Creatures of Habit | Week 3 - Idolatry

well guys the coronavirus first surfaced in a seafood and poultry market in wuhan china in late december of 2019 and by the spring of 2020 it had already touched every corner of the globe by march if you remember the u.s government had announced restriction of travel from europe to the u.s for 30 days an attempt that they might slow the spread of the virus a few days later if you'll remember the president of the united states would declare a national state of emergency and by the end of march the senate would agree on a two trillion dollar stimulus package for americans most of our plans you know it's true for me and i'm sure it's true for most of you most of our plants for 2020 would look vastly different than we could have ever began to imagine and the feelings of lost would the feelings of loss would be very very real in our lives now as i've shared in a previous messages i do not believe that god caused the pandemic i don't believe that but i do believe that god took advantage of it and used it to speak into our lives to speak in to our nation i think he used it first of all to get our attention hopefully to open up spiritual eyes for instance with people that were confined to their homes because church services were canceled and all went online and then there were so many people that were feeling anxious about the pandemic and were in their homes there were so many people who attended church online that had never attended church before during this time literally i know we saw hundreds of people step across the line of faith and invite jesus christ into their life i think we sent out books to almost 700 people that prayed with us to receive christ so across the country there were literally tens of thousands of people that found christ during this time period but i also think that god used this time to expose a few idols in our lives for instance i'm just talking about the very beginning of the pandemic in the first 30 days we saw a lot of america's idols stripped away many of them we don't even think about as idols until they're pointed out for instance the idol of independence it felt like overnight all of our personal freedoms to go where we wanted when we wanted and do what we wanted were all restricted weren't they it felt like they were all ripped away from us the idol of academics schools and universities across america immediately shut their doors to classroom attendance the idol of money the economy tanked as businesses barely survived many of them did not survive and were forced to shut down in the last in the very first month of the pandemic the stock market dropped 35 then there's the idol of sports nearly every major sporting event in the united states was suspended or canceled including if you'll remember the 2020 olympics then there's also the idol of travel leisure and short-term vacation plans were almost non-existent during this time i had i personally had three trips that were planned that were all canceled the idol of entertainment hollywood stopped filming broadway shut down movie theater movie theaters were shuttered disney world and other theme parks all closed restaurants and bars were reduced to carry out only guys literally the entire entertainment world came screeching to a halt then there's the idol of politics 2020 if you recall i don't know how we could ever forget 2020 was an election year and many states postponed primaries and campaign rallies actually from both parties were canceled and then guys let's let's not forget the idol of religion churches across america closed their doors and instead streamed their services online and there's also the idol of science in the first few weeks modern medicine could not find an antidote to fight against the virus and they were unsure actually in those first weeks in that first month they were unsure how to actually help dying patients now please understand what i'm saying i could go on and on actually with um these idols in our world that were interrupted during the pandemic but please understand what i'm trying to say to you there's nothing really inherently wrong with any of these things that i've just mentioned and yet while they often garner our affection or our enjoyment we need to be reminded that they cannot listen they cannot meet the needs of our destitute heart jesus said to us very simply in matthew chapter 6 the 33rd verse he said seek the kingdom of god above all else seek the kingdom of god above all else and live righteously and he will give you everything you need in other words if you make him the priority of your life if you put jesus christ first in your life and you live for him he will give you everything you need all of your needs will be taken care of well guys as you know we're in a five-week series called creatures of habit that's based on my new book by the same title experts tell us i talked about this the last couple of weeks but experts or psychologists or even neurologists have done studies and tell us that over 40 percent of everything we do during a day is done out of habit it's almost half 40 percent of everything we do during a day is done out of habit and yet i think most people today underestimate the power of habits in our life good habits of course are to help us what you know we can't tell the difference between a good or bad our brain can't tell the difference between a good or bad habit therefore we've got to make the determination is this good for me or is this bad for me good habits help us to do what good habits are what help us to be christ-like to take on the nature of christ and so what we need the good habits that we need are also called spiritual disciplines in our life they're they're stepping stones they help us to grow bad habits conflict those are the ones that conflict with our identity in christ those are the ones here we are trying to grow in the measure of the stature of the fullness of christ and so whatever habit in your life fights against that or conflicts with that would be a bad habit we also call those in scripture spiritual spiritual strongholds they they get a grip on our life they're also uh could it could we could also include addictions we could also include idols basically bad habits our addictions bad habits are idols in our life in the book i've listed 12 bad habits those are i came up with these because these are habits that i personally have struggled with some more than others but there are 12 bad habits one of those is idolatry and that's what we're going to talk about today we're going to talk about idolatry idolatry please hear me on this this is where it gets confusing because some people say i don't i don't think of idolatry as being a habit but the reality the reality of it is idolatry is a heart issue but when we repeat it enough times it becomes second nature so even though it's a heart issue it actually becomes a bad habit in our life now we also we usually don't think about idols in the 21st century which like you know you're talking about idolatry steve that's something back in the old testament times that's something back in the first century it certainly doesn't apply to us today but i would disagree i believe that idolatry is actually a serious problem in the world that we're living today tim keller author and pastor just incredible guy but tim keller defines idolatry in this way he says idolatry is i love this definition idolatry is anything more important to you than god i could stop right there idolatry is anything more important to you than god anything i love this next one anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than god anything you seek to give to give you what only god can give now that is just such an incredible definition of an idol a description of an idol anything that absorbs grabs a hold of your heart and imagination more than god paul describes idolatry in romans chapter one when he says they traded the truth about god for a lie so they worshipped and served the things god created there it is right there so they worshiped and served the things god created instead of the creator so an idol is anything that pulls your attention away from the creator onto things onto people to stuff so just as it said so they worshipped and served the things god created instead of the creator himself who is worthy of eternal praise amen instead of loving god with all of our hearts we find ourselves loving material things and our affections are all out of sync they're all out of order biblically biblically we call those things idols but psychologically they are addictions or habits so an idol is an addiction or a bad habit that you formed in your life paul also addresses it in first corinthians chapter 12 he says you know the way you lived before you were believers you let yourselves be influenced and led away to worship idols it says before you were christians rather than having god first in your life you allowed yourself to be influenced to let a way to worship idols things that could not speak if you ignore this habit not only will it hurt your relationship with god whatever this bad habit is but we're talking specifically about idolatry and if you ignore this in your life listen it's going to hurt your relationship with god but it'll also listen it'll also begin to consume your time your money your energy your affection and your thought life idolatry is a major theme in scripture and it is just as applicable today if not more so than it's ever been before more than 50 of the laws in the in the first five books of the bible are aimed at idolatry so if idolatry guys is considered to be such a big problem in scripture don't you think it should be something we pay attention to don't you think it should be something that we deal with in our life there's a lot of references but one that immediately comes to mind in other words i could talk i i could do a series on just the different examples of idolatry in scripture but the one that i think immediately comes to my mind and probably comes to your mind as well is moses when he came off the mountain with the ten commandments in exodus chapter 20. now there were ten commandments think about this there were ten commandments and so god gives moses the ten command commandments and says i want my people to live under these ten laws but i want you to listen guys to the very first three the very first three you shall have no other gods before me you shall make no idols number 3 you shall not take the name of the lord in vain he didn't give us these three commandments because he wants to be the first among many gods he gave us these commandments guys please hear me on this he gave us these commandments because he wants to be the only god in our life he wants us to put him first he wants us to give him our best to put him give him first place in our lives god created us to be in relationship with him and with him alone i love the way kyle eidelman says it in his book his great book if you've not read it i'd recommend it called gods at war listen to this paragraph that i found out of there he says he writes god declines to sit atop an organizational flowchart he is the organization he is not interested in being president of the board he is the board and life doesn't work until everyone else sitting around the table in the boardroom of your heart is fired he is god and there are no other applicants for that position there are no partial gods no honorary gods no interim gods no assistance to the regional gods god is saying this not god is saying this not because he is insecure but because it's the way of truth in this universe which is his creation only one god owns and operates it only one god designed it and only one god knows how it works he is the only god who can help us direct us satisfy us and save us god created us to worship him and him alone the whole point again is that we can't have any other gods in our life and that's what idolatry guys listen that's what idolatry is all about while god was giving moses the ten commandments on mount sinai the people waiting below you remember the story the people waiting below were making a golden calf to worship when moses returned and saw their worship of idols he was so angered what did he do he shattered the tablets that had the ten commandments on him think about the irony of this think about the irony of what these people were doing he's telling them wait here i'm going up to get a word from the lord and while he's up getting a word from the lord they're taking gold melting it down forming it into a into a calf that they could worship instead of trusting their creator they just they decided to make a god of their own creation and they're doing it at the same time god is giving moses the first commandment remember the first commandment exodus 20 you must not have any other god but me listen friends god hates idolatry that has not changed he hated it in their lives and he hates it in your life and in my life god hates idolatry he is unwilling to share the praise he deserves with another in isaiah chapter 42 it says i am the lord that is my name i will not give my glory to another i will not let idols take the praise that should be mine so whatever it is in your life that has become more important to you than god is an idol and he's saying i will not i will not let idols take the praise that should be mine in first corinthians chapter six paul tells us that we're no longer our own but we've been bought with the price which what was the price christ's death on a cross and now god expects our full and complete devotion not a partial lukewarm commitment god wants us to be all in when it comes to our relationship with him you know guys listen even as you move to the new testament these when we talk about idolatry not just the old testament the new testament is full of examples as well idolatry continues to be the theme all throughout scripture paul writes in colossians chapter 3 so put to death the sinful earthly things lurking within you have nothing to do with sexual immorality impurity lust and evil desires don't be greedy for a greedy person is an idolater don't be greedy for a greedy person is an idolater worshiping the things of this world idolatry is always an issue of the heart i said that just a few minutes ago it's always an issue of the heart and god is most concerned with your heart but paul tells us that idolatry begins it starts with greed selfishness self-centeredness wanting more greed is this excessive desire for more more wealth more possessions listen it's very common hear me guys it's very common to gravitate to other things to fill our longings or to fulfill our selfish gratification i i could give you hundreds of examples but let me just give you a couple of them i mean literally seriously you could fill a book with the examples and and they're different for every one of us in this room but let me just pull out two common ones today think about the cell phone the smartphone according to the study by rescue time most people spend listen most people spend over three hours a day on their phones now think about that you know you're waking hours you're awake maybe 12 to 2 to 14 15 hours a day and you're spending three hours a day on the phone the top 20 percent of smartphone users actually spend more like four and a half hours a day on the phone on the average they found that people check their phone 58 times during the day 58 times there's little doubt that excessive cell phone use has become a problem in our society i'll give you an example in my own personal life it was like last saturday night after this service um uh sandy and i always go out and grab a bite to eat we we did that then we went home and i got home and i said oh my gosh i don't have my cell phone on me and i kept thinking i said did you see me leave it in the restaurant no i said maybe i just left at my office we're home for the evening i said i got to go back to church and get it now i was going to be there the next morning very early very early i mean what did i think i was going to do between 8 30 at night and six o'clock the next morning not much to do on your phone but the thought of not having it i got back in the car i came to church it was on my desk and i got my phone it's like i think we all have more of an addiction it's become more of an idol in our life than we really give it much thought at the end of 2019 the pew research center reported that 81 of americans owned a smartphone 81 and over the past five years google trends indicate that searches for cell phone addiction has been drastically on the rise people google people realizing all of a sudden becoming an award becoming aware that they're addicted to it of course the dangers of using a cell phone while driving are wild they're wildly known right i mean we all know how serious it is they they've passed laws that we're not supposed to be doing it and yet people continue to ignore the risk and use their phone but it's almost like they can't help themselves they know it's illegal even people their personality is that they're not law breakers but they're still using their phone while they drive they can't help themselves it used to be now you don't have to think back very far let's go back 15 years maybe like probably less than that when you were driving down the road and you saw somebody swerving in and out of their lane what did you think man they're drunk what do you say now to your spouse i'll bet they're on their phone that's the first thing that comes out of your mouth we don't even think anybody's drinking anymore because they're not addicted to alcohol they're addicted to their cell phone today immediately we think that there's little doubt that cell phone use has become an idol for a lot of people let me give you another example this is always dangerous because i'm really hitting close to home with y'all another example would be sports in fact sports might just be the biggest biggest idol in america today it's hard for anyone to deny the love affair that americans have with sports i mean through the pandemic if anybody says what were you most stressed about there were no sports take the national football league for example since 1972 the nfl has dominated the playing field as a favorite spectator sport of americans in 2018 the nfl brought in roughly 16 billion dollars in revenue from television deals to ticket sales to merchandising a lot of money changes hands when it comes to the nfl now please understand you got to hear me on this or you're going to miss the point some of you have already shut me off hear me i'm not trying to criticize sports i'm not trying to criticize football i love the game i'm just observing what's happening i'm just trying to get you to see what's happening when we allow it to become a focus of our passion you can love football and not be an idol in your life you can love sports and not be an idol in our life but that's why we have to be careful when we cross the line when all of a sudden it takes more priority for us than god does you know for the last 10 years sandy and i have split season tickets to the colts with another couple i really love going to the game i look forward to that i love the energy that's in the room and 60 000 people all gathered together on their feet cheering their favorite team now you may not even know you may not even know the people sitting around you you may not even want to talk to them but boy when they make a touchdown you're high-fiving everybody there's so much energy in the room and and people that you'd never speak to now you're hugging them and loving on them doesn't stop you does it those fans and all of those fans have paid a lot of money for those seats and a lot of those fans have driven a long way every time there's a game some of them are driving maybe two hours just to get to the stadium one sunday sandy and i were we were late for a 1 p.m kickoff the pastor was long-winded that day made me late but our parking spot is about four blocks from the stadium and i'm serious it was one cold rainy windy day it was extremely windy you couldn't hold up an umbrella because it would just blow away and so we basically you know we had our jackets on we put our heads down and we were walking into the wind trying to make it to the stadium as we made our way towards the stadium i couldn't believe i'm thinking about all this i'm like this is nuts this is crazy and i couldn't believe i was willing to go all through this just to watch a game you know and so i turned to sandy we're walking very fast trying to get there they'd already had kickoff and i said i wonder how many christians would go through these same type of conditions to get to church i'm just making a point that's it we live in a land where sports we live in a land we live in a day where sports compete for our attention and our affections it could be anything not just not just the nfl it could be anything from golf to baseball to to running to nascar but again i want you to understand that sports is not the problem it's not sports is not the problem it's only when we allow sports to consume our devotion it's only when we cross that line to all of a sudden it's more important to us than jesus so i'm not saying that you have to take sports out of your life i just got some of the guys back i'm not saying you have to take sports out of your life or you or that you have to take money out of your life or that you have to take fame out of your life or that you have to take your cell phone out of your life that's not what i'm trying to say i'm just saying you can't get rid of an idol in your life until you first own it you can't get rid of an idol in your life until you first acknowledge that it's a problem to admit this area has become way too important for me it's like you know it's it's one thing that to overuse the cell phone but it's another thing to make it an idol and it's become an idol for me so i'm gonna deal with it you could start by asking yourself a few questions and those are in the book as well but here they are where do i spend like in other words if you're saying i wonder if this is an idol for me well if you answer these questions all with the same thing that thing is an idol where do i spend a lot of my money i can tell you what's really important to you if you just let me look at your checkbook just just give me your credit card statement and i can tell you what's really important for you because we spend our money on the things that matter to us we spend our money on the things most important to us where do i spend a lot of my money what's the first thing i think about when i wake up in the morning talking about cell phone again some of you the very second your feet hit the ground what do you do you grab your cell phone and before you even get up out of bed you're going through you're scrolling through your cell phone number three what would i what what would i have a hard time letting go of for an entire month if if i if i said to you okay you can't have any sports for 30 days none some of you would be in a fetal position if i said you can't use your phone for a month some of you couldn't take it i mean we can go on and on with examples what do i like to talk about if i asked your spouse what do they mainly talk about if i asked your friends what is what does he mainly talk about so case in point [Laughter] oh my gosh that was timed perfectly may i say you did that just like i asked you to thank you if your answer is to say if your answer is the same to most of these questions then it's likely that area has become an idol in your life so consider taking these steps here's some steps you can do again they're listed in the book but these are things that you can do number one work on your relationship with god obviously that's the big problem the big problem with idolatry is that god's no longer first in your life these whatever this is has become the first priority in your life we were created by god to be in fellowship with him to worship him and within our soul listen within our soul is this god-sized whole or emptiness that was intended to be filled with the relationship with god do you understand that we were created guys listen to me we were created by god to be in relationship with him and so therefore we were created with the need to worship so we will worship something and if it's not god we'll find something to fill that hole we will worship something on the other hand we have this independent spirit or what we call the flesh that wants to go its own way and do its own thing and rather than surrender our life to the lord we try to fill that emptiness with created things that's what paul said in questions we try to fill that hole with created things with things we think will satisfy us or give us significance and it'll work for a little while but it quickly wears off because that's not what it was intended to be filled with it's those type of things that can become idols or bad habits in our life and for a short while as i said they'll work for a short while it satisfies but it leaves you empty because that's not what god intended okay listen god created us to worship something and we will worship that which we value the most we will worship that which we value the most and and when fortune or fame or family become what we value the most we will worship them instead of god so it's like you can look at these things and you can say well family is important it's supposed to be important yes it is but not more important than god building building a nest egg is important yes it is but not more important than god education is important yes it is but not more important than god it's just bringing clarity to what your priorities are supposed to be now guys i'm not saying there's anything wrong with any of these things i hope by now you're getting that message unless those things have become more important to us than god and then it becomes an idol so steve are you telling me that i'm supposed to get rid of my money or my fame or my family no abs absolutely not the solution is to do what the solution is to grow your love for god if you say okay and so this this uh establishing a fortune is more important to me than god what do i need to do well change your focus and start loving god more than you do your fortune it's just start centering or focus in on god fall more in love with him to put god back on the throne of your life the more in love you are with god the more it shoves everything else to the side and it fills that god-sized vacuum with his presence paul said in philippians chapter 3 verse 10 i've quoted this the last couple of weeks actually paul says i want to know christ he's like more than anything else in my life i just want to know him i want to i want to love him i want my love to grow in him to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings becoming like him in his death step number two set boundaries set boundaries when i married sandy when i married my wife i entered into a covenant relationship with her i made a commitment before god i made a commitment before my family and before my friends but most importantly i made a commitment before my mother-in-law to to be faithful to my wife and to love and to cherish her till death do us part that was the covenant i made that was the pledge that i made before everybody i made a promise that there would be no other women in my life except for her and therefore i established boundaries throughout our married life i've established boundaries so that i would remain faithful to her but what if what if i were to uh ignore those boundaries and i would decide to have an affair with someone else well of course as you can imagine it would absolutely break her heart because i broke my covenant i broke my vow my commitment to her oh i could argue i mean i could make a point and argue that that i really that woman didn't really mean anything to me you know it was purely sexual it didn't mean anything to me but i would be missing the point wouldn't i sandy would remind me that i promised there would never be any other woman in my life i made a covenant before god there would never be any other woman in my life and even if she were to forgive me it would take a lot of work to rebuild a healthy relationship to rebuild a healthy marriage i would have to re-establish i would have to convince her that i have re-established some boundaries well guys idolatry is just like adultery when i invited jesus christ into my life i entered into a covenant relationship with him and i promised to be faithful to him and that there would be no other gods in my life that was my covenant i surrender my all to you and so therefore i've established boundaries and promised to be all in when it comes to my commitment to christ but if i were to allow an idol in my life it would break the heart of god because i broke my covenant i broke my commitment to be faithful to him and if i were to argue that this idol was not really all that important to me well i would again be missing the point because i promised there would be no other gods in my life and of course god is a forgiving god and and if i want a healthy relationship with him that i need to make him a priority in my life i need to reestablish some spiritual disciplines or good habits like spending more time with god in prayer spending more time in the word of god spending more time in worship and thanksgiving to make sure that my heart is always focused on him reestablishing boundaries is a declaration of my love and commitment to god so as a believer as a christian i'm demonstrating to god when i establish these boundaries to make sure that i stay focused on him i am it was an it's an outward demonstration of my commitment to him of my love to god it's it's a practical way of saying god i love you with all of my heart mind soul and strength i have established these guard rails in my life so that i'll keep my focus on you so that you are always the most important thing to me step three prioritize confession and accountability in other words you'll find this one pretty much in every one of these bad habits but find somebody a pastor a counselor someone that you can trust and ask that person if he or she will be willing to hold you accountable to be the person that's not afraid to ask you the tough questions the hard questions in james chapter 5 it says therefore confess your sins to each other find somebody confess your sins to each other and pray for each other find that person that'll be that be that partner for you that you may be healed the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and it is effective once you know who that person is then tell them describe to them what the idol is for you just say i'm just going to be honest and just tell you that this is this thing has become way too important to me it didn't start out that way but it really is i i think about it every day you know when i wake up when i go to bed i find myself thinking it's become way too important help me with this i want to break this bad habit in my life accountability is the best way to make sure you break this habit in your life step number four make hard choices in step number two now think with me for just a minute and step number two i said the solution is not always to remove the object of our um idolatry you remember that so in other words um if a self if a cell phone is an idol in your life you don't necessarily have to get rid of the cell phone to break this bad habit you just have to move god up in line of priority and god just needs to be the most important thing to you so it's just growing your love for god and yet i also believe there are times listen to me i believe there are times that's just not enough in other words no matter how hard you try to shift your devotion to the lord you still can't you still can't seem to stop the worship of whatever this habit is you you just can't seem to let it go you try you're trying to put god first in your life but you just keep coming back to this do you remember in the sermon on the mount when jesus told the men uh he told the man to to gouge out his eye to destroy the idol of lust he was talking about the idol of lust he said you need to gouge out your eye matthew chapter 5 verse 29 this is jesus he said so if your eye even your good eye causes you to lust gouge it out and throw it away it is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell now that's called that's called uh some people say that's called crazy but that's that's called hyperbole which just means what it's it's an overstatement it's an over exaggeration to make a point he doesn't literally mean for you to gouge out your eye but he does want you to recognize what a serious problem that idolatry can be in your life so do you need to make some hard choices is really the point that i'm making here do you need to make some hard choices have your friends pulled you away from god now think about this because our friends can be idolatry your your friends can be more important to you than god and and you keep trying to get back to god but your friends just keep tugging on you and pulling you away from god well then you you may need some new friends has social media become an idol in your life well if you can't put god first you may need to close your account has lust become an idol in your life well if you can't deal with it then you may need to put a filter on your internet has accumulation of wealth become an idol in your life you can't deal with it then maybe you need to downsize guys i don't know what hard decision it is that you need to make but if this area of your life has become an idol and you can't replace it with your love and devotion to god then you need to make a hard choice jesus gave the example of trying to worship both god and money you remember this in matthew 6 verse 24 he says no one can serve two masters i don't care who you are and how talented you think you are jesus made that clear you can't ser there can't be two masters in your life he says either you will hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other you cannot serve both god and money friends stop making excuses and be honest with yourself name the idol call it out and repent of it and then ask god for help and then just say you know what god this is gone i've tried to deal with it and i can't seem to do please forgive me that i've made this such a priority in my life forgive me that it's more important to me than you have been i need your help i need your strength i need to deal with this once and for all i'm gonna ask you if you would to bow your heads with me with every head bowed and every eye closed for just a moment guys be be honest i i'm asking you to be self-aware and to be honest with yourself is there an area of your life that if you were to ask other people they would even tell you it's true is there an area that's become more important to you than god then is there an area in your life that maybe has just consumed you you talk about it all the time you have a hard time you would you would find it impossible to let it go for a month well friends that area might just be an idol in your life and you need to make up your mind today that you're going to draw a line in the sand and say i'm breaking this bad habit once and for all because it's keeping me from god's best remember it always starts the breaking of any bad habit always starts with owning it or acknowledging it

Channel: Northview Church

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Length: 39min 35sec (2375 seconds)

Published: Mon May 17 2021