Counterfeit Gods

Recently finished Tim Keller’s Counterfeit Gods and I’m currently trying to pinpoint my own idols. What are the idols in my life that I put before the one true God?

Keller says that we commit the sin of idolatry because, “there is something you feel you must have to be happy, something that is more important to your heart than God himself. We would not lie unless we first had made something – human approval, reputation, power over others, financial advantage – more important and valuable to our hearts than the grace and favor of God.”

In order to discover what those idols are, what are those things I must have, we can look to our thoughts and finances. Keller quotes Archbishop William Temple,”Your religion is what you do with your solitude.” He says, “the true god of your heart is what your thoughts effortlessly go to when there is nothing else demanding your attention…What do you habitually think about to get joy and comfort in the privacy of your heart?”

Then of course the easy question that helps us learn our idols. When I have discretionary money, what do I spend it on?

So far, with the thought I’ve given to this, one of my idols is sports. Keller says in the book that this would not actually be my idol, that there is something going on underneath the surface, a hidden idol. That leads me to this, my hidden idol is significance and the approval of others.

Here’s why.
1) I follow sports because if it comes up in conversation with other guys, I want to know the scores, the hot topics, stats, etc. I gain significance from knowing this stuff, and approval when others acknowledge that I know it. Why else would I keep up with the Carmello trade rumors? I don’t really care about the Nuggets or the Knicks.

2) Every year I get some cash for Christmas from parents and in-laws. Where does that money go? It’s my Astros ticket money. Heather and I have been to the opening day game of the Astros season 8 of the last 10 years. (we missed one because my son was born two weeks before the game and one because I could not get out of a conference I had to attend) I cannot imagine not being able to attend that game every year.

3) My thoughts often drift to sports. Even in fantasy. I daydream about being one of the guys on “College Gameday” or being a guest on “Mike and Mike in the Morning”.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this. Cut off cable? Then I would just spend more time watching games/highlights on the internet. This idol must be replaced with the one true God, then I could actually watch and follow sports without it controlling areas of my life. How do I do that? Well, I’m praying and looking forward to God’s response.

What are your idols? How do you replace them with the One who rightfully deserves to be first in our lives?