Respectable idols

Last night at Lighthouse we were looking at Jonah 2, his prayer from in the belly of the great fish. We were confronted there by the respectable nature of our idolatry.

That is the fascinating thing about Jonah's prayer. He doesn't talk about running away from God as being what has led to his judgement, he doesn't talk about refusing to take God's message, ignoring his word or setting himself on a collision course with the almighty sovereign God of the land and seas. No (v8) Jonah says it is clinging to idols that means you forfeit God's love.

Jonah the prophet identifies idolatry as what has led him to face judgement from God (and the great fish isn't the judgement - the great fish is God's means of salvation). That ought to shock us - Jonah the prophet is an idolater. And Jonah has a respectable idol - his nation, Israel.

It opens us up, it calls us to examine our respectable idols. Ministry, my reputation, our church are all potential idols. And the status we give them can lead us to downplay the significance of our sin. We simply don't see them as idols, in fact we value our passion about such things. But whilst being passionate about such good things is right we must beware our passion for them outweighing our passion for God.