From Idols to the Living and True God

The fulfilled Christian life is the life that has repented from any and all idolatry and dedicated itself completely to the worship and the service of Jesus Christ.

I believe that one of the main reasons that God’s people today are not getting the work of God done is because of idolatry.

We would all agree that the unsaved are all under the yoke of idolatry. Whether they bow down to the statue of a saint or the microphone of a rock star, idolatry is rampant. Some bow down to their own intellect, but it is all idolatry because it takes the place of Jesus Christ.

Is there something that you would not give up for Christ without compromise? I hope not.

If we are going to worship Christ like we ought to and if we are going to be obedient to the mission that He has given us to do, we must seek out the idols that clutter our life.

I am reminded of the Old Testament story of Gideon. He was a man whom God wanted to use, but there was a large idol in his own backyard. While he probably did not consider himself to be an idolater, the LORD asked him to take care of that problem before empowering Him to deliver Israel in a supernatural way.

Judges 6:25–27 KJV 1900

And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it: And build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down. Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

The same situation often occurs today. You can be one of God’s people, and while you don’t consider yourself to be much, you would like to be used of God in some way. God also wants to use you, but he looks in your backyard and sees things that He cannot possibly bless.

In certain religions, including Shinto in Japan or Hinduism, the people will have what some call a “god shelf”. It is basically a shrine that they build and hang high on one of their walls. This shelf will hold the various gods that the family worships and bows down to. Sometimes, when you witness to folks of some religions, they are willing to add Jesus to the shelf, but not to clear the shelf of other gods.

Illustration: The brother of the couple in India, who got saved and took down his shelf of gods.

As Christians, we have no right to have our own “god shelf”. It must be cleared of all other gods, and only the one true God is to be our God.

Illustration: Raphaël, seeing the difference between the gods of the Mormon religion and the true God of the Bible.

As we look at the passage before us, let us examine three people or groups of people who must allow Christ to triumph over idols in their lives for God’s work to be accomplished.

I. The missionary must choose Christ over idols in his life. v. 5

Anything that holds us back from being all that we ought to be for Christ either is an idol, or betrays the presence of an idol. Not all idols are things that we preach against. Sometimes they are good things that we refuse to let go of in order to dedicate ourselves more fully to Jesus Christ.

A famous theologian (Augustine) well said, “Idolatry is worshiping anything that ought to be used, or using anything that ought to be worshiped.”

Let’s take the subject of missions and bring it home to where we live. When it’s done at home, we usually call it evangelism, soul-winning, being a witness, making disciples, or something like that. If it happens elsewhere, we call it missions.

It’s a sobering thought that there are people who have never heard of Jesus Christ for the simple reason that I was too busy bowing down to an idol. What I mean is that we all fail to do the work of God because we value lesser things over His commands.

READ LUKE 9:57-62

Luke 9:57–62 KJV 1900

And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

The first man, whom we know was a scribe from the parallel passage, asks Jesus if he can follow him. Jesus, seeing his heart, tells the scribe, “Before you commit to that, you need to know that I, the Master, do not have as much as a piece of real estate to my name.” We never hear from the man again...perhaps it was too high a price to pay. It came between him and Christ. The second man would follow Jesus, but the problem was that it would separate him from his family, in particular his father, who we assume was aging. Jesus was not telling him to ignore his dad, but rather to invest his life into preaching the Gospel rather than waiting around for an eventual funeral. This man’s attachment to his family was so great that it could not be loosened or severed for the cause of Christ. As for the third man, we see that Jesus does not accept half-heartedness. Either you are committed to Him and to His cause, or you are not. Nothing can come between you and Christ.

The biggest obstacle to the work of God is not the sinner, it’s often the saint. There is no field that is too difficult, but there are believers that are too disobedient.

The main reason why most of the world has not yet heard a clear Gospel presentation is not that the majority of them will do anything not to hear but rather than so many Christians will do anything except go and tell them.

I heard that story of a little boy in Africa who had walked several kilometers to go and hear a missionary speak. While at the meeting, he trusted Christ as his personal Saviour, and after spending some time there, he returned home to his village. However, when he tried to tell his father about he had learned and believed, his father mocked him, saying that he had never heard of anybody named Jesus. The little boy was not confident enough to be able to effectively defend against his father’s arguments, and he began to pray that a missionary would come to his village too. However, no missionary ever came. The dad said, “I guess your God never sent anybody.” The little boy replied, “Perhaps God sent someone, but they never came.”

One reason why so many pagans bow down to idols still today is that so many Christians bow down to idols of their own rather than bowing down to Christ. In effect, they are simply being more open and honest about their heart’s affections.

II. The supporters must choose Christ over idols in their lives. v.8

Missions has been the heartbeat of this church for as long as I can remember. The reason why this has been possible is because many people sacrificed other things in order to give their support to our missionaries.

The church at Thessalonica was not a rich church. We know that because in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5, Paul speaks of how they gave out of their deep poverty.

READ 2 CORINTHIANS 8:1-5

2 Corinthians 8:1–5 KJV 1900

Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.

The Macedonians, which the Thessalonians were, had given themselves first, before they gave any money. They begged Paul to take the gift from them, and they begged him to allow them to partake in ministering to the saints.

What strikes me in the Thessalonians is that they were first and foremost interested in the things of God. Even their own financial state took a backseat to seeing the work of God be accomplished. This amazes me.

It is plain and clear that Jesus Christ was the top priority for the Macedonians. He was Whom them they cared about the most.

If we are to be the supporting that the Lord wants us to be, we must clearly rid our lives and our homes of idols.

I have adapted the following three observations about idolatry (from Goodzwaard): Everyone person is serving a God (or god) or gods in his life. Every person is transformed into an image of his god. Our society is built to honour our gods. That for which I would give anything and accept nothing in exchange is the most important thing in my life. Whatever that is my god.

III. The unsaved must choose Christ over idols in their lives. v. 9

In evangelism, be it local or overseas, we seek to see pagans, people who do not know Christ, turn from their false gods and accept Jesus Christ. The entire world is a very idolatrous place. In some places you may walk into a very ornate temple and see people spin prayer wheels or purify themselves in some ritual before bowing down and offering incense to some statue. In another place, folks may hold rosary beads and repeat a pre-written prayer, while fixing their eyes on the image of some Bible character or some person that they call a saint. Others sit in a university lecture hall, listening to a Ph.D. lecture on the foolishness of believe in God, all the while worshiping his own intellect. Yet others spend their lives and their bank accounts trying to find meaning in sports, be it by enrolling the kids or by attending sporting events rather than meeting their family’s needs.

In all the above cases, they have an idol that they must turn from is they are going to serve the living and true God.

We do pray for our missionaries. Perhaps we don’t as we should, but we do pray that the people in Africa, or Europe, or even Canada would turn from their wicked ways. The question is: While we are praying for the heathen to turn from their idols, how concerned are we about the idols that plague our own lives?

You see, I don’t think missions is ever going to be effective if it’s an event that we schedule and then promote. It should be the natural outflow of a life that is completely surrendered to Jesus Christ.

There was an old man who lived years ago. He has been persecuted for his faith. Tradition even tells us boiled alive but that somehow he had survived. One day, he was sitting at a desk with a quill and an inkstand, writing a letter to people that he cared very much about. That letter is still available to us today. This old man had seen some amazing things in his life. One day, he, his brother, and a friend had been invited by Jesus Christ to accompany Him up a high mountain. Up on that mountain, they had seen the most amazing, breathtaking sight. They had seen Jesus’s face shine as the sun and his clothing become as white as light.

A couple of years later, he had been looking up at Jesus yet again. Only, this time, Jesus Christ was wearing a crown of thorns, bleeding profusely. He was hardly recognizable, even though none of His bones were broken. He was had nails driven through his hands and feet, fixing him to a wooden cross. Jesus looked down at his friend standing there, and saw Mary his mother standing next to him. He said, “Woman, behold thy son!” And Jesus said to his disciple and friend, “Behold thy mother.” This man had been asked to take Jesus’ spot in the family. Pretty amazing.

Every day of his life, this man no doubt closes his eyes and recalls the sight of Jesus transfigured. No doubt every day, he closes his eyes and replays the scene of Jesus atoning for his sins on the cross. Now, he opens his eyes, takes the quill, and writes the very last line of his letter. It’s recorded for us in 1 John 5:21, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”

I wonder what John thought when he saw the Greeks and the Romans around him bow down to statues and build altars to mythical creatures. There was simply no comparison between Jesus Christ and these idols.

And yet, here we are, with choices to make. We have a choice between Jesus Christ and a vast array of idols to choose from. Our choice will be reflected in the world around us. With idols on our shelf, the lost will not hear of Christ. But if the shelf is wiped clean, and the only God we serve is the God of the Bible, and our heart is wholly given to the Lord Jesus Christ, Christ’s Great Commission will be both our treasure and our pleasure.