Functional Saviors

CounterFeit Gods

by Tim Keller

One of my goals this new year is to read a minimum of a book a month. Twelve books may not seem like a lot but I probably read about five a year.  Sometimes more, sometimes less. I’ve found there are a lot of things competing for good spiritual disciplines in my life and I hope to do less of them (i.e., TV) and more reading.

I began with a book by Tim Keller called, “Counterfeit Gods.” Anything by Tim Keller has been a huge help and encouragement to me and I highly recommend his books. I’m on my fifth Keller book as we speak & feel as if he has discipled me in the last few months through his books.

Here are some of the things that stood out to me that I took away from Counterfeit Gods.

We all have idols. In fact, our hearts are idol factories. We produce idols in abundance and with great ease. Contrary to what we might think, idols are not always bad things but simply good things that have risen to a divine level for us. Many times we take the good gifts of God and elevate them to gods. We take the creation and value it over the Creator. Gifts of God are great as gifts, but they make lousy gods!

We may be aware of the fact that we have idols in our hearts but discovering them & exposing them is what can be most difficult.  Keller helps us with this but not in a way that is comfortable.

For instance, he mentions one of the most affective ways to discover the idols of our hearts is by looking at our daydreams. He asks, “What do we enjoy imagining? What are our fondest dreams? We look to our idols to love us, to provide us with value and as sense of beauty, significance, and worth.”

So what we think about most can point to what our idols are. And as we see them, we must not only recognize them but also repent of them regularly.

He takes this even further.

 Most people spend their lives trying to make their heart's fondest dreams come true. Isn't that what life is all about, "the pursuit of happiness"? We search endlessly for ways to acquire the things we desire, and we are willing to sacrifice much to achieve them. We never imagine that getting our heart's deepest desires might be the worst thing that can ever happen to us.

This is a shocking revelation for our American culture that values individual freedom, expression, & happiness over all other things! I talk to many people about their lives who make decisions based on their personal happiness and Keller warns us against this. More so I have seen how my own heart has been deceived in this way.

Killing our idols

Keller talks about the best way for us to kill our idols is not simply to do away with them but to replace them. Idols cannot be simply removed they must be replaced. We must say to our idols, “Because I have God, I can live without you.” Although this is not easy, it is extremely powerful.

He deals with idols in our culture that we may not readily recognize. For instance, the idol of beauty. He speaks of a woman named Sally that he counseled once.

Sally had the misfortune of being born beautiful. Even in childhood she saw the power that she could wield with her physical attractiveness. At first she used her beauty to manipulate others, but eventually others used it to manipulate her. She came to feel that she was powerless and invisible unless some man was in love with her. She could not bear to be alone. As a result, she was wiling to remain in relationships with men who were abusive.

“Why would Sally endure such treatment? She had come to look to men for the kind of deep affirmation and acceptance that only God can provide. As a result, she became a slave to love.”

Similarly, we become enslaved to things very easily and quite often. There is nothing wrong with physical beauty but when it becomes the ultimate thing in our lives, we see destructive behaviors comes from it like in Sally’s life.

Idols have this kind of deep power over our lives if we let them. Keller makes this stunning & convicting insight: “An idolatrous attachment can lead you to break any promise, rationalize any indiscretion, or betray any other allegiance, in order to hold on to it.” This statement has been the most convicting for me. I have done this in my life. I have broken promises & rationalized indiscretions in order to hold onto things in my life, things I never thought I would do. This is the power of idolatry in our lives. This is what must be broken and replaced with Jesus! Idols are life-sucking vampires or leaches & Jesus is life-giving. We must replace them with him.

One of the most helpful ways that Keller gives us to identify and replace our idols is to “pull our emotions up by the roots.” He means that we have to ask ourselves the following questions about the strong emotions we feel:

1| Am I so scared, because something in my life is being threatened that I think is a necessity when it is not?

2| Am I so down on myself because I have lost or failed at something that I think is a necessity when it is not?

3| Do I feel that I must have this thing to be fulfilled and significant?

When we ask ourselves these questions and “pull our emotions up by the roots” we will often discover that our idols are attached to them! David Powlison writes:

           

…that most basic question which God poses to each human heart: Has something or someone besides Jesus Christ taken the title to your heart’s functional trust, preoccupation, loyalty, service, fear, & delight? Questions bring some of people’s idol systems to the surface. To whom or what do you look             for life-sustaining stability, security, & acceptance? What do you really want & expect out of life? What would really make you happy? What would make you an acceptable person? Where do you look for power & success? These questions or similar ones tease out whether we serve God or idols, whether we look for salvation from Christ or from false saviors.

We must see idolatry for what it really is. It is not just a failure to obey God, it is a setting of the whole heart on something besides God. In order to be free of them then, we must replace them with worship. We must not only repent of them but also rejoice in God instead of them.

So what are your idols? How have you struggled to be free of them? How have you found answers for how to be free?

What is operating in the place of Jesus Christ as your real, functional salvation & Savior?