A while back, I wrote about my experience with weightlifting becoming an idol in my life. It consumed me because the more I read, invested in, and took in from social media (whether doctors, scientists, or influencers), the more time I gave to it. The more of myself I allowed it to consume.
We don’t often consider idolatry a problem today, but it is very much a problem. Idolatry, as defined biblically, is anything we worship in place of God. An actual object was often made to symbolize this “idol” to resemble something in heaven, on earth, or under the water.
Today, our idols look quite different but they represent the same thing: devotion and worship to something other than God.
I address this because I believe so many of us feel God is far away or not answering but we haven’t really given Him ourselves either. We run to other things for answers and fulfillment instead of God and struggle to understand why He’s not near.
Did you know that only 11% of Americans who call themselves Christians read the Bible daily? And only 16% read it weekly? Did you further know that the number one reason people don’t read it enough is because they have no time?
These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
Matthew 15:8
Here’s a list of 9 of the most common idols of our day:
The Smartphone
I don’t think this even needs an explanation but from my experience alone, I carry it everywhere. Sometimes I even feel a bit of panic if I leave it behind. I’m attached to it because it brings distraction, false comfort, and ease to so much in my life. It’s the first thing I look at when I wake up and the last thing I look at before I go to bed. Sadly. Yes. It’s a real problem. I use to measure health stats and I become a prisoner to the numbers.
Social Media
I’m not even sure where to start with this. Something that has such good intentions can be a source of anxiety, depression, addiction, and stress over all the things I’m not doing. It’s turned us into scrolling robots and the more we take in in this form, the less our brain works and the less it thinks for itself. We watch the highlight reels of people’s lives and become unsatisfied with our own. This leads to discontentment and consumerism.
Politics
To some people, politics are akin to religion. Without getting too deep into specifics, the truth is, both sides are nasty to one another and neither truly has the country’s best interests at heart. We can get so invested in what this party is doing wrong and what this party is doing right, we neglect time with God to actually hear His thoughts—not the thoughts we want to hear. Equating Jesus to politics is very dangerous—not just for you but for everyone you talk to about it.
Are politics important? To a degree yes. But not more important than loving people first–which is God’s greatest commandment.
Pain/Offense
Although pain and offense are very different types of bondages, they both tend to hold the same weight in people’s hearts. Some people are carrying their pain like a badge of honor and rather than get the help they need to heal, they use it to victimize themselves further. Some even use it to justify poor behavior. Idolizing pain not only further harms them, it harms those around them. Refusing to heal turns that pain into an idol. It’s used as a safety net and an excuse to remain where they are. It’s a painful truth, but a truth nonetheless.
Offense then stems from unhealed hurts. Some people are easily offended and it’s because they still carry around their pain. A close sister to pain is anger. When our pain goes untreated, it can turn to anger, resentment, bitterness, depression, insecurities, and ultimately wreck our mental health. It’s our responsibility to take care of our ourselves in this way and get the healing we need.
Power/Influence
One look at social media and it’s not hard to see how people idolize those who have influence or those who crave it. You can also look to the world leaders to see what lengths some will go to in order to gain and keep their power. It doesn’t matter who they hurt in the process. They value that above anything else, making it an idol in their hearts.
Perfect Families/Relationships
It’s not hard to fall into the trap of striving for the “perfect” marriage and family. After all, plenty of places in the Bible talk about our roles here and how we should live and behave within them. But many have taken this to the extreme and have chased having the perfect family over pursuing the perfect God.
Some Christians believe having this perfect, godly family is a status symbol of self-righteousness for themselves. It’s a dangerous road for them and their children. There are no perfect families or marriages because there are no perfect people. And idolizing something that doesn’t even exist will only leave you feeling hopeless and like a failure in the end.
Entertainment/Escapism
Americans seem to live for entertainment. We work so we can entertain ourselves with social media, big-screen TVs, surround sound, sporting events, shopping trips, dining out, and reading novels.
These things are not bad on their own—but when we put our focus on them above God and are only working for the next big toy and big, fancy vacation, mystery novel, and anything else that will aid us in escaping from the reality of our lives, it’s a clue that we’re not seeking God enough. These things cannot and will not fill you like God can. They are very temporary and never enough. That’s why we continue to work to acquire more.
Food
Pretty sure most of us struggle with food in some capacity. It’s tasty. It’s comforting. But it’s costly in many ways when we overindulge. This one is harder to put in check, I think, than the rest because our bodies crave more of what we feed it.
When we’re sad we eat. When we’re happy we eat. When we’re grieving we eat. When we’re celebrating we eat. Eating is good and fun and God created tastebuds because He wanted us to enjoy food — just not more than Him.
In addition, we can idolize eating healthy just as easily as the mere act of eating junk. When our minds are so consumed with whether we should eat this or not eat that, and we’re afraid to eat anything because everything is bad for us, it’s become an idol in our lives. And worse, when we tell other people they are poisoning themselves or their kids (thus, shaming them), we’ve absolutely put food over the love God.
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink. Colossians 2:16a
Ourselves
When God created us, He created us with hearts to worship Him alone. Do you know what one of the biggest idols today’s culture works to create? Ourselves. Our comfort. Our feelings. Our peace. Our ease of life. Our [illusion] of control.
All of the idols I mentioned actually point to giving comfort and control to ourselves. We may even be able to narrow down the idols to those very things: comfort and control. Sobering isn’t it?
How do we make ourselves an idol? We become the center of our own universe and if anyone doesn’t give us the attention we desire, we label them an enemy and seek to destroy them before they expose us. This extreme form of self-idolization is called narcissism.
Now, we all have a tendency toward self-interest and selfish desires. That’s not what narcissism is. Narcissism is an extreme form of self-importance and being in love with self, yet having no self-love. Confusing right? It goes back to carrying unhealed pain that develops into something more dangerous.
Narcissism is characterized by a strong need for admiration, entitlement, arrogance, manipulative behavior yet fragile self-esteem, lots of insecurity and zero empathy for others. All of these because God is not the center of their world, they are—and they want everyone else to treat them as such.
He created you, sweet friend. He knows exactly what you, personally, need. He knows your heart, your worries, your gifts & talents, your favorite things, your strengths and weaknesses. He knows the sin you struggle with—and He still loves you and wants you to come to Him so He can purify your heart so you no longer have to carry that weight.
You don’t need to run to anything or anyone other than Him. He has all you’re looking for and more and desires you to trust Him.
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