When we think about idolatry, most of the time we consider other religions like Paganism and think we, as Christians, are unaffected by it. This could not be further from the truth. Human beings love to worship gods of their making. Even though as believers we have been saved, we are still living in this fallen world. There is so much injustice in this world, but the greatest is the injustice against God. We have never worshipped Him as we ought to, or love Him as we should.

What are idols?

What comes to mind mostly is a wooden or clay carving and someone bowing to it. If this is it, then as believers we are pretty safe from the sin of idolatry. But there is another group of idols that are far more deadly, idols of the heart.

Imagine your heart is a bookshelf (forgive my substandard analogy). In this bookshelf, you arrange the most important books at the top and those of less importance at the bottom. All the books in the bookshelf have some importance to you. All these books are the things you love. From here, we can get three types of idols in your heart.

First type

In his song, Clear the stage, Jimmy Needham gives four definitions of idols.

• Anything I put before my God is an idol
• Anything I want with all my heart is an idol
• Anything I can’t stop thinking about is an idol
• Anything that I give all my love is an idol

Now think of these idols as books that you have placed in the wrong position. You have given them a place that is above the place you have given God. It doesn’t matter how innocent, it might even be your ministry. But no matter what, God should always come first in your life.

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

Luke 14:26 NKJV

Yes, Jesus said “hate”. I know the verse is in the context of the price of becoming His disciple, but you cannot be willing to give up your children for Christ if you love them more than Him.

Second type

Not only is it bad if we love anything more than God, it is equally bad if God is our supreme love alongside something else. God will not share us. we belong to Him and Him alone.

“I am the LORD; that is my name!
    I will not yield my glory to another
    or my praise to idols.

Isaiah 42:8 NIV

Third type

Back to our bookshelf, the two previous types were both improperly placed books. This last type, however, is different. They are the most difficult to identify. See, this bookshelf is special, it should only hold books that are in line with the most important book.

“He loves Thee too little, who loves anything together with Thee, which he loves not for Thy sake.”

Augustine of Hippo

Not only are we to love God above all else, but we also love everything else for His sake. Our hearts are desperately opposed to God and yet they are always looking for things to worship. We take the most innocent things and turn them into idols. So what can we do with our depraved hearts?

God’s promise

The great news is that God knows of our great weakness and perverted hearts and we can only find the solution in Him.

²⁵ I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. ²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Ezekiel 36:25-27 NIV

The life of a believer is one of constant repentance. We have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Despite all our idols, we are right before God. The purpose of my writing is to help you examine your heart in your daily repentance. See to it that you are not led by the flesh but you walk in the Spirit (see Romans 8). God has promised to give us a heart of flesh (one that responds to Him) and remove our hearts of stone (opposed to God).

Something else we should learn from this is that worship and praise is a natural response to something or someone we admire. No one encounters God and fails to praise Him. The more we know God, the more we desire Him, and the more we realise our own depravity and trust in Him for salvation. Therefore, we should seek to know God, by spending time with Him and serving His people.