deep idols

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Not a Sunday Problem

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Recently I was grumbling about the quality of a sermon at Church.  I didn't think it was deep enough ... I didn't care for the pithy commentary ... I didn't think it was a good use of my hour I suppose.  It struck me that, perhaps the Church was not the one for me ... then it struck me that perhaps I was not the right one for that Church!

Then I realized that I was becoming trapped in one of the devil's classic devices.  As I grumbled about my Sunday experience, I was really exposing how I drifted in my Monday through Saturday relationship with God.  I had drifted from reading the Bible, praying to God, and contemplating His grace.  I had moved work ahead of my relationship with God, and had begun to slide back towards the anxieties and frustrations that come from relying on self-actions and efforts.  

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Is Good Enough, Actually Good Enough?

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I was reading a book on the role of the Christian Husband and one of the things that struck me was this concept that we are "good enough" or that life is "good enough."  Many of us go through life and things are "just fine."  We have good enough jobs, good enough relationships, good enough kids, good enough friendships, and we feel good enough on the inside.  Nothing is perfect, but nothing is really awful ... things are simply "good enough".

Television is a big driver of the "good enough" mentality.  You see a guy cheat on his wife on TV and you think, "well I'm not that guy."  You see a person rob a bank on TV and you think, "well I'm not that guy either."  The fictional television people that we compare ourselves against are generally just enough of a mess for us to think, "hey, I'm pretty good."

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Do You Live to Get Power?

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We call the things we put as top priority in our lives, "idols".  As humans we tend to focus on four primary idols that we call, "deep idols".  Many humans seek power as the most important thing in their lives.  The person at work that wants to be the boss, no matter the cost.  The person at home, that wants to be in charge of everything, no matter the cost.  As with all deep idols, seeking power is about trying to attain that thing which you believe will make you happy.  And, as with all deep idols, seeking power to gain happiness will result in, you guessed it, no feelings of happiness.

The deep idol of power is really the ultimate in the self-reliant orientation.  As modern humans we are convinced that (1) if we can't explain something then it must not be real, (2) if we want something we simply have to try harder, (3) if life is not going well, it is our own fault.  As we seek power we are seeking the power over others to do our will.  Ultimately we either gain the power we are seeking or we do not.