Tear Down the Idols • Ps Nadia Clark

We don't physically bow to a statue today of the goddess of beauty like they did in biblical times, but we now live in a world where beauty becomes such an idol in our heart that it can drive people to depression, eating disorders, putting things in our body that aren't natural, that are harmful to us, all because of the desire to be validated for our physical beauty. We don't physically bow today to the statue of wealth, but when money and success become the idols in our hearts, we perform a kind of child sacrifice by neglecting family and community for the sake of achieving more. [00:07:59] (43 seconds)  #IdolsOfModernLife

See, an idol is something that we unconsciously look at and our heart of hearts say, if I had that, then I feel like my life would have meaning, that I would have value, and that I would have significance. Tim Keller says it like this, an idol, it it it comes from taking something, an incomplete joy in this world and building your entire life on it. That is the definition of idolatry. See, in today's world, we don't have golden calves, but we have office towers, spas and gyms, studios, stadiums, where sacrifices must be made in order to get the blessing of the good life and ward off disaster. [00:07:10] (49 seconds)  #IdolatryDefined

We don't physically bow down to the statue of comfort and pleasure, but when the idol of comfort gets in our heart, we sacrifice our God purpose because we are led by self and what self wants. We don't physically this is a big one today. We don't physically bow down to the statue of love and relationships being fulfilled, but when that idol gets into our heart, we sacrifice our standards, our values, and honoring God for the greater desire of having love. [00:08:42] (34 seconds)  #IdolOfComfortAndLove

All these things are incredible to have in our lives, but they were never meant to have first place in our hearts. They were never meant to have ultimate place. See, so often, we can think an idol is something evil that we worship but most of the time, it's actually something that is good but we just make it the supreme thing. Wow. See, Timothy Callis says this, we think idols are bad things but that is almost never the case. The greater the good, the more likely we are to expect that it can satisfy our deepest needs and hopes. [00:10:04] (42 seconds)  #GoodCanBecomeIdol

Here's the thing, it's not that God needs it, but it's about things being in the right order for our sake. And an amazing example of this is what can happen when our desires overtake us is Lord of the Rings. Who loves Lord of the Rings? We've got any Lord of the Rings fans here. And, you know, in the setting of Lord of the Rings, the ring of power is what that movie is set on. And that ring of power, it corrupts anyone who uses it by taking the heart's fondest desires and magnifying them to be everything in their life. [00:14:22] (37 seconds)  #DesireCorrupts

Why is it in the first two commandments that god gives us? It's a it's a posture of God, you've gotta have number one place in my life. Why is that? Because God knows that if he doesn't hold rightful place in our life, it means that all other sin has authority to enter our lives. See, it opens up the door for all other desires to be to be leading us. Think of it the sin of adultery is led by the idol of sex and the desire for self worth. [00:16:26] (34 seconds)  #GodFirstOrElse

And see, here's the thing. God knows that if the wrong things get into our heart and lead us, that desire ends up corrupting us. That's why he knows he needs that's why he says to us, let me be number one in your life. Because when I'm number one in your life, everything else flows after that. Honor me. Seek me first in my righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you. But I need to be number one because otherwise, if your desires lead you, it leads to death. [00:15:29] (35 seconds)  #SeekGodFirst

See, tearing down idols is pivotal by turning our heart to Jesus, by not just dealing with them, not just highlighting them, by replacing them with true love. I love that the incredible message that God gave to Abraham in that moment when he was about to sacrifice his own son, God said, no, I will provide the sacrifice. And thousands of years later, on that same hill, scholars believe, Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we could know the love of Jesus Christ ourselves, so that we can know true love, perfect love, love in its rightful and perfect order in our lives. [00:26:48] (54 seconds)  #ReplaceIdolsWithJesus

See, Abraham always had a heart posture towards God of worship. Not sacrifice, but worship. And worship meant that he knew the goodness of God. Worship meant that God had first place in his life. Worship meant that all other things fell to the side, and God took his rightful place. Worship means that our heart's desires turn to God and not worshiping other things. So I love what James K. A. Smith says, worship isn't something we do, it is where God does something in us. [00:28:45] (37 seconds)  #WorshipTransforms

Worship is the heart of discipleship because it's the gymnasium of which God retrain trains our hearts. So the best thing we can we can do is when all these other things are trying to get our attention, all these other things are trying to take place, rightful place in our heart that is meant for God, the best thing we can do is to worship. Because when we worship, we allow God to take center stage. We allow him to take his rightful place. We allow all other things to fall to the side, and our hope is in Jesus, in Jesus alone, where it's always meant to be. [00:29:23] (39 seconds)  #WorshipFirst

And see, a great way to search our heart to reveal where our idols are is to look at our heart and look at what we love, trust, and obey. See, what we love is what we delight in. It's what we daydream about. It's where our thoughts go in our spare time. It's what we enjoy imagining. You know, for us, do we imagine getting that promotion at work that is covered by everything else, everyone else? And you step into that zone and you're like, yeah, I'm the man. I'm the boss here. [00:21:47] (34 seconds)  #DaydreamsRevealHeart

Is it falling in love? Do we daydream about falling in love? So, you know, we meet someone who's just awesome. But the next thing we're daydreaming about our wedding, what our reception's gonna be like, who we're gonna invite to the reception, what our children are gonna look like. Our daydreams reveal so much. Another key to knowing what we love is looking at our bank account because god says where your treasure is, your heart is. What does that bank account say about what we love? It reveals so much. [00:22:46] (40 seconds)  #TreasureRevealsHeart

We identify idols but looking at what we trust. Where is our security? And we can locate this looking at our nightmares. Looking at what we fear the most. Yeah. Well Looking at if that happens, I would be left in utter despair. You know, maybe the nightmare of storm being the thirteenth on the ladder now when there's only 17 teams in the Waz beating them like they did last night. Need to deal with the idol of storm in my life. Idols reveal themselves in our brokenness because it's an area that we're constantly trying to attain on our own rather than resting in the wholeness that we have in Jesus Christ. We identify idols by what we obey, What drives us in life to make the choices that we do? [00:23:26] (54 seconds)  #IdolsInOurFears

Now what's the fuel in our lives that's driving us that it's in short supply? See, because when greed, the idol of greed is driving us, I feel anxious when I don't have enough. Is the idol of people approval driving me so I feel angry when others don't include me? Is the idol of success driving me so I fall into perfectionism all the time? See here's the thing, idols want control. They want to dominate us, and this is where the power of surrender comes in. The power of repentance. [00:24:52] (38 seconds)  #RepentAndSurrender

Going, God, I know this thing has a hold on me. God, you've revealed this thing that I have in my life that's out of order. So God, I repent. I'm sorry. I need you. Ezekiel 14 verse six says, say to the people of Israel, this is what the sovereign Lord says, repent and turn from your idols. It's that honest heart surrender of God, I need your help in this. Holy Spirit, let me let me allow this thing not to take my attention like it is. Holy Spirit, help me to turn from it. Help my eyes to be set on you. It's that honest heart moment, and God responds to that honesty. [00:25:31] (39 seconds)  #HonestRepentance

Jesus, when he came, as pastor Craig said, he said, the greatest commandment is to love the lord your god with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. So there is something in us that is called to tear down the idols that can get into our heart. And, you know, let's be honest. We can read this passage from scripture, what God asked Abraham to do, and we can be like, God, that's pretty harsh. I mean, why would you ask something like that? I mean, why does God need to be number one? [00:13:55] (27 seconds)  #LoveGodAll

Why did they fashion a calf? What was that about? But a calf was the most sacred thing in Egypt. Egyptians, they worship the calf. So what the Israelites did in their moment in that moment is they settled for what they saw as normal. They settled for what they saw everyone around them growing up doing, what their generation had worshiped. And in the same way, we do the same. We settle for what is normal. [00:05:58] (30 seconds)  #PowerCorruptsDesire

We settle for what everyone around us is putting their hope in. And we think it's okay because, you know, that's just what everyone else is doing. That's just the norm. But we settle for temporary worship. We settle for giving our worship to something that is empty, something that is hopeless rather than the one that is living. See, in the Western world that we live in today, we don't bow physically to our idols, but for all of us, it is a heart issue. [00:06:28] (30 seconds)  #IdolsLeadToSin

But we don't bow to the statue of family today, but our children can become idols in our hearts. And I know this this is for me too. They become the most important thing in our lives, and we end up sacrificing disciplining them because their love towards us is more important or we end up suffocating them because we need to control everything in their lives or we end up sacrificing our marriage because our children matter most. And here's the thing, all these things are amazing to have in our lives. [00:09:20] (44 seconds)  #TrustChristNotIdols

See an idol is anything that is more important to us than God. Anything that is that we look at that we think if I had that I would be happy. Anything that absorbs our heart and imagination more than God because the truth is that God deserves rightful place in our lives, and that is to be number one. And we're gonna turn in our Bibles to Genesis 22 verse one to two, and this is a pretty sobering story of how God sees things. [00:10:53] (32 seconds)  #GodGuardsHeart

Now what's the fuel in our lives that's driving us that it's in short supply? See, because when greed, the idol of greed is driving us, I feel anxious when I don't have enough. Is the idol of people approval driving me so I feel angry when others don't include me? Is the idol of success driving me so I fall into perfectionism all the time? See here's the thing, idols want control. They want to dominate us, and this is where the power of surrender comes in. The power of repentance. [00:24:52] (38 seconds)  #RightOrderForOurGood

Why is it in the first two commandments that god gives us? It's a it's a posture of God, you've gotta have number one place in my life. Why is that? Because God knows that if he doesn't hold rightful place in our life, it means that all other sin has authority to enter our lives. See, it opens up the door for all other desires to be to be leading us. Think of it the sin of adultery is led by the idol of sex and the desire for self worth. [00:16:26] (34 seconds)  #WeAreDesiringBeings

And see, here's the thing. God knows that if the wrong things get into our heart and lead us, that desire ends up corrupting us. That's why he knows he needs that's why he says to us, let me be number one in your life. Because when I'm number one in your life, everything else flows after that. Honor me. Seek me first in my righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you. But I need to be number one because otherwise, if your desires lead you, it leads to death. [00:15:29] (35 seconds)  #ModernGoldenCalves

See, Abraham always had a heart posture towards God of worship. Not sacrifice, but worship. And worship meant that he knew the goodness of God. Worship meant that God had first place in his life. Worship meant that all other things fell to the side, and God took his rightful place. Worship means that our heart's desires turn to God and not worshiping other things. So I love what James K. A. Smith says, worship isn't something we do, it is where God does something in us. Worship is the heart of discipleship because it's the gymnasium of which God retrain trains our hearts. [00:28:45] (46 seconds)  #StopSettlingForNorms

It's gonna lead to destruction in your life. It's gonna lead to you opening yourself up to all kinds of evil. It's gonna lead to destruction in your family. It's gonna lead to you pursuing things that are just gonna cause you to be empty, and we hear the father's heart. Honor me. Put me first. It's not about me having to be validated. It's about getting things in the rightful order in your life for your sake, for our sake. [00:19:58] (28 seconds)

But we don't bow to the statue of family today, but our children can become idols in our hearts. And I know this this is for me too. They become the most important thing in our lives, and we end up sacrificing disciplining them because their love towards us is more important or we end up suffocating them because we need to control everything in their lives or we end up sacrificing our marriage because our children matter most. And here's the thing, all these things are amazing to have in our lives. [00:09:20] (44 seconds)

So the best thing we can we can do is when all these other things are trying to get our attention, all these other things are trying to take place, rightful place in our heart that is meant for God, the best thing we can do is to worship. Because when we worship, we allow God to take center stage. We allow him to take his rightful place. We allow all other things to fall to the side, and our hope is in Jesus, in Jesus alone, where it's always meant to be. [00:29:30] (32 seconds)

See, in the Western world that we live in today, we don't bow physically to our idols, but for all of us, it is a heart issue. Ezekiel 14 verse three says, son of man, this is God speaking to his people, these men have set idols up in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. See, an idol is something that we unconsciously look at and our heart of hearts say, if I had that, then I feel like my life would have meaning, [00:06:49] (33 seconds)

And see, a great way to search our heart to reveal where our idols are is to look at our heart and look at what we love, trust, and obey. See, what we love is what we delight in. It's what we daydream about. It's where our thoughts go in our spare time. It's what we enjoy imagining. You know, for us, do we imagine getting that promotion at work that is covered by everything else, everyone else? And you step into that zone and you're like, yeah, I'm the man. I'm the boss here. [00:21:47] (34 seconds)

See an idol is anything that is more important to us than God. Anything that is that we look at that we think if I had that I would be happy. Anything that absorbs our heart and imagination more than God because the truth is that God deserves rightful place in our lives, and that is to be number one. And we're gonna turn in our Bibles to Genesis 22 verse one to two, and this is a pretty sobering story of how God sees things. [00:10:53] (32 seconds)

Every time God highlights something, every time God disciplines us, it's for our good. It's so that it doesn't lead to death in our lives. So what I wanna very quickly do this morning, then we're gonna just have time in worship in allowing God to do heart surgery in our lives. Because what we're gonna do is look at tearing down the idols, and the first thing is we gotta reveal them. Reveal them. Search our heart. Now I love that God tested Abraham because he wanted him to have a heart check. [00:20:50] (31 seconds)

See, tearing down idols is pivotal by turning our heart to Jesus, by not just dealing with them, not just highlighting them, by replacing them with true love. I love that the incredible message that God gave to Abraham in that moment when he was about to sacrifice his own son, God said, no, I will provide the sacrifice. And thousands of years later, on that same hill, scholars believe, Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we could know the love of Jesus Christ ourselves, so that we can know true love, perfect love, love in its rightful [00:26:48] (50 seconds)

We don't physically bow today to the statue of wealth, but when money and success become the idols in our hearts, we perform a kind of child sacrifice by neglecting family and community for the sake of achieving more. We don't physically bow down to the statue of comfort and pleasure, but when the idol of comfort gets in our heart, we sacrifice our God purpose because we are led by self and what self wants. We don't physically this is a big one today. We don't physically bow down to the statue of love and relationships being fulfilled, [00:08:23] (42 seconds)

all these things are amazing to have in our lives. All these things are incredible to have in our lives, but they were never meant to have first place in our hearts. They were never meant to have ultimate place. See, so often, we can think an idol is something evil that we worship but most of the time, it's actually something that is good but we just make it the supreme thing. Wow. See, Timothy Callis says this, we think idols are bad things but that is almost never the case. [00:10:00] (38 seconds)

See, it's amazing because we live in a world today where we're constantly told and encouraged to chase the temporary things of this world, to achieve fulfillment, satisfaction, and meaning in this life. And what we end up doing just like Agassiz, we put our thing, our hope, and things that were never meant to carry our hope. We chase dreams that were never meant to carry full meaning and purpose, and those things end up coming short. And it's the same for us today in our humanity. We chase things. We are on that perpetual wheel trying to chase the life that we think that we need. [00:03:15] (38 seconds)

Jesus, when he came, as pastor Craig said, he said, the greatest commandment is to love the lord your god with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. So there is something in us that is called to tear down the idols that can get into our heart. And, you know, let's be honest. We can read this passage from scripture, what God asked Abraham to do, and we can be like, God, that's pretty harsh. I mean, why would you ask something like that? I mean, why does God need to be number one? [00:13:55] (27 seconds)

I mean, why does God need to be number one? Here's the thing, it's not that God needs it, but it's about things being in the right order for our sake. And an amazing example of this is what can happen when our desires overtake us is Lord of the Rings. Who loves Lord of the Rings? We've got any Lord of the Rings fans here. And, you know, in the setting of Lord of the Rings, the ring of power is what that movie is set on. And that ring of power, it corrupts anyone who uses it by taking the heart's fondest desires [00:14:19] (36 seconds)

See, an idol is something that we unconsciously look at and our heart of hearts say, if I had that, then I feel like my life would have meaning, that I would have value, and that I would have significance. Tim Keller says it like this, an idol, it it it comes from taking something, an incomplete joy in this world and building your entire life on it. That is the definition of idolatry. See, in today's world, we don't have golden calves, but we have office towers, spas and gyms, studios, stadiums, [00:07:10] (42 seconds)

And you can read that and go, Israel like, Israelites, what were you thinking? But see, there's something in us as people that we've gotta put our hope in something. And when the man Moses, the man of God had gone, they were like, we need something to put our hope in. So even if it's temporary, even if it's this thing that we know is fake, we'll still worship it because we still need to put our hope in something. And just like us, we are the same. [00:05:00] (29 seconds)