Modern Day Idolatry

“You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.” Exodus 20:3-4 (NLT)

In this day and age many Christians think idolatry is a thing of the past or a thing of Eastern Religion or third-world countries who serve pagan gods. We tend to think of idolatry as a physical statue or item of worship—a physical image of another god…For example when the Israelites made a golden calf to worship at the base of Mount Sinai (Exodus 32). We often don’t even consider that idolatry is alive and thriving even among Christians today, even in our OWN homes and lives.

Idolatry has been defined as “1. worship of idols; and/or 2. excessive devotion to or reverence for some person or thing”. I like the definition of being “excessively devoted to something”. This seems to render more true of modern day idolatry than to think of worshiping an idol or graven image of a god.

Today idolatry takes on new forms. It’s not just golden statues. It could be anything that diverts attention away from serving God or anything that takes precedence over God. Idols could be simply any pleasure in life that we prioritize over God, any “excessive devotion to something” more than God.

It has to do with what we “treasure”, with what is in our hearts.

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Matthew 6:19-21 (NLT)

Things we can idolize or “treasure”…

People (our spouses/significant others, our children, our friends)
Hobbies
Work/Career/Performance
Fitness
Physical appearance/image
Social media
Entertainment
Music
Traveling
Food
Sex/Lust
Money
Material possessions/superficial gain
Fame
Power
Passions that we pursue
Addictions
Sometimes it’s even ourselves: “Me, me, me. It’s all about me and what I want and deserve.”

Obsessions, “gods”, and “churches”

Prayer for an addict

Prayer for an Addict

Addiction is a sensitive subject for a lot of people. It’s unfortunately one that comes laced with shame, brokenness, and often a loss of hope. There’s collateral damage surrounding an addict, often to those closest to them.

Sadly, I’ve witnessed the devastating effects of addiction firsthand and have personally experienced some of the collateral damage. Not only do I teach at a women’s restoration home, where many of the residents are recovering addicts, but I also have a brother who is an addict. I’ve seen their lives ripped apart to the point of losing everything because of their addiction. It’s extremely hard to watch, and I often feel hopeless and helpless.

One hard and fast lesson that I’ve learned is that you can’t help people that don’t want to help themselves. Until they are ready, there’s not much one can do…EXCEPT for one extremely powerful thing: Pray. I’ve been reminded of this recently when seeking counsel about my brother. Prayer should never be underestimated because it is immensely powerful and has the capacity to produce wonderful results.

“…The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James 5:16b (NLT)

Therefore I should never feel hopeless or helpless because I have a powerful God that is far bigger than any addiction. I CAN help by appealing to my God and interceding on behalf of my brother or others captive to addiction. Today, I’ve written a Prayer for an Addict based off of scripture that I plan to pray over my brother and others struggling with addiction. My hope and prayer is that this will be a resource for others to use as well.

You can’t help people that don’t want to help themselves…BUT prayer is extremely powerful!

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