshipping the god of me is arrogance. I'm always right. My way is the best way. The god of me won't listen to the wisdom others. Another symptom that surfaces when I start to worship the god of me is insecurity. The god of me is consumed with what others think and terrified of trying something and failing. You can't help but be self-conscious, because when you're god, it's all about you. How about defensiveness? Have you ever found yourself taking the slightest suggestion, the blandest criticism, as a personal attack? What makes people this way? Well, when you're god, you must be perfect, and no one else could possibly be in a position to criticize you. The god of me will make you lonely, because you can't handle equals. You certainly can't handle authority. You need people to constantly reaffirm that it's all about you.
Instead of looking to God as a source of comfort, we turn to:
- food or mindless entertainment
- accomplishments
- money
- spouse and children
- popular opinion and academic consensus
But you've patching one leak after another and it seems that it is beyond repair.
you had such hopes and dream for them [your children]. You've done your best and invested so much in them. And now there is a sense of panic as you see the decisions they are making and direction they are going and where it's all leading; you're left wondering, How did this happen?
With panic and dread you look on but it seems like there is nothing you can do.
Are you stressed out and thirsty for peace? Are you lonely and thirsty for love? Are you bored and thirsty for purpose? Are you thirsty for acceptance? For validation? For significance? Are you just thirsty for something more? The of me relentlessly calls us to chase after all these things. But ultimately we're left more thirsty than ever.
So here's the invitation from Jesus: "Drink from me, and you'll never thirst again."
