Category: Spiritual Warfare

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July 13 2021

Exposing The Heart of Idolatry

A. Scott Ingram Christian Life, Christian Life and Gospel Leadership, Gospel Leadership, Spiritual Warfare Bible, Gospel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Old Testament, repentance, Scripture, worship 0

For the last couple of weeks, I have been looking at idolatry (here and here) and how many times our hearts are captured by things that are not God, nor are they worthy of our worship. I have received a lot of great feedback from some of you, sharing your own struggles with idolizing ministry and other things. Some have shared how the Lord has been speaking to them some of these same things for this season of life. And some of you have written emails to discuss some of the nuances of idolatry. I am grateful for all of it!

I want to take some of this feedback (questions, comments, and advice) I have received and go a little deeper into what idolatry is and how we guard our hearts and minds against getting to that place.

Old Testament Idols

Throughout the Old Testament, discussions about idolatry were centered on actual carved idols, made of wood or stone. These were human-created images representing the various gods of the nations. In some cultures, idol-making was a huge business.

Concerning one question I was asked, my personal belief is that the pagan gods whom the idols represented were not just figments of human imagination. I believe they were actually heavenly beings, given authority to rule in the earth, but were acting in rebellion against God. (For examples, see Luke 4:5-6, Deuteronomy 32:8, and Psalm 82. I also recommend the book “The Unseen Realm” by Michael S. Heiser for deeper study on this topic.)

Whether these were real demonic beings or simply human creations, we must understand that people really did worship these idols. They really prayed to them and trusted them for their own security and blessing. They really sacrificed to them, sometimes even their children (2 Kings 17:31, Isaiah 57:5).

These idols had so captured the people’s hearts that they would give or do anything in worship of them.

What Makes Something An Idol?

This kind of veneration and service to these false gods goes beyond a surface level of sinfulness. This was not that people would occasionally give lip service to a false god or would just go to enjoy a party that might have been thrown in some false god’s name.

No. What raises this to the level of idolatry rather than simply sin is that the people came to love their idols. Their whole lives were wrapped around that thing. This is why over and over again when speaking to the issue of idolatry, the Lord condemns His people as prostitutes and whores! (You can find examples in Psalm 106:39, Jeremiah 3:1, Ezekiel 16:16, Hosea 4:12, et al.)

Though the form our idols take has changed over the millennia, the fact that we love things in the place of God has not!

Idolatry is a Love Issue.

One of the pushbacks I received from the first post on ministry idolatry was that as Christians, our hearts have been fully restored by the Lord in salvation. Therefore, our hearts are not where the problem lies, but it is a problem of mindsets. We must “be transformed by the renewing of our minds” and “set our minds on things that are above” (Romans 12:2 and Colossians 3:2).

The problem is that other places in the New Testament continually remind us to establish, purify, and guard our hearts! Just look at Romans 1:21-25; 6:17, 10:10; Ephesians 1:18, 3:17; Philippians 4:7; Colossians 3:15; 1 Thessalonians 2:3-4, 3:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:17, 3:5; 1 Timothy 1:5; Hebrews 10:22; James 5:8; 1 Peter 3:15; 1 John 3:19-21.

Jesus Himself said that the fruit of a person’s life comes not out of the mind, but from deeper inside them; inside their hearts — the core of their being.

“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
Luke 6:45

Sin is a Mind Issue

I am not at all discounting that the mind has a major part to play in our sanctification. Most of our daily battles with sin come from mental temptations. Even Peter’s denial of Jesus was because his mind was in the wrong place (Matthew 16:23). This is why, when I discuss repentance, I am quick to point out that the Greek word, metanoia, carries the idea of first changing one’s mind, and their actions will follow.

In fact, just a few months ago, I wrote a whole series on spiritual warfare, beginning with an article called “the battle of the mind.”

My point here, however, is that when something goes to the level of “idolatry,” it has moved from a temptation issue to a love issue. When a person “loves” something at the level only God deserves, it becomes an idol, and begins to take control of aspects of their lives where only Christ should be ruling!

If sex becomes my idol, I move from God’s design to worshipping sex with my whole being. I will look for any willing partner. I will get addicted to pornography. I will start frequenting sexually promiscuous stores and businesses. When sex becomes god, our lives will fall in line to worship it.

When money becomes my idol, I will become greedy rather than charitable. I will exploit others to gain access to this god I worship, including shady business tactics, Ponzi schemes, and worse!

The same can be said of any idol!

Demonization Follows Idolatry

One other major issue to be aware of is that behind every false idol we prop up in our lives, there are still demonic forces attached that will seek control of our lives. For example, behind the god of sex is a spirit of lust and perversion. Likewise, behind a god of money is the spirit of mammon.

The same can be true of most things. As we give our hearts to worship and love something other than God, we open ourselves up to the spirit world and often give control of those areas of our lives to demons! (Though I intend to write more about demonization and deliverance in the future, for now, I would highly recommend the book “Healing Through Deliverance” by Peter Horrobin. It is the best resource on the subject, including the question, “Can a Christian have a demon,” that I know of.)

Core Idols

Moving back to a broad view of idolatry, then, we must be aware that even as believers, there will be temptations in our hearts to love, worship, and live for certain things as replacements for God. Though we may not worship wooden figurines, statues, or in a Parthenon of gods, our culture still has idols we give in to all the time. I won’t even dig into sports teams, celebrity culture, or political activism. I want to go broader than that.

A few years ago, when I was still on staff at a church in Texas, much of our time in personal counseling with people was spent digging below the surface level of sin to root out if there was a “core idol” operating at the heart level, which was affecting the mental level of the person toward sin. The four core idols we looked for, more than any other, were power, comfort, security, and control. These are things that people don’t just stumble into as sin. These are things people hid in their hearts as the things they live for.

Power

The idol of power encompasses a love of success, money, and social status. It is a heart that desires to be elevated above other people in pride and arrogance. This is the core idol Naaman struggled with in last week’s post.

In the church, the idol of power is very often connected with a religious spirit. There is no freedom, only rules and regulations which must be followed, or else you are “out of alignment.”

Comfort

The idol of comfort is a heart that values my own ease over anything else. Greed may be involved, but not always. It may simply be a love for “me time” over a heart to serve the Lord and others.

As a missionary, I can tell you for sure that many in the Western world struggle with the idol of comfort when it comes to getting involved in cross-cultural missions. To give financially to global missions is a “sacrifice” rather than a “privilege.” To actually go visit a “third-world” country on a mission trip is unthinkable because it directly challenges this idol.

The idol of comfort comes out in many ways. Some people live with a general sense of entitlement about their comforts. Others “work hard to build the life” they want. Both of those may still be an idol.

Security

The security idol is another major player in most of our lives. Just look at how the world has transformed in the last few decades. Warning labels have popped up on everything from heavy machinery to disposable coffee cups. Children are not allowed to do many of the things I did as a child in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

In the realm of faith, where the early church boldly went into the world, facing persecution and martyrdom, our fear of creating enemies keeps us quiet about the gospel in the least-confrontational environments.

Security isn’t just about not getting physically hurt, either. Emotional wounding, traumatic experiences, or just the risk of getting offended has shut down people’s lives and love for God. Instead of resting in the shadow of His wings, we create safe spaces where we can hide so nothing can hurt us.

Control

Probably the biggest core idol of the four, the need to be in control is the one worshipped universally by people, at one time or another, in life. I will go anywhere or do anything so long as I remain in control. As soon as I am no longer in charge of myself and my faculties, then this idol begins to fight back.

I cannot think of any other false idol worshipped in the American church as that of “control.” After all, it is the American spirit — independence and self-reliance. It is the promise of having “my rights,” and no one else can tell me what to do. Just look at any “Karen” video on social media, and you will see this idol at work.

Guarding Our Minds and Hearts

For the Christian, then, whose heart is supposed to be captivated by Jesus and whose mind is being transformed by His Holy Spirit, we must come to understand that we must guard both!

We must fill our minds with righteous and holy things, just as the Word of God instructs (Philippians 4:8). So much of our battle with sin, temptation, and the devil has to do with letting our minds wander and, at least in the moment, forgetting who we are in Christ. Where we allow our minds to go, our lives will follow.

Still, though, at a deeper level, we must do a heart check from time-to-time, to make sure that it is still Jesus sitting on the throne.

Returning to First Love

My mind goes to Christ’s rebuke of the church of Ephesus in the book of Revelation. The Lord says:

“I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”
Revelation 2:2-4

The Lord recognized that the church had a hatred of sin and evil and had gone out of their way to protect themselves from being infected from false teachings and lies from the enemy at the mental level. However, His condemnation comes at the heart level. “You are losing your love for Me!”

In the midst of their toil to live faithfully to the gospel, Jesus was losing His place at the center. That is idolatry.

For us, today, we must check our hearts and make sure Jesus is really the one we love. Jesus, who is our King, must be given the power over our lives rather than holding it for ourselves. The Holy Spirit of God must be our comfort, just as Jesus promised He would be. The covering of God’s love must be our security. And when we call Him our Lord, we must lay down our control and let Him be the one who guides our every step.

The Bible says, “love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). Jesus loved us so perfectly that all of our sin has been covered and dealt with. Now it is time for us to find complete freedom from idolatry, as we love Him back completely.

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July 8 2021

Naaman and the Idols of Our Hearts

A. Scott Ingram Christian Life, Christian Life and Gospel Leadership, Gospel Leadership, Spiritual Warfare Greed, Healed, Idolatry, Idols, Leprosy, Money, Naaman, repentance, Social Status, Success 4

In my last post, we looked at the various idols of ministry, including the worship of ministry itself, idolizing God’s blessings toward us, or even idolizing our own public recognition, and the fact that we need to repent. As I have had several conversations with people who were touched by that post and some who were hearing the same thing from God at the same time, I have continued to look at how ministry can become an idol, alongside many other things in our lives.

Truly, idols can be made of anything. We can idolize fame and fortune, success, money, houses, cars, clothing, status in society. We can idolize our family, spouse, kids, or names. We can idolize celebrities, politicians, and sports teams. So, though last week I was speaking primarily to ministers, I want to go a little broader this week in exposing the idols of our hearts.

To do this, I want us to look at a particular passage found in 2 Kings 5. It is a story I studied and shared about a few years ago but has a lot of value for us as we look at this topic today.

The Story of Naaman

Naaman was a commander of the Syrian army, a warrior of great standing who had won many battles. Because of his success, he had found great favor with his King, and they had become close. The only negative mark found on Naaman’s life is that he suffered from leprosy (2 Kings 5:1). In those days, leprosy was a death sentence, and given the Jewish law (though Naaman was not a Jew), made you ritually unclean and an outcast from society. This makes Naaman’s journey into Israel a questionable idea from the start.

In the story, an Israelite slave girl tells Naaman about the prophet Elisha, living in Samaria, who has the God-given ability to heal him of his leprosy (2 Kings 5:2-3). Naaman, therefore, goes to his king and requests to go and see this prophet. The king, however, sends Naaman with a letter to the king of Israel instead, asking him to heal Naaman (2 Kings 5:4-5). At this, the king of Israel goes into a rage. This letter asks him to do the impossible. Rather than looking to his God for the miracle, he tears his clothes and makes a public showing that his kingdom is intentionally being set up for an attack by the king of Syria (2 Kings 5:7).

Elisha hears what happened and sends a note to the king for Naaman to be sent to him, seemingly promising to heal him (2 Kings 5:8). Naaman goes, but instead of meeting Elisha, he is greeted by a messenger who tells him to dip himself in the Jordan river seven times, and he will be healed (2 Kings 5:9-10). Instead of rejoicing in the news that he will be healed, Naaman throws a fit. “Does this prophet know who I am,” he seems to ask. “And are not the rivers back in Syria much better than the Jordan.” Naaman, feeling that his own personal status has been attacked because the prophet wouldn’t look him in the eye, and had sent a messenger telling him to do some detestable thing, ignores the message and starts to return home (2 Kings 5:11-12).

Fortunately for Naaman, there are men with him who did not share his level of pride, and they press him to “do this simple thing.” Naaman does and is immediately healed from his leprosy (2 Kings 5:13-14). He returns to Elisha’s house bearing gifts of silver and gold and many new clothes, but Elisha refuses to accept them (2 Kings 5:15-16). Naaman then takes some dirt from Israel home with him and vows never to worship any god but the God of Elisha (2 Kings 5:17). He then makes this request: “Please forgive me, because when I return home, I must go into the temple with the king, and as he bows to worship, I will bow also.” Elisha sends him away in peace (2 Kings 5:18-19).

Shortly after Naaman is gone, Elisha’s servant, a man named Gehazi, decides that Elisha had made a great mistake by not taking the gifts. He goes after Naaman, makes up a story as to why Elisha had changed his mind, returns with the gifts and hides them for himself (2 Kings 5:20-24). The problem for Gehazi is that his boss is a prophet, and God had shown Elisha exactly what went down (2 Kings 5:25-26). Elisha then tells Gehazi that his punishment for what he had done is that from now on, he and his children would carry Naaman’s leprosy (2 Kings 5:27).

Each Man Had His Idols

As I studied this story out, thinking about heart-idols, each of the four characters caught my attention because of where they focused their attention, to build and maintain their identity.

The Idol of Power and Success

The first character is the King of Israel. He is the king of God’s people. He knew the stories of how God had delivered them over and over again. He knew the law and the promise of God. Yet, when time came to look to God, he doesn’t. He instead laments that his Kingship is being threatened.

For the king, his identity comes through his success as a leader and his ability to maintain peace. When it seems that may be taken away, the King cannot handle it. His relationship with God is hurt by his desire for power and success. This was his idol.

The Idol of Wealth

The second character that sticks out to me is Gehazi. He is a prophet and had served under the leadership of Israel’s greatest prophet for some time. He wasn’t even the “lead pastor” in their ministry. Anyone in full-time ministry knows that it is safe to assume his pay isn’t that great.

Unfortunately, when the opportunity to get rich quick comes his way, Gehazi throws everything he has away. His mind is angry about Elisha’s wasted financial opportunity. His eyes are fixed on the treasure walking away. Yet as his heart becomes consumed with getting the money, his relationship with God is hurt by his greed. Wealth was his idol.

The Idol of Social Status

The third character, and the one that stands out so prominently to me, is Naaman himself.

Naaman has attained great social status in Syria. He is friends with the King, and can do or have anything he wants. He is a national hero. A celebrity of sorts. When he comes to Israel, he is offended when the King can’t give him what he wants, and then the prophet refuses to even see him face to face. This is one of those “do you know who I am” moments.

Still, God does an awesome work in his life, to the point that Naaman vows to never worship any other god. The one thing Naaman refuses to do, however, is to live that out in front of others in such a way that it might remove him from among the elites in Syria.

It is clear that he has no intention of letting his newfound ‘love’ for God get in the way of his social status. He will go through all the motions necessary to maintain his friendship with the King and his celebrity status in Syria, even if it means making the appearance of worship in the temples of Syria’s false gods. Naaman’s relationship with God is hurt by his idolization of social status.

True Worship Overpowers Idolatry

The final character in the story is, of course, Elisha the prophet.

Elisha has a history of committing himself to his relationship with God. He spends time in fellowship with the Lord, and his life exemplifies that, no matter what anyone thinks.

Elisha could have publicly embarrassed the King of Israel by making a show of what he could do. His own “power” was greater than the king’s.

He could have made a great friend of Naaman, the commander of the army of Israel’s enemy, and never worried about an attack on himself. This could have opened the door to nations and Kingdoms, and all the fame that comes with it.

Elisha could have used what God was doing through him to, televangelist style, make a name for himself and get very very rich, even greater than what Gehazi could have imagined.

However, through it all, Elisha cared more about his relationship with God, than he did for money, success, or status. His worship of the Lord trumped all the allure of these false idols in the hearts of other men.

Where are Our Hearts?

Just as all of these men had made decisions regarding what they would pursue above all else, the challenge for our lives comes when we, too, have to make the decision of who or what we will love more – our creator, God, or the stuff He created.

The truth is there is nothing wrong with success, or money, or status, so long as you can still fully submit yourself to God. But if those things hinder your relationship with Him, they have become idols of your heart, and need to be destroyed. That is the lesson Gehazi learned the hard way. What is it going to take for us to learn it ourselves?

So, sincerely, I want to encourage you. What is your highest pursuit right now? Maybe its one of these three things, or maybe its something else completely. If it isn’t the Lord, then the truth is your life is heading the wrong way, and only by returning to Him for relationship will turn it around!

Let’s Connect

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Photo by Gary Meulemans on Unsplash

(An earlier version of this article was first published February 24, 2011, which has been revised and edited for this post.)

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June 28 2021

Exposing Ministry Idols

A. Scott Ingram Christian Life, Christian Life and Gospel Leadership, Gospel Leadership, Spiritual Warfare Bible, Gospel, Jesus, ministry leadership 0

We are currently on another lockdown in Uganda; one which caught most of us off guard when the announcement was made. While we cannot drive personal vehicles, use public transportation, or cross district borders in an attempt to curb the rise of the India-strain of this pandemic, the biggest hit we are taking is that churches, once again, cannot meet together for worship and preaching.

Reactions to this cross a broad spectrum of opinions, which I do not intend to add to in this post. Rather, what I have observed in myself and others over the past few weeks is that our personal responses to these lockdowns are often not “Christian” at all. In fact, what I am discovering is that for many, our reactions are actually revealing the idols of our hearts, rather than drawing us closer to the Lord in intimacy.

Idol Worship in the Old Testament

When we read through the Old Testament, and look at the nation of Israel, we see a lot of idol-worship taking place. What I find interesting about their idol worship was that it was often a slow turning from the Lord toward the false gods and cultural idols of other nations. Idol worship was not normally a momentary decision. It was the slow introduction of false worship through personal compromise and willful participation.

As I am currently reading through the book of Jeremiah, I am struck by images the Lord gives to discuss the infection of idolatry in the nation.

“How can you say, ‘I am not unclean, I have not gone after the Baals’? Look at your way in the valley; know what you have done— a restless young camel running here and there, a wild donkey used to the wilderness, in her heat sniffing the wind! Who can restrain her lust? None who seek her need weary themselves; in her month they will find her. Keep your feet from going unshod and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘It is hopeless, for I have loved foreigners, and after them I will go.’”
Jeremiah 2:23-25

The Lord goes on to say,

“(They) say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their back to me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble they say, ‘Arise and save us!’ But where are your gods that you made for yourself? Let them arise, if they can save you, in your time of trouble; for as many as your cities are your gods, O Judah.”
Jeremiah 2:27–28

It is clear that the children of Israel had not forgotten God. They still discuss themselves as being “clean,” which is to reference the moral law of God. Though they were mistaken, they still believed they were living faithful.

When times got rough, the people would cry out to God for salvation, likely recalling the stories of Exodus and how He delivered the land to them from the pagan nations.

Still, though they gave lip-service to God, their hearts, minds, and pursuits were not toward Him. Their daily lives were full of selfish pursuits and the worship of things which are not God.

Idol Worship in the New Testament

Although most of us today want to pretend that Christian believers are different than those foolish people in the Old Testament, and that our own hearts are much more clean before the Lord, the truth is idol worship was just as prevalent among believers after the cross, as it was before the cross.

Writing to believers in Rome, Paul gives a warning against idolatry.

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”
Romans 1:21-25

What I find most interesting about idolatry in both the Old and New Testament is that God goes out of His way to show that the things being worshipped are created by men and in the image of men. (See Leviticus 19:4; Psalm 115:4-8; Jeremiah 3:9; Acts 19:24-25). Idolatry is, at its core, worship of ourselves and the works of our hands. As Habakkuk clearly states:

“What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols!”
Habakkuk 2:18

Idol Worship Today

Now, I hear what you’re already thinking. “I don’t worship wood and stone idols.” Which is true of most of the modernized world (though I have been in many indigenous cultures around the world who still used idols and tokens as part of their tribal worship). The problem is that although the modern age has left behind the worship of sticks and stones, we still have not shed the heart which worships our own accomplishments and the work of our hands.

As someone in ministry who is once again in a season where the work of ministry is extremely limited, the Lord is revealing this sort of idolatry in myself and others around me. It is a call to repent — a call no different than those given by Jeremiah, Habakkuk, or the Apostle Paul! The question is, will we hear the call, or will we – like the nation of Israel – declare ourselves clean, and continue on ignoring what God wants to do in and through us?

Exposing Ministry Idols

It is obvious that the heart of Christianity is relationship with the Lord. After all, when Jesus revealed Himself it was as Emmanuel — “God with us.” John writes very eloquently about His appearing in the world as “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14). Paul writes how Jesus, though He was God, emptied Himself and took on flesh and lived among us in order to die for us (Philippians 2:5-8). The author of Hebrews calls Him our High Priest who was tempted in every way, just as we are, so that He can sympathize with our weakness (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus was God with us, in relationship with mankind, in order to redeem us to Himself for eternity.

When Jesus went away, His plan was that our intimacy with Him would go deeper! So deep, in fact, that He said it was better for Him to go away, so that the Holy Spirit would come and live inside of us (John 16:7). He would come to speak to us, and guide us in everything Jesus directs Him to say to us (John 16:13).

The problem is that although we are meant to live in relationship with Him, our hearts are continually diverted to worshipping the things of God, rather than God Himself. In His grace, the Lord wants to expose the idols of our hearts, so that we can return to Him completely!

1. The Idol of Ministry

I love ministry! I love preaching and teaching. I love training and equipping leaders. I love helping people discover their ministry gifts and praying for impartation. I love seeing people get saved, healed, and set free from demonic torments. The privilege of ministry work is awesome, and I wouldn’t trade the life I get to live for anything. However, the danger of my life is that I would begin to worship the ministry itself, rather than worshipping the Lord through my ministry.

The idol of ministry rears its head whenever we get more focused on doing the works of ministry rather than keeping our focus on the One we are called to minister for.

See, for a minister, doing the work of ministry is not actually our calling by God! Our lives are supposed to be oriented toward what God is doing, and how we can partner with Him, rather than what we can do for Him.

Doing the ministry is secondary. Being with Him is supposed to be our highest goal.

This idol of ministry gets exposed when we are limited in our ability to do the ministry (as in this lockdown season). Rather than simply resting in God’s presence and listening for His voice in how to respond, we immediately begin to complain, fight, or even to struggle with anxiety and depression. We excuse it by declaring that we are just zealous for the work of the Lord, but the truth is, deep in our hearts, we are struggling because our idol has been taken away from us.

It is a dangerous place when we begin to worship our service to the Lord instead of worshipping Him alone, yet it is a very real temptation. We must be aware of it, and we must be ready to repent as soon as it becomes evident.

2. The Idol of Blessing

For many of us, ministry itself is not the idol we are tempted to worship. Instead, it is the blessings which come from the Lord that capture our hearts and minds. I see this over and over again when people spend their Christian lives seeking the next blessing, the next breakthrough, or the next mantle and anointing.

While these things definitely come from the Lord, the danger is that we begin to seek Him only to receive from Him, rather than simply to receive Him.

I believe this idol, for many, actually stems from their initial salvation experience. Too often people are told, “if you put your faith in Jesus, you will go to heaven when you die.” The salvation exchange takes place, simply to receive a reward from Jesus (heaven), rather than to receive Jesus Himself.

He is the true blessing of our salvation. When we get saved, we get Him! When we go to heaven, it is to spend eternity with Him. Our focus won’t be on the pearly gates or streets of gold. He is the central focus of eternity!

“I Just Want Your Stuff”

This is the message of Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32. In that story, the younger son demands his inheritance from the father. Simply stated, the young man says, “I wish you were dead. I don’t want you, old man. I just want your stuff.”

After some time of licentious living, the young man once again begins to look to his old father as a means of “blessing,” though he knows he is no longer worthy to be called a son. Instead, he returns to become a servant. Still not looking for relationship, he rehearses his speech, looking how to get material gain from his dad. However, the father is not worried about the stuff. Instead, he is thankful to have his son back. He throws a party to celebrate. The moral of the story is that we sinners need to come to God for relationship, not blessing.

However, there is another character in the story; one not representing the sinner, but representing the religious people in the crowd — the older brother. When he draws near and hears the party going on, he refuses to come inside. In his anger toward what is happening, he shouts at his father, “I have been here with you the whole time, serving you in every way you asked, and you never even gave me a goat to celebrate with my friends.”

Though the hearts of the two brothers were different – one a rebel and one obedient – their goal was the same. They wanted the father’s stuff; not the father himself!

While this happens with regular believers all-too-often, there is a danger for those of us in ministry, who, like the older brother, are only serving the Lord while looking for a blessing.

This is idolatry — worshipping the things of God rather than God — and we must repent when God reveals it in our hearts.

3. The Idol of Esteem

A third idol I am seeing exposed in this season is the idol of esteem. As churches cannot meet and ministers must sit down out of the public eye, the idol of public recognition is getting exposed.

This is a topic I have dealt with many times before, yet one that I am sensing now, in bigger ways.

What is happening is that many ministers who have spent years “making a name for themselves,” are now being overlooked. Pastor and Apostle are not “essential services” and therefore not being exempted from government restrictions. The temptation to declare, “do you know who I am?” is looming on the lips of many (and I am even hearing stories of pastors using their titles and status to get sympathy from police when they are not following the mandated protocols.)

The truth is that being a minister of the Gospel does not make you special or important, above anyone else. Instead, you are called to go to the lower place, as a servant of all. In fact, when Paul spoke of his apostleship, he used words like “dead,” “weak,” “fools,” and as those in “disrepute” (1 Corinthians 4:9-10).

He never spoke of his ministry as a means of attaining celebrity status or of having special privileges, yet that is the growing trend and expected outcome for many who serve in ministry today.

Serving the Lord is not intended to make you famous. It is meant to make Jesus famous! Just as John the baptizer said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

When ministry becomes about our own fame and recognition, we are actually worshipping ourselves at the Lord’s expense, and we must repent. We must humble ourselves so that He can be lifted up in our hearts and lives.

Repenting of our Idols

The truth is that all of us deal with idolatry in one way or another. It usually begins unintentionally, with just a small amount of compromise. Yet as it takes hold in our hearts, it grows, often without our realizing the slippery slope we are going down.

It is God’s grace to expose our idols. It is His grace which draws us back to worshipping Him alone. However, it is one of the hardest things to do to lay down our habits and our ingrained mindsets, openly admit that we have been wrong all along, and return to Him. The embarrassment and shame that can come from this kind of confession is, unfortunately, enough to keep many people living in their sin. It seems easier, and is definitely more comfortable.

However, the call to repentance is the same call which brought us to Christ in the first place. A call to die. A call to lay down everything, take up our cross, and follow Him. As always, He will be our reward when we do, and it is so worth it to have Him, only and fully.

I encourage you, do a heart check today, and let’s lay down all the idols we have built in our lives and ministries.

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