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.

Contemporary idols

When we come to examine idolatry in both Old and New Testament it is easy to spot the carved images and statues but we live in a society that is rife with idols.

Family, relationships, fashion, home, career, sport, fitness, hobbies are all things which are good but which we are constantly being subtly pressured into making the ultimate thing. I think probably the one we struggle with most is family, that is partly why we find statements such as Luke 8:21 so hard: "My Mother and Brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into action."

It is not that Jesus attacks family it is that he prioritises God's word and his response to it. We live in a world that encourages us to do the opposite, to put our families first. But the challenge is to be those who have ears to hear and put God's word into practice.

Idolatry

Last week I heard Tim Keller speaking on Idolatry, the links are now included on the link in the post below. It is well worth listening to, especially the first session where he deals with our idols.