I race a vintage Porsche and have used racing as a platform to build relationships with men and share my faith. One day a man who never misses a chance to race asked me quite seriously, “When does my passion for racing become an idol?” Good question.
All idolatry is rooted in unbelief. This unbelief can take many forms, but at its root is the powerful lie, “Jesus Christ alone is not enough to make me happy. I need something else.” An idol is something we worship. The issue is looking to anything except Jesus Christ for identity, meaning, and ultimate purpose. An idol is anything that becomes the object of inordinate affection. An idol is anything of which we say, “I must have this to be happy.”
John Calvin said that men are “idol factories.” Perhaps nothing interferes with a man’s faith more than the root problem of making idols—it’s the “next step” after believing a lie. The average American Christian male has made an idol of something that competes with his full surrender to the Lordship of Christ. Men can make idols of almost anything, but common examples today include:
Money
Titles and positions (and especially if their work doesn’t generate large revenues)
Homes (i.e., attaching personal worth and identity to a dwelling)
Country club memberships (i.e., being part of the “right” crowd)
Ministry titles (e.g., elder, deacon)
Relationships (e.g., idolizing a wife)
Affiliations with important people
Cars, boats, planes, motorcycles
Their bodies (i.e., physical appearance)
Superior intelligence
Their own righteousness
The praise of men
As you can readily see, all these affections are horizontal and worldly. All such friendship with the world is spiritual adultery (James 4:4).
Idols make promises they cannot keep, which is why you can be on a winning streak and still feel empty.
The above is a recent Weekly Briefing from the Man in the Mirror written by Pat Morley.
This week I am attending a professional training in New Orleans. This is my first trip ever to this city so I was interested in walking down Bourbon Street. I’ve heard so much about it. A small group of us went there for dinner Sunday night and walked down the street afterwards. You can’t walk down this street without understanding about many of the idols that are mentioned above. This street is a literal temple to the many idols that men can have. As a Christian man its easy to get caught up in the temptations and the atmosphere. But we really need to understand that the people that are so lost in the lifestyles that embrace so many idols are blind to the fact that they are really in bondage. They are blinded by the lie that this is the way to enjoy life. What a shame. How can we not feel compassion for them. They need to know that the only freedom from that bondage is Jesus Christ. Lord, forgive me for not making an effort to reach even one of the lost.
