{"id":3421,"date":"2009-11-01T11:45:22","date_gmt":"2009-11-01T16:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/?p=3421"},"modified":"2009-11-01T11:49:13","modified_gmt":"2009-11-01T16:49:13","slug":"idol-worship-counterfeit-gods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/2009\/11\/idol-worship-counterfeit-gods\/","title":{"rendered":"Idol Worship, Counterfeit Gods"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe src=\"http:\/\/rcm.amazon.com\/e\/cm?lt1=_blank&#038;bc1=FFFFFF&#038;IS2=1&#038;bg1=FFFFFF&#038;fc1=000000&#038;lc1=0000FF&#038;t=ezbooks&#038;o=1&#038;p=8&#038;l=as1&#038;m=amazon&#038;f=ifr&#038;md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&#038;asins=0525951369\" align=\"right\" style=\"width:120px;height:240px;\" scrolling=\"no\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.breakpoint.org\/features-columns\/articles\/13247-idol-worship\" target=\"_blank\">BreakPoint<\/a> | by Marcia Segelstein | Oct. 27, 2009<\/p>\n<p>What we worship defines us and controls us. And sometimes figuring out what we really worship isn\u2019t easy. Timothy Keller is pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and author of the just-released book, Counterfeit Gods. He writes that while some cultures still practice idol worship in the traditional sense, \u201cinternal idol worship, within the heart, is universal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Anything and everything we turn to in order to satisfy our deepest needs and longings can become idols. Even good things such as family, love, and morality become idols when they take the place of God. As Keller writes, \u201cIf anything becomes more fundamental than God to your happiness, meaning in life, and identity, then it is an idol.\u201d <!--more--> <\/p>\n<p>Romantic love, fulfillment, self-expression, and fame all have the potential to become idols. So do material success, financial well-being, and prestige. Keller believes the current economic situation offers an opportunity to identify our idols. If we can\u2019t live without something, then something\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n<p>Keller believes that we all have idols. Some are subtle and insidious, others not. Fame, for instance, can do terrible things to people when it becomes all-important. It can grow into an addiction, an idol that takes top priority\u2014over friends, family, decency. A friend who worked with me at CBS News used to joke that TV cameras projected rays that turned otherwise normal reporters and anchors into self-absorbed, ill-tempered monsters. One on-air personality once confided to me that her own family said they didn\u2019t know who she was any more.<\/p>\n<p>The need to be \u201cin love\u201d can become an idol, too. Like fame, it can take on the quality of a drug that ultimately destroys lives because it becomes the ultimate thing. Song titles like \u201cYou\u2019re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You,\u201d and phrases like, \u201cHe worships the ground she walks on,\u201d say it all.<\/p>\n<p>One of my favorite passages from the book is Keller\u2019s recounting of the Old Testament story of Naaman, found in the book of 2 Kings. As commander of Aram\u2019s army, Naaman had reached the pinnacle of success. He was wealthy, well regarded, and served at the right hand of the king as a trusted adviser. But he had one thing he didn\u2019t want: leprosy.<\/p>\n<p>It happened that Naaman\u2019s wife had a slave girl who had been captured from Israel. She told Naaman that he should \u201csee the prophet who is in Samaria,\u201d Elisha. But instead of seeking out the prophet, Naaman decided to go straight to the top. Filled with self-importance, and with letters of reference and plenty of gold in hand, he called on the king of Israel.<\/p>\n<p>The king would have none of it, and eventually Naaman found his way to Elisha\u2019s house. There he was greeted not by the prophet himself, but by a lowly servant. Speaking on behalf of Elisha, the servant told Naaman, \u201cGo, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Naaman was outraged. Not only did he get the message secondhand, it was too ridiculous to be believed! He had good money to pay, and he deserved better treatment than this. It took convincing by his own servants to get him to try it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, \u2018Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Please accept now a gift from your servant.\u2019 The prophet answered, \u2018As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"http:\/\/rcm.amazon.com\/e\/cm?lt1=_blank&#038;bc1=FFFFFF&#038;IS2=1&#038;bg1=FFFFFF&#038;fc1=000000&#038;lc1=0000FF&#038;t=ezbooks&#038;o=1&#038;p=8&#038;l=as1&#038;m=amazon&#038;f=ifr&#038;md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&#038;asins=0525951369\" align=\"left\" style=\"width:120px;height:240px;\" scrolling=\"no\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a story that, as Keller puts it, \u201cassaults our worship of success.\u201d In order for Naaman to be cured, he had to take advice from his wife\u2019s servant girl, then from Elisha\u2019s servant, and then from his own servants. Naaman believed that the false gods of prestige, power and privilege could purchase a cure. He had to learn that God is a God of grace, and that healing can\u2019t be deserved or earned, only received.<\/p>\n<p>In a beautiful line summing up the story of Naaman, Keller writes: \u201cIf you want God\u2019s grace, all you need is need.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Keller has some thoughtful things to say on the subject of forgiveness. \u201cIf you have been robbed of money, opportunity, or happiness, you can either make the wrongdoer pay it back or you can forgive. But when you forgive, that means you absorb the loss and the debt. You bear it yourself. All forgiveness, then, is costly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Forgiving is difficult because even when we want to forgive, it seems impossible simply to make the debt (of pain or suffering or whatever it is) disappear. Keller makes it clear that it doesn\u2019t just disappear. We must willingly\u2014and ungrudgingly\u2014agree to bear it. And in the larger sense, forgiveness from God is not free either. It cost Jesus his life.<\/p>\n<p>No individual or group is immune from idolatry, according to Keller, including religious communities. It is what he calls \u201ca subtle but deadly mistake\u201d for people of faith to rely on the rightness of their doctrine rather than on God\u2019s grace. To do that is to elevate doctrine over all else, to make it an idol.<\/p>\n<p>He warns against becoming what the book of Proverbs calls a \u201cscoffer.\u201d When believers show disdain for opponents rather than graciousness, it\u2019s an indication that they have forgotten that they are saved by grace alone. \u201cInstead, their trust in the rightness of their views makes them feel superior.\u201d It\u2019s a theme Keller wrote eloquently about in his earlier book, The Prodigal God.<\/p>\n<p>So what do we do about our idol worship? First we have to discern what our idols are. Keller suggests paying attention to our daydreams, observing how we spend our money, monitoring our response to unanswered prayer, and looking at emotions that seem uncontrollable. Once discerned, Keller writes that it\u2019s not enough to repent or attempt to live differently by willpower. \u201cIf you uproot the idol and fail to \u2018plant\u2019 the love of Christ in its place, the idol will grow back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He writes that we must rejoice in Christ. \u201cTo rejoice is to treasure a thing, to assess its value to you, to reflect on its beauty and importance until your heart rests in it and tastes the sweetness of it.\u201d Then the heart will release its grip on our false gods.<\/p>\n<p>. . . <a href=\"http:\/\/www.breakpoint.org\/features-columns\/articles\/13247-idol-worship\" target=\"_blank\">more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BreakPoint | by Marcia Segelstein | Oct. 27, 2009 What we worship defines us and controls us. And sometimes figuring out what we really worship isn\u2019t easy. Timothy Keller is pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and author of the just-released book, Counterfeit Gods. He writes that while some cultures still practice &#8230; <a title=\"Idol Worship, Counterfeit Gods\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/2009\/11\/idol-worship-counterfeit-gods\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Idol Worship, Counterfeit Gods\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":497,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[68,15,126],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-moral-issues","category-theology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/497"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3421\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}