IDOLATRY CHANGES YOUR IDENTITY I want you to see the extent of the battle we’re facing as we study this issue of idols of the heart, and why it’s so hard to repent. This is an age-old battle. Our struggle is nothing new. You see it spelled out in Romans 1:21–23: Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Just because we don’t live on the Amazon and worship the sun or the moon, don’t think we’re not idolaters as much as the people Paul described were. They might exchange God’s glory for a four-footed animal, but we exchange it for a husband, a child, a job, a vehicle, a house, an idea, a fit body, prestige, or whatever. We are all idolaters, all over the globe. We differ only in how we manifest our idolatry. Our passage continues: Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Rom. 1:24–25) Notice that the phrase is not “for a lie,” but “for the lie.” You know what the big lie is? That you can live on something other than God, that you can make it on something other than God, that you can find happiness and peace and meaning and purpose with something other than God. One reason that the battle against idolatry is so fierce, and that idolatry is so hard to shake, is that you’re not just clinging to substitutes for God. You’re not just standing there with a handful of counterfeits. The problem is much bigger, and it’s rooted far deeper. IDOLATRY CHANGES HOW YOU SEE YOURSELF When you’re snared in the trap of idolatry, you take on an entirely different identity. You start redefining yourself in light of that particular idol. Now, not only do you live for your marriage or your kids, you so define yourself by your idol that you become your marriage or your kids. That’s why, when one of those things you live for is threatened, you react so fiercely and violently. You are struck with panic if it’s taken away, or if someone gets in the way of that thing, because it’s not just a thing or a person you enjoy; it’s who you are. There’s a loss of self. You’re afraid that you’re going to lose yourself. You take on false identity in light of your particular idol, so to even think of turning away is like turning away from yourself, losing yourself, having the rug pulled out from under you. It creates a sense of disorientation. If you’re still struggling, wanting to repent and put this into practice in your life, you need to realize that the identity rock you’re standing on may need to crumble underneath your feet—and that’s a completely life-altering idea. Paul Tripp says that we are identity amnesiacs. And when you suffer with identity amnesia, it always leads to identity replacement. Whenever you stop rooting your identity in who you are in Christ, you replace it with something else. Tripp writes in his book Lost in the Middle that we take on experiences, relationships, or accomplishments as our identity: “Sinners tend to move away from defining themselves in relationship to their Creator and begin defining themselves in relationship to the creation. But the creation cannot bear the weight of defining us. It will always come up short. It is bound to happen, and when it does, a moment of disappointment can quickly turn into a fundamental loss of self.” What should be a moment of disappointment becomes a fundamental loss of self. When psychology talks about someone’s needing time or space to find himself, it usually means that the person’s identity was wrapped up in something or someone that was never designed to sustain him. So this crisis he’s having is a good thing. The problem is that he’s probably in secular counseling, and he’s not being told, “Your identity, your rock, your substance, your reason for living, the reason God put you here, is to be in relationship with your Creator.” Many times, the person is just given a new substitute to replace the old one. False Identity Takes Place Unconsciously I don’t know anybody who wakes up one day and says, “I’m going to set my heart on this person or this thing, and I’m going to let it completely control my life.” But that’s what happens, subtly, gradually: The person you met and mildly enjoyed becomes the person whose approval you cannot live without. The work you undertook to support your family becomes the source of identity and achievement you can’t give up. The house you built for the shelter and comfort of your family becomes a temple for the worship of possessions. A rightful attention to your own needs morphs into a self-absorbed existence. Ministry has become more of an opportunity to seek power and approval than a life in the service of God. The things we set our hearts on never remain under our control. Instead, they capture, control, and enslave us. This is the danger of earth-bound treasure. SET YOUR HEART ON GOD Now, here’s the good thing: set your heart on God. He’s definitely not under your control and never will be. But the effect of setting your heart on God is that it makes you a very free person. You’re free from other people. You’re free from running the rat race and living like everyone else in the world. It frees you and fulfills you. But when you set your heart on other things, some earthbound treasure, whether it’s in a body, a person, or a substance, it begins to enslave and control you. That’s why Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart”—to what extent?—“with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” According to 2 Chronicles 16:9, “the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” Set your heart completely on God, and you get his help and support. Today God is looking for a certain kind of person, and you could be that person. Today you can’t instantly lose fifty pounds, or grow more hair, or become vice president of a company. I’m giving you a promise that you could enjoy today. The eyes of the Lord today are moving to and fro throughout the earth, looking for this kind of person, the one whose heart is fully his, and God will support that person. Common Identity Replacements That Result from Idolatry One of the most common identity replacements is “I am my success.” You define yourself in terms of achievements. Do you want to be good at what you do? Absolutely. Being a Christian doesn’t mean you’re so humble that you want to do a sorry job at work in order to be the last one recognized. “God will be pleased by that,” you say. “I’m just very humble.” No. You should work hard because Christians should work hard. It ought to be that business owners say, “Let me find a Christian to hire. They work hard whether the boss is looking or not, because they do it as unto the Lord.” Living for God’s Glory Slips into Living for Your Own But if you live for the praise, the recognition, the “atta boys,” you’ve crossed the line from working for the glory of God to idolatry, and it will ensnare you. You know that God is loving, that he’s gracious, he’s merciful, he’s kind, he’s patient—but he’s also jealous. And he will come and upset that little apple cart of yours if he sees that you’re no longer working excellently for the glory of God, but for the glory of yourself. God is worthy of having it all be about him, and he knows you are most miserable when you live for anything other than him. So the most loving thing he can do is to rise up in his jealous, righteous anger for his own glory and your good, and topple the house of cards you’ve built for yourself, because you won’t find lasting fulfillment and peace in living that way. Isaiah 42:8 proclaims, “I am the LORD, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images.” “I am my success.” This is the profile of a workaholic who gets his meaning from the next notch on his belt, so that he finds it almost impossible to say “No” or “Slow down” at work. It’s the woman who doesn’t just enjoy playing tennis or soccer or softball—she lives for it. This is the person who wakes up every day, motivated by one thing—getting that next promotion.