Are Idols still Idols if they don’t cause immediate mass harm?
The answer to that question is yes. As a Christian it is easy to remember the big sins and keep them in check. But the little ones are the ones you really need to look out for. Well, that’s not true, you need to look out for them all! The little ones are just harder to see.
It is so easy to let little idols into your life and much easier to justify them. “I NEED my phone for communication,” “I CANNOT live without playing my sport,” “If I do not see the next episode I will DIE.” Now, phones, sports, and tv are not necessarily bad things. If used correctly they are good things! The key words are “used correctly.” God gave us so many good things that we twist, quickly turning them into sin struggles.
I have dealt with this in more ways than one in my life, as have many other believers. One of the biggest ones I struggled with was in high school with my boyfriend. He became my idol. I was at one of those summer camps where you’re supposed to get Jesus high and rededicate you life and read your Bible for a like week after. All the sudden in the middle of worship I heard clearly, “You need to break up with him.” HA! Absolutely not! There’s no way God said that to me! I scrambled to replace it with anything else. Oh, and I also just ran from God for five months after, yeah cause that went so well for Jonah.
Eventually I got tired and was ready to figure it out. My boyfriend had become the idol of my life. He was always above God and always came first, he became my God. Well that’s not good so I broke up with him. It literally ripped me to pieces. But that just shows you how dependent I was on my boyfriend. Throughout this whole thing I received lots of support in some way but not other.
I distinctly remember getting together with a friend and explaining to her the situation. I had to break up with him because he became an idol. And the response I got… They said, “Well why don’t you just depend on him less like I just go on my phone less when I’m feeling like that.” I just wanted to say, “are you kidding me????” First of all, God told me to, so yeah not going to mess with that. Second of all, are you not understanding that this is an incredible struggle for me and that the only way I will become healthier is if i sever ties?
But I find that is many Christian responses to things. Trying to wean from things instead of cutting the snake off at the head. There is nothing wrong with always trying to improve, but if something is being put over the person who literally killed themselves for you, why are you not sprinting away from it? Now I write this understanding I am a huge hypocrite and I am not judging anyone who is struggling with this. But, sometimes I think we easily forget how seriously we need to take our faith. Yeah, life is comfortable but is comfort worth less obedience to God? It is so easy to live life with so many idols and not blink twice because they do not have harmful effects right away. Brothers and Sisters I URGE you to look into your life for those little parasites the world and the devil have latched onto you. Be intentional because as soon as one is gone, in comes another temptation.
But can I just say HOW GOOD IT IS TO HAVE A FATHER WHO UNCONDITIONALLY LOVES YOU!!!!! Even though we are all hot messes he still died for us ON PURPOSE! Thank goodness for Jesus.
