We all have gods- idols that dominate our lives and drive our thoughts, words, and actions. In Counterfeit Gods, Tim Keller looks more at this essential topic and its ramifications. All quotes presented below are from the book.
Summary
"Every human being must live for something." That 'something' is an idol, and every culture in the world has its own set of them. What's an idol? It's anything "more fundamental than God to your happiness, meaning in life, and identity." It is a counterfeit god.
"We think that idols are bad things, but that is almost never the case." Instead, our hearts take "good things like a successful career, love, material possessions, even family, and turns them into ultimate things. Our hearts deify them as the center of our lives, because, we think, they can give us significance and security, safety and fulfillment, if we attain them." Typical examples of idols include sex, money, things, power, success, reputation, status, and political goals.
Can we fix this? What's the solution?"We think that idols are bad things, but that is almost never the case." Instead, our hearts take "good things like a successful career, love, material possessions, even family, and turns them into ultimate things. Our hearts deify them as the center of our lives, because, we think, they can give us significance and security, safety and fulfillment, if we attain them." Typical examples of idols include sex, money, things, power, success, reputation, status, and political goals.
Why is idolatry bad?
"Idolatry is always the reason we ever do anything wrong." It's why “the central . . . principle of the Bible [is] the rejection of idolatry.” And "if we look to some created thing to give us the meaning, hope, and happiness that only God himself can give, it will eventually fail to deliver and break our hearts." How does this happen? "When an idol gets a grip on your heart, it spins out a whole set of false definitions of success and failure and happiness and sadness. It redefines reality in terms of itself." Yes, "counterfeit gods always disappoint, and often destructively so." "Idolatry distorts our feelings. Just as idols are good things turned into ultimate things, so the desires they generate become paralyzing and overwhelming. Idols generate false beliefs such as “if I cannot achieve X, then my life won’t be valid” or “since I have lost or failed Y, now I can never be happy or forgiven again.” These beliefs magnify ordinary disappointments and failures into life-shattering experiences."
Do we all have idols?
How do I determine my idols?
Here are some questions you can ask to think on your idols:
- what do you do with your solitude?
- "What do you enjoy daydreaming about? What occupies your mind when you have nothing else to think about?"
"Idolatry is always the reason we ever do anything wrong." It's why “the central . . . principle of the Bible [is] the rejection of idolatry.” And "if we look to some created thing to give us the meaning, hope, and happiness that only God himself can give, it will eventually fail to deliver and break our hearts." How does this happen? "When an idol gets a grip on your heart, it spins out a whole set of false definitions of success and failure and happiness and sadness. It redefines reality in terms of itself." Yes, "counterfeit gods always disappoint, and often destructively so." "Idolatry distorts our feelings. Just as idols are good things turned into ultimate things, so the desires they generate become paralyzing and overwhelming. Idols generate false beliefs such as “if I cannot achieve X, then my life won’t be valid” or “since I have lost or failed Y, now I can never be happy or forgiven again.” These beliefs magnify ordinary disappointments and failures into life-shattering experiences."
Do we all have idols?
Yes. The Bible claims that "the human heart is indeed a factory that mass-produces idols." Though it manifests itself differently in each of us, without exception "we prefer our own wisdom to God’s wisdom, our own desires to God’s will, and our own reputation to God’s honor." And idols ". . . do not only take individual form, but can be corporate and systemic." We're all influenced by them; in fact, "it is impossible to understand your heart or your culture if you do not discern the counterfeit gods that influence them."
"One of the signs that an object is functioning as an idol is that fear becomes one of the chief characteristics of life. When we center our lives on the idol, we become dependent on it. If our counterfeit god is threatened in any way, our response is complete panic."
Here are some questions you can ask to think on your idols:
- what do you do with your solitude?
- "What do you enjoy daydreaming about? What occupies your mind when you have nothing else to think about?"
- How do you spend your money?
- What are your most uncontrollable emotions, and what triggers them?
- What are your most uncontrollable emotions, and what triggers them?
- What do you look to for "significance (love) and security (trust)"?
- What do you fear? What could you not live without?
- What do you fear? What could you not live without?
"Is there any hope? Yes, if we begin to realize that idols cannot simply be removed. They must be replaced." And "deep idols have to be dealt with at the heart level." We must look to Jesus.
What breaks and idol's power "over us is not just redoubled effort to follow the example of Christ. Rather, it is deepening your understanding of the salvation of Christ, what you have in him, and then living out the changes that that understanding makes in your heart—the seat of your mind, will, and emotions. Faith in the gospel restructures our motivations, our self-understanding and identity, our view of the world. Behavioral compliance to rules without a complete change of heart will be superficial and fleeting." "If we are deeply moved by the sight of his love for us, it detaches our hearts from other would-be saviors. We stop trying to redeem ourselves through our pursuits and relationships, because we are already redeemed."
In short, "we have to know, to be assured, that God so loves, cherishes, and delights in us that we can rest our hearts in him for our significance and security and handle anything that happens in life." Indeed, "the living God, who revealed himself both at Mount Sinai and on the Cross, is the only Lord who, if you find him, can truly fulfill you, and, if you fail him, can truly forgive you."
Review
In addition to the main topic, Keller has excellent thoughts on the nature of forgiveness, following God, and the Gospel in general. Like his Prodigal God, I found this insightful, humbling, convicting, profound, transformative, and uplifting. Highly recommended.
Rating: A
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