“Dear children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21 NIV). That’s how John the Apostle ended his first letter recorded in Scripture. It’s kind of shocking, isn’t it? Clearly, he was writing to believers (he called them “dear children”). Is idolatry really a problem for genuine followers of Christ? Perhaps it was for believers near the end of the 1st Century when idols were everywhere in Roman/Greek culture. Surely we are too sophisticated to fall into idolatry in our day! Sadly, that is not the case, especially if we recognize that worshiping false gods doesn’t necessarily require an image fashioned by human hands.
Humanity was made in God’s image; made to be worshippers of God who live in dependence on Him and live for His glory. When humanity sinned, we took on a sin nature; a bent that directs us away from God and toward self. But we are still worshippers by nature! We still live in dependence on something or someone. We still glory in people or in things. This is why false worship is so normal for human beings, even for us sophisticated ones. It is also why John’s warning about idolatry is so appropriate, even for the followers of Christ.
As believers we have turned from our old lives of sin and toward Christ. We have come to see Him as the God and Savior of our lives, and yet in our humanness we will continue to battle our tendency toward false worship. Until we stand in eternity, fully transformed into the image of Christ, we are in a battle that requires our vigilance against idolatry.
This is why the ‘idolatry tests’ can be so helpful. These tests can’t eradicate false worship from our lives, but they can expose it. Exposing our false worship, renouncing it, and replacing it, will deepen our walk with Christ. We will learn to value Him, depend on Him and glorify Him more fully, day by day.
Test #1 – Glory Test – What is glorious to me?
OK, so the word ‘glory’ isn’t a word that we use all that much but the idea here is this: What is beautiful to me? What has captured my attention? What is the ultimate thing in my life? The way to test this is to simply consider: What do I think about? What do I read about? What do I research online? What do I wish I had or wish I had more of? If God isn’t my ultimate, the one thing I want most in my life, then I have work to do.
Test #2 – The Value Test – What do I value most?
This test is easy to take. Just think of how you spend your time and money. And I don’t just mean the small amount of disposable time and money you might have available at any given moment. We all make choices that determine how much disposable time and income we have. If I have very little disposable income because I have chosen a high standard of living, or if I have little available time because my standard of living requires me to work long hours or multiple jobs, then what I value most is becoming clear. Worship is all about worth. The thing we value is the thing we worship. Time and money are the easiest ways to determine what we truly worship.
Test #3 – The Identity Test – Who am I, really?
God created humanity to be His people. His desire was to live in relationship with us as our Father. The New Testament deepens the true identity of the believer by describing us as being “in Christ.” To be a follower of Christ is to identify myself with Him above all else. But it is so easy for us to seek an identity that is rooted in other things. Do I want to be known by my education, my job, my business success, my fitness, my vehicle, my clothing, my athletic ability, my home or my social media persona? All of these things can be an idol if I want my reputation to be known by something other than Christ.
Test #4 – The Coping Test – How do I cope when life is hard?
Remember that human beings were made to live in dependence on God. To sin against God is to say, “God, I don’t need you.” The problem with that is that we are far needier than we realize. When we abandon the God who made us, we find alternative things to meet our needs and help us cope with life. Examples include alcohol, cigarettes, food, excessive sleep, social media, entertainment, and exercise. Notice that some of these alternatives are not bad, but they also aren’t God. As followers of Christ, we have come to believe in Him, which means that we have entrusted our lives to Him. But do we have other things we turn to to help us cope?
So what do we do when these tests expose false worship in our lives? When you recognize idols in your life, be thankful! God has opened your eyes. Seeing idolatry might be the hardest part! Once you have seen it, you need to begin to undermine the power and importance of that thing in your life. Fasting is an example of how this can work. Many of us value food far too much. We eat too much, we eat the wrong things, we eat when we feel down, or we spend too much time thinking about food. Fasting is a temporary way of acknowledging that we “do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). It is a way of turning our attention and our full dependence to God. It helps to loosen the grip that food can have in our lives. This principle can apply to other things that have become idols. Sometimes we need to purge and/or downsize.
Removing something from our lives is not enough, however. Unless we put the right thing in place of the wrong, we will fall right back into our idolatry. This is why we must continually set our eyes on Christ. We must think about who He is and what He has done for us. The more we think about Him and the beauty of His character and love, the more we are transformed. Bit by bit, day by day, our hearts are turned from selfishness and idol worship to simply enjoying and depending on God Himself. As this happens, He is glorified. My life displays the goodness God.
Are you ready to get to work? Dear children, keep yourselves from idols!