“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” – 1 John 5:21
John’s final words in this letter that’s primarily focused on love for God, love for brother and sister, obedience to Christ, and right belief in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God are words of warning to Christians. As followers of Jesus, we must beware of the attraction of idols, because they get in the way of all those things John wrote about.
He isn’t talking about little statues. Hopefully, not too many Christians are going to start worshiping statues. He means idols of our heart – those things that take on such tremendous importance in our lives, minds, and imaginations that they functionally kick God off the throne of our heart.
We can love Jesus, worship every Sunday, and still worship idols in our heart. Probably every Christian has at some point. Idols can be easy to see (in others) – they tend to be anywhere there is unusually strong emotion. When our anger, delight, or anxiety are way out of proportion to something’s actual significance we’ve probably found an idol. When we blow up over something relatively minor, we’ve probably found an idol.
Most of our idols aren’t bad things. They’re good and important things that we’ve raised to be too important in our hearts, minds, and lives. The cure for idolatry isn’t to get rid of most of these, it’s to put them in their proper place beneath our passion for, and obedience to, Jesus Christ.
What are some popular Christian idols today?
– Politics. When our anger, joy, or sense of meaning, well-being, or purpose, are determined by whether our preferred politician or party wins or loses, that’s an idol.
– Health and safety. When our fear outweighs our Christian obedience, that’s an idol.
– Wealth, status, comfort, pleasure, entertainment, and work – when these fill our thoughts and consume our energy at the expense of our family and daily walk with Jesus, they’re an idol.
– Kids. Yes, we’re called to love them, care for them, invest in them, and raise them. But when our dreams for them and their activities suck all the time and energy out of our family life and spiritual life together, they’ve become an idol.
– Pets, weddings, gadgets, entertainment, and the list goes on…
Christian, beware of idols!!!