Examples of Modern False Gods and Idols

I was asked to give examples of things we might be worshiping today without knowing it. Let me first share something that will help you identify things in your own life that either were false gods in the past or are false gods to you now. Whenever something, or someone becomes very important to you, there's a danger of it being or becoming a false god. Normally when something or someone is real important to us, we attach very strong feelings to it. Those strong feelings then can be a "warning sign" for us to look and see what is causing the feeling. We've already learned to take our thoughts captive, so this will simply be one more step to take whenever we are feeling a strong negative emotion like anger or bitterness, or fear, etc. When we feel those things, the first thing we need to do still is to take it captive and replace it with God's Truth. Once we've done that though, we should then ask ourselves some questions to determine if that anger or fear or whatever we felt is pointing to a false god. Please know that just because we get really angry, fearful, jealous, sad, or something does NOT mean that there is definitely a false god involved, but it is possible. What is does mean for sure is that if nothing else we need to talk to the Lord about it and find our what is causing it so we can overcome it with His help.

Any thing or person that is a false god in our lives is going to cause us to have strong emotions about it, so that's why they can be used as warning signs. What are some questions you could ask yourself to find out if there is a false god behind those feelings? I ask myself things like: “Why do I feel threatened?” “What am I afraid I am going to lose?” “What goal, desire, or belief is being blocked or threatened?” “What’s so important that it's causing me to explode or lose control?” "Where is this coming from?" "What's adding fuel to this emotion?" If we want to discover our false gods, it's important to trace overwhelming feelings and reactions back to their source. Most important, we need to ask the Lord to help us look behind these feelings to discover if we may have turned something or someone into a false god - into the "ultimate thing of importance" in our lives.

As for examples, the easiest way for me to do that is to share what the Lord has shown me in my own life. I have to admit though, this one really shocked me! Many here know that I've had some difficulties with my adult children over the years. Something happened recently that caused me to feel deeply hurt and disappointed with some of them again. (notice the strong emotions I felt) I did take the thoughts and emotions captive and began to dwell on God's truth instead of the incident in order to replace those thoughts and feelings with Him and His Truth. Once I was sure that I was under control, I then began talking to the Lord about it.

That was when He pointed out to me that my children had become a false god in my life. To say I was shocked would be an understatement! I wanted to deny it; I didn't want to believe it, but I knew the Lord was right. My children and my relationship with them as a whole, had indeed become a false god. They were the thing in my life that was "most important". They had taken God's place in my heart. I was looking to them for love, acceptance and approval, instead of looking to God for those things. In fact, I wanted those things from them, more then I wanted them from God. I would sometimes allow thoughts and feelings about my children, or about something they'd done or not done, to determine how I acted or felt instead of being obedient to God.

The Lord showed me all that and more and of course I repented of it. Since then, I've felt a great deal of peace about that whole situation that had been missing for a long time.

Since then, I've been studying about it and have discovered that our loved ones can often become our false gods if we're not careful.

Other people that often become a false god are those people that we think do not love us, but who we want to have love us. In fact, I'd say that was one of the biggest dangers of all.

Some other things that can become false gods are our pets or animals that we love deeply. It all boils down to a desire to be loved, accepted and appreciated by someone/something. The Lord tells us that He is the one who loves us though and we're to lay our expectations of other people at His cross because other people are always going to let us down. If we leave our expectations at His cross and go to Him for our love and acceptance and approval, then, God can heal the broken places inside us so that eventually we can have a healthy loving relationship with other people too.

Other false Gods might be the false god of materialism, or money, or success, security, false gods of image, outward beauty, youth, etc. Or as John pointed out things like cars or motorcycles or other inanimate objects can even be our false gods if we make them that important in our lives.

Whenever we see a quality about ourselves, such as beauty or youth, etc. as something that we must have or maintain or as something we strongly desire, it may be a false god. It may be that we think that if we have that quality that it means we will be loved and accepted and approved by either: the world, men, the one we want to love us, or by our boss, or the public, etc. We have made that quality about ourselves into the thing that makes us worthwhile, but that's a lie. (which is why it's a false god) God is the one who makes us worthwhile. He is the one who loves us and accepts us, and we do not need that quality in order for Him to love and accept us.

One of the things I discovered a long time ago was my false god was my job. I thought I was the best at my job and did it well. It wasn't until I got hurt and couldn't work anymore that I discovered it had become an idol, a false god, to me. I defined myself by my job. Really, I defined myself by two things: my job and my children -being a mother. So in reality, my children were a false god even back then.

As before, the Lord showed me that what I did, did not make me worthwhile and loved.
What I had did not make me worthwhile and loved.
What I could contribute did not make me worthwhile and loved.
Whether I was good looking, had money, worked, or anything else, did not make me worthwhile and loved.
God made me worthwhile and He loved me and it wasn't due to any of those things.

So really anything that we think causes us to be worthwhile or loved, can be a false god in our lives. I have a feeling that we all have a bunch of them that we didn't even realize were there. But our Lord will help us discover them and get rid of them so we can have the peace and joy He wants us to have now.

Positive feelings could also indicate indicate a false god or idol. I'm trying to think of times in my life and the things that I now know were false gods in order to give an example.....

For instance, when I was seeking love and acceptance from men instead of God - always looking to my husband instead of God, my feelings were mixed, but at times - when my husband happened to be giving me the love I thought I wanted, I'd be very happy. It was only when he wasn't doing that, that I'd be unhappy.

Another false God I had was first my school work and then later, when I was older, my job. I worked hard and made mostly A's in school, and when I'd make an A, I'd be happy, and that was most of the time. But when I'd get even one question wrong, even though I'd still get an "A", because it wasn't perfect, I'd be very unhappy. I know that sounds ridiculous to most people, but that's how I was. I strove for perfection because deep inside I thought I had to be perfect to be loved and accepted by God. My school work, and then later my job, became false gods because I was looking to them to prove my love and acceptance, or to prove that I was lovable and acceptable, however you want to look at it. I remember how I would get very stressed out when it was time for our boss to do our job reviews. Again, I was striving for perfection and worried that I wouldn't measure up. All my reviews were very good, but the problem was, the last question on each review was "What can your employee do to improve?" To me, that was the same thing as saying that I wasn't good enough. My mind knew better, but my heart didn't. So I always got very upset when it would come to that last answer no matter how gently my boss tried to word his answer. It wasn't until I knew the Lord and gave up my false gods and accepted His love and acceptance, that those things no longer bothered me. Because then I finally understood that by myself, I could do nothing good - and that was ok because everyone is that way; but that the Lord loved and accepted me anyway, even at my very worst, and because He did, His love made me worthwhile. I no longer needed to strive to make Him love me, or strive to prove I was lovable. Instead, I could just love Him back and rejoice in His love for me.

One way to tell is to ask yourself who is being glorified by your thoughts and feelings. Is it you? Is it another person, place or thing? Or, is it God

I suspect that everything in this life, and every person we know or wished we knew, as well as we ourselves, could be a false god and idol for us. I guess I need to just state that instead of giving examples like I did. No, not really...I think the examples help some too because hopefully they show how perfectly ordinary things can be a false god. Because a false god is simply something or someone that we think is super important to us in some way, shape or form. In fact, here's another one that really surprised me because it's not something anyone would "want" to have... 

I also discovered that the pain I'm in can be a false god or idol to me at times. For example, that time I wrote about in the pain forum, when I trusted in the pain more then I trusted God, remember? At that moment, it became an idol; a false god for me. I guess I should explain that in case anyone who's not a pain forum member reads this:

I'd been in a great deal of pain, especially at night and one evening got very upset and didn't want to go to bed because I "knew" what would happen when I did -the pain would get worse. So I wound up staying up all night.

The Lord pointed out to me that the reason I had the problem and got so upset that night, was because I'd turned away from Him and allowed myself to dwell on the possibility or likelihood of the pain instead. I'd basically put my faith in the pain happening and me not being able to handle it instead of taking the thoughts and fear captive and replacing them with God's Word which says that His strength is made perfect in our weakness and that He is our strength and is always, always with me and loves me and will sustain me and give me peace. So, really, I traded my peace for fear and self pity.

The Lord pointed that out to me the next day and I was quite ashamed of myself then, especially when I realized that I'd literally put the pain ahead of Him. See by focusing on the pain, it promised me that I wouldn't get hurt if I just stayed up, but it lied, as false gods always do. If I had taken those strong emotions of fear, anger, and self pity as a warning sign, I would have realized something wasn't as it seemed. But during that time I was determined to be disobedient to the Lord. I knew I should take the thoughts and feelings captive, but I refused to. I even lied to myself and told myself that they were there to "warn" me - meaning that they were warning me not to go to bed. Well I was half right. They were warning me, but it wasn't about that. They were giving me the same warning they always do and telling me to take my thoughts captive because they were lies. But I chose to believe the lies and to dwell on them instead of on God and His strength and His help.

So you see, even something as unpleasant and disagreeable as severe pain can become a false god and idol if we allow it to.

Another big one that most of us have had at one time or another is our past. We often give our past much power over us instead of taking those thoughts captive like we're told to and replacing them with God's Truth about us. .

Still another one that we've all probably had at one time or another is ourselves. Yes, we even make ourselves into a false god at times, like in the example I gave Eva.

It just goes to show that anything can be a false god. 

More posts about idols:

• The Civilized World’s Made Things Harder For U
•  The times we're most likely to turn to an idol
• What are your false gods, your idols?
• I used to think that I couldn't ever be an Idolate...
• I used to think that I couldn't ever be an Idolate...
•  From the heights of revelation to the valley of id...

The times we're most likely to turn to an idol

Part 2 of: What are your false gods, your idols?

The times we're most likely to turn to an idol

Psalm 106:13–14 —But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his counsel. *In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wasteland they put God to the test. *

To me, the above two verses sum up what we read over and over again in the Old Testament regarding how the behavior of the Jew's toward God. Over and over again He would rescue them and set them up to have a great life, bu as soon as a little problem came up, they'd totally forget about Him and instead turn to the false God's for help and comfort. Or, sometimes it was because of the abundant life He gave them. They'd be enjoying it, and after awhile, would forget why they had such a good life, and because of greed would decide they wanted yet more or something different, and again would turn to their false gods in order to get it.

I used to read those stories and wonder how in the world anyone could do the things they did...how anyone could forget the wonderful things God had done for them and try to get something from a false god instead. It wasn't until I realized that the stories weren't just the history of the Jew's but were also a history of my own life that I began to understand how they could do such a thing. I began to understand because I realized that I'd done exactly the same things they had! My false gods had different names then theirs did, but I went running to them for the same reasons.

These verses give us a big clue as to "why" we run to our false gods and about the state of our hearts when we're most tempted to run to idols. Notice that it often happens in the desert, wasteland, or wilderness. It's generally not when life is going smoothly, but when we're struggling to get through something and have been struggling for awhile. We're not talking about a day trip into the desert as a tourist, but rather an unwanted detour that's happened and we feel unable to find our way back out. These words describe a large desolate, uninhabited place with little or nothing available for sustenance. They're usually described as lonely places with little or no water. It's when we're in a place like this that we'll be "craving" relief.

It's when we're feeling lonely, or alone. We don't have to really be alone to feel that way. We may be surrounded by friends and family and yet still feel alone. It can be because we feel no one understands us for whatever reason. Ironically, it could be because no one else in our circle knows the Lord, and so we feel "alone". There are probably as many reasons for feeling alone as there are people, but regardless of the reason, it's a time when we feel cut off from others.

We've often hear Christians talk about "the desert experience" meaning that they're going through a time when the Lord seems distant or not there at all, even though they know He really is. Because of that, again, they feel lonely, as though they've been abandoned by God. It feels like He doesn't hear our prayers much less answer them when this happens, and this can really shake us up, especially if we aren't familiar with His Word which tells us that He really is there, does hear our prayers, He does love us and that He always will.

One of the reasons Christian's call that kind of experience a desert experience is because there's a lack of water and food in the desert, and those are synonyms for God's Word. So being in a dry place, a desert, would also be a time when we feel that we're not being fed from His Word. Of course we can and often do put ourselves in a desert and simply refuse to eat what's offered.

It's when we feel that we're unable to survive on our own or when our survival is threatened. By that I don't mean that our lives are necessarily threatened, though that too would be a reason, but when we think our way of life is threatened. When something we hold dear is being threatened. It could be the loss or possible loss of our home, or our job, or an important relationship. (like a spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, child, parent, etc) It could be having to decide between buying medication or food or between those and paying the bills. It could be the loss or threatened loss of a dream, such as a desire to send our children to college or to buy a better house, or move to a better neighborhood. It could be chronic sickness or pain that causes us to feel this way.

Looking at all of that, it's pretty easy to see that the desert is a place where we have very strong feelings of need and for relief. These are the times when we're most likely to turn to our idols for that relief, just as the Jew's did. We may turn to our own wisdom and intellect, to try and figure out how to solve the situation and get what we want, instead of praying and seeking the Lord about it. This was one of Hezekiah's mistakes when he got sick and became terminally ill. Instead of turning to the Lord, he immediately turned to doctors. Now the Lord doesn't have a problem with us going to doctors and makes that clear in His Word. But He does have a problem with us putting all our trust in them instead of in Him. Especially in our country today, most of us rarely even consider going to the Lord about it when we don't feel well. We just call the doctor, get our prescription, take it and get better. (just like Hezekiah tried to do) Or we may do the opposite and simply try and tough it out, perhaps using home or over the counter remedies, hoping we'll eventually get better on our own. I know that's what I used to do. Like I said, God doesn't mind us going to doctors or taking medicine, but He wants us to recognize that He's in control and that He's the one we should turn to first and continuously all through the experience.

Turning to the idol of self is something we do all to frequently. We also frequently make others into idols. Likely candidates are those people who are most important to us. Another person becomes an idol, a false god, when they become the ultimate thing in our lives. For example when a woman feels as though her life would be over if her boyfriend left her, or if she didn't get a boyfriend (even an idea or ideal can become an idol!) No one but God should hold that kind of power over us. I'm not saying that we shouldn't be hurt or feel badly over a loss like that, but to feel that strongly about it shows that we've given God's place to a human being. We need to remember that God isn't just "A God" or even "the God", He's "my God" to each of us and wants to be first in our lives.

When our pain, hurt, or desire is so strong it will always cause us to run somewhere - either to God or to our idol. Our idol could be illegal drugs, prescribed drugs, alcohol, work, overeating, TV, a particular person like a boyfriend/girlfriend, a spouse, our children, or even a pet. These days it could even be a counselor or doctor, or self help books, or even just any books if reading is our refuge. An idol is anything we run to and or cling to that we think will dull or take away our pain, hurt, confusion, anxiety or fear. It's whatever we run to to make us feel better, even if it's only for a an hour or two. It's where we go when we're feeling desperate. (although we certainly don't have to physically "go" anywhere to find many of our idols)

It was when I finally understood this that I really realized why these things were idols and false gods. The Lord wants to be our one and only help; our only refuge in the storm; the only one we go to when we're desperate. The first one we think of. Again Hezekiah comes to mind, this time because he did what was right. When Israel was under siege and about to fall, the commander of the enemy army sent him a letter telling him to surrender or else. Hezekiah immediately took the letter to the temple, laid it before the Lord and cried "Help!" And of course the Lord came through for them. Jesus wants us to come to Him when we're weary and burdened, because He knows that He's the only one who can really help us. He desperately wants to gather us under His wings like a hen does her chicks, and keep us safe, but we keep running off to our false gods instead. Jesus is the one who truly loves us and has nothing but good intentions toward us. He calls us His bride, which is why when we go running off to our false gods, it's spiritual adultery. Thankfully He shows us how to identify our false gods and when we're most likely to run to them, so with His help, we can stop and remember to run to Him instead.

What are your false gods, your idols?

I wrote a long time ago in I used to think that I couldn't ever be an Idolate...
about how I discovered to my shock that I was an idolator. When you discover something like that, the obvious first thing you want to do is stop doing it! The problem is that with idolatry, we generally have quite a few idols in our hearts that we've been unaware of and we have to discover what they are before we can get rid of them. With the Lord's help, I've learned of one way to discover what my idols are, and it's actually pretty easy to do. It makes sense too when we realize that anything we've made into an idol is going to be something we feel strongly about.

When we feel strongly about something, that means we're also going to have some real strong emotions concerning it when we feel it's threatened. The main emotions we tend to feel when an idol is threatened are anger, fear, and/or jealousy. I learned that if I pay attention to what makes me really angry, or hurt, I'll come to quickly know what my idols are.

Our emotions can tell us what we hold the most dear, what's the most important to us. If someone spills something that stains on a piece of carpet that we think of as trash anyway, we're not going to get upset about it, or at least not real upset. But if someone stains something we value highly, then we're going to get really upset!

I'm not suggesting that every time we get angry it means we've got an idol lurking behind it. The way we can tell the difference is by how often we get angry about something. If we consistently get angry or fearful or feel jealous about something, we need to examine what's behind it to find out what our false god is. If we're generally angered or hurt by things other people say and/or do to us, if we examine what made us angry about what each person said or did, we'll most likely find a pattern, and that pattern will lead us to our false god.

We all have the false god of self that we have to deal with. The major symptom for that god is selfishness which can show up in many different ways. When we're saved, our part is supposed to be to die to ourselves and live for Christ, so it's natural that our "self" is going to fight that to the bitter end. But if we're not aware of it and keep alert, it's going to take back control or try to. So the idol of self is one I think we all have to fight fairly constantly.

The other false gods may not be so easy to spot. There's false gods of money, success, image, beauty, materialism, etc. Anything can be made into a false god, and probably has been by someone.

When we feel angry or fearful about something consistently, we need to ask ourselves why we're feeling threatened; what are we afraid we're going to lose; what goal is being blocked, or what's so important that it's causing us to lose control, and what are we getting from this area that we should be getting from God? What need is it filling for us that we should be having filled by God?

Strong emotions are a good reason to look and see just what those emotions are pointing us to. Fear, anger, hurt feelings, and jealousy are especially good signs that will often point us to who or what we're putting our hope in. I've also realized that the things that have hurt us in the past, how and why were were hurt and what we think we need to stop the pain and prevent it from happening again, will also help point us toward our false gods.
A false god or idol is anything that we have put our hope in, or that we're looking to for love, acceptance, contentment and/or happiness. Our strong emotions can tell us that something's wrong, that we've misplaced our affections, because God is supposed to be first in our lives. He demands to be first...above our parents, children, spouse, siblings or anyone or anything else.

I'd like to end this by simply including a few of my notes about idols as they've helped me to find many of mine.

We’ve defined idols as anything that is inflated to take the position of God in our lives, anyone or anything that becomes an ultimate thing. We’ve discovered that some of their roots trace back to experiences of being unloved, rejected, abused—or the flipside, of having it all while ironically having an insatiable desire for more. We’ve identified a few of their more prominent characteristics, which revolve around subtle deceit, blatant lies, and flashy seduction. No other gods

“Belief in Yahweh doesn’t come with your mind, Hezekiah. It comes with your heart. When you only believe in things you can see with your eyes and touch with your hands, it is idolatry.” Trusting in Molech, as Ahaz did, or trusting in your own wisdom and intellect—there’s no difference in God’s eyes. It’s all idolatry.” Gods and kings: A novel.

Idolatry is thinking anything about God that isn’t true or attempting to transform Him into something He isn’t. God: Coming face to face with His Majesty

The essence of idolatry, is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him. Be Determined.

The love of pleasures and possessions is but an insidious form of idolatry, demonic in its origin and destructive in its outcome. To make possessions and pleasures the most important things in life is idolatry. The Bible exposition

Anything becomes an idol when it keeps us away from God. Morning and evening
According to Paul in Romans 6:16, we all have a yoke and we all have a burden—there is no getting around this, as much as we might like to think we can skip through life weightless and independent. Every day, every minute, we will serve something. The trickier part is who or what will that be? The idols of our hearts—the people I depend on for approval, Ashley’s dismal boyfriend, five more social drinks—are not gentle, and they are far from humble. They are cruel with our hearts, promising what can’t suffice yet grooming us as repeat customers. Their yoke is weighty and binding. Christ’s is easy and light. No other gods:
To keep yourself from idols is to live with a whole heart of faith in Jesus. John’s last line properly leaves us with that most basic question which God continually poses to each human heart. Has something or someone besides Christ taken title to your heart’s trust, preoccupation, loyalty, service, fear & delight? It's a question bearing on the immediate motivation for one’s behavior, thoughts, & feelings. In the Bible’s conceptualization, the motivation question is the lordship question. Who or what rules my behavior, the Lord or a substitute?

The 1st Great Commandment, to love God heart, soul, mind, & might, also demonstrates the essential inwardness of the law regarding idolatry. The language of love, trust, fear, hope, seeking, serving—terms describing a relationship to the true God—is continually utilized in the Bible to describe our false loves, trusts, fears, hopes, pursuits, false masters. If idolatry is the characteristic & summary OT word for our drift from God, then desires is the characteristic & summary NT word for the same drift. See Gal 5:16ff; Eph 2:3 & Eph 4:22; 1 Pet 2:11 & 1 Pet 4:2; 1 John 2:16; James 1:14f Both are shorthand for the problem of human beings.

The 10th commandment's also a command that internalizes the problem of sin, making sin psychodynamic. It lays bare the grasping & demanding nature of the human heart, as Paul powerfully describes it in Rom 7. Interestingly & unsurprisingly the NT merges the concept of idolatry & the concept of inordinate, life-ruling desires. Idolatry becomes a problem of the heart, a metaphor for human lust, craving, yearning, & greedy demand. 2nd, the Bible treats idolatry as a central feature of the social context, “the world,” which shapes & molds us. Idols of the Heart

1 John 5:21 —Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. * 

Part 2:  The times we're most likely to turn to an idol