The Idolatry Of Ourselves

    So I have six drafts for this sucker of a blog but this will be the last! As you might have been able to tell from the lack of hair on my head, the number of drafts I've failed to finish or the ridiculous number of CC's of coffee I've been pumping into me that this blog isn't going down quite as I had planned. I don't know why the topic of idolatry is proving to be so difficult for me. It's so simple in definition but that's where it seems to get so complicated - in its simplicity. We'll see where the ball lands. For now we're starting with it in my court.

    Idol, normally the word brings to mind a golden statue that was big enough to have its own gravitational pull or a little smiling chubby Asian dude whose belly you'd rub for good luck. They were something used by the Vikings who prayed for fare sea weather, ancient Egyptians for flooding of the Nile or fertility, or the Greeks for bumper crops or victory in battle. But except for a more symbolic use by a few religions, idols have become outdated, something old and no longer needed. Science, Wikipedia and Google has seen to that. We have our weather patterns, Navy SEAL teams, satellite reconnaissance and doctors with wooden sticks that they are somehow legally allowed to jam down our throats or a reasonable answer to most of our questions. Idols were for the ignorant who didn't have a cell phone. A comfort pillow. So why talk about something that's faded with the past? Because that's the thing. It hasn't. 

    C.S Lewis, in his book The Screwtape Letters, writes, 
    “Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one--the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden   
     turnings, without milestones, without signposts..."


    See, you have to understand that this is how Satan works. Looking back at some of his best cases you won't see a massive attack on a man's faith, a proverbial Bunker Hill. If it were we'd be able to have something to stand against and beat back. It's easy to hit a target when there's a target to hit. But Satan's finest work, it's the gradual, slow, fade. That is what kills the man's soul.
For me it was computers. That's how it began. Robert E. Lee Civil War General, Backyard baseball, Stronghold, Bugs Life. At 10 I was essentially dying for any piece of technology I could get my hands. I would salivate over the chance to play. School was a passing thought, and the only reason I did it was to play.
    
    Suddenly one night it dawned on me...I wanted more time on the computer to be with my troops, cities and cartoon baseball teams, so why not just wait until everyone had gone to bed and then I'd just sneak to the backroom turn the sound down and play all night! I still remember that night. I was terrified that my mom would come walking out and find me. I got as far as the startup window before my nerve broke and I tore out the power cable and made a dash for my room and huddled in my bed. How I wished it had stopped there.
   
   Six years later that spark of rebellion had cacooned itself into a choking weed that, in no time at all had fully corrupted me, slipping its fingers through every inch of my life and choking me to Hell. I had stolen hundreds of dollars (possibly even a thousand) from my grandma (who was sick with beginning level dementia, that, years later, was paid back) to pay for my World of Warcraft/gaming addiction , which, after thousands of late nights by myself with a computer had branched off into another addiction to pornography. My life was falling apart with my family, daily yelling matches with my mom, ugly fights with my sisters. I wanted nothing to do with God and really, I didn't give a fig newton about any of it. I knew I'd still have the addictions to go back to. The comfort sins. Talk to pastor? Fine, if it'd keep the parents quite. It's not like I had to listen and I could just hack the computer later that night and get my dose. And honestly, if you had asked me (and was able to pry out a truly honest response) about how I could do it all and not feel bad, I would have just shrugged and said, 'Because I just don't care.'


    It started out small. Harmless games and laughs. But between a perfect blend of slow cooked apathy and cheap entertainment I ended up with addictions that I'm still struggling to overcome to this day. But you want to know what really ticks me off? It's how easy it was to take me down. How little of a fight I put up. I wanted it. Maybe not the addictions that came along with it but I wanted the cheap fun instead of school and family and God. Instead of struggling for my life, my little 10 year old mind decided to wimp out and take the wide, cushy, road. It was easier than God so I took it.


    And that blogger people, that...that is an idol. It's not a golden statue that we bow down to physically but it's anything that has that worth to you. The moment when you run over someone else to appease that idol, the desire, that's when you need to realize that you're loosing the battle. An idol demands worship, it demands everything from you, and why? Because it's fueled by our own desires. We are that idol. We want more sex, more games, more money, more praise, more attention. See the games were never the root of the problem. It was who I am. It was the greed in my heart, my selfish desires. I wanted more so I took it and didn't let anything stop me. It could have just as easily been any other catalyst - girls or cars or, let's face it, murder, but it's the route I set my self up on. We don't have idols...we have an idol and that idol is ourself. 
Paul writes to the Colossians (Colossians 3:5) 

    5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:sexual immorality, impurity, lust, 
       evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 


    See, Paul, the greatest known theologian (except for Christ which really isn't a fare comparison) of his time, states that idolatry is pure greed. Need to back that up? Ephesians. 5:5

    5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—
       has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God

    See, idolatry is made complicated by it's simplicity. Teachers say we idolize sports or TV or clothes. No, no, no! We idolize ourselves by giving ourselves whatever we want and from that we seep these little side issues, what the world has taught us to call, 'idols'. That's the mistake. It's not plural! And look at the consequences of it is...idolaters have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. How crushing is that? When we feed our every desire we leave no room for Christ. He is to be the only one we serve. Phil. 1:21 (one of my favorite verses) - As for me, to live is Christ to die is gain. Everything we do, we do for the glory of our God. Idolatry stands between that lifestyle. 

    So where do you stand? Do you put yourself before Christ? Don't know? Here's an easy way to see. When it comes to devotions and you want to sleep or play video games or exercise (weirdo) or eat or jump on Facebook, do homework (something is deff wrong with you then) or, even, doing something for God/the Church (Luke 10:38-42)(believe me, it gets tricky there.) and you pass the Bible and the teaching of the Holy Spirit, you need to take a look at what's going on. If Christ comes after you in anyway then you can be sure Satan is standing behind you whispering that it's fine, that's it just the one time. He's trying to slip his daily dose of idolatry into your life. Don't let him. Please, I'm begging you. Don't put yourself and everyone else who loves you through it. You can beat this! Christ is your power. 1 Cor 10:13. He will provide a way out from under it but realize that we're under it. It's weight is crushing but we have to fight to claw out from it. Please...start before your mole hill becomes a mountain. Just remember that in the end, you will kneel before Christ, the only true idol worth worship, and all you'll want to hear from his mouth is, 'Well done good and faithful servant.'
 
    Don't be the chaff he throws to the wind. The fish that is thrown back. The wo/man that is spit out. Flee from greed. From the love of yourself. Today I've sold my PS3, have top of the line restrictions set on my internet (seriously every possible device) (Covenanteyes.com is a beast of a site that I seriously recommend), skip all songs that have even a hint of sexual content, dropped 95% of the shows I watch and replaced it with God. It's the only way. I challenge you. Take that step. Step into the ring and begin to go toe to toe with that lion who stalks the earth, looking for your soul to devour. 
One more thing that's on my heart that I need to share before I sign off on this guy. I heard a sermon on the radio a few weeks ago while I was going to my Air Conditioning class. It hit me like an overweight rhino. 


    "People watch or listen to raunchy shows or songs or video games full of sex and cursing and all  
     un-Godliness and say, it doesn't bother me. That's the problem! If you're saved you should be   
     appalled! People...your conscious has died." 

    God gave us a that Jiminy Cricket on our shoulder, pleading with us to stop. That first night I went to play on the computer, I felt sick to my stomach. Why? Because my conscious was begging me to stop. When you fall to the Father below, he smothers that voice. Is Jiminy trying to stop you? Please...listen. It may be all that's holding you back from Hell. Is he gone? Fall to your knees and beg God to turn your life around. You may not have hit rock bottom. Don't let it. Brothers, sisters. Take action. This is a war. We will fight the good fight and in the end we'll share our stories in Heaven. I hope to see you there.

PKL
Godbless

A Little Note

    No scripture or crazy ideas just a little truth I had sucker punch me this morning - Christ gave us salvation through grace, giving us something we didn't at all deserve. That's bloody amazing and something I can't even fathom but beware the moment you start abusing that grace and committing sins on God's tab...I've seen first hand what it'll do and the moment you start down that road it doesn't end well. The moment you begin to rationalize ANY sin in any form, drop to your knees and beg God to help. Satan's most effective weapon is the slow fade, slowly integrating apathy into your every day diet until there's no stopping it...please, watch out. Just a note from the moron who's gone through it before. It all comes back to which father we serve, above or below. It ALL comes back to one.

Clarification

    So just wanted to give you a quick update on how often I'll be writing. I didn't really specify. Anyhow, anytime I complete a subject or (pride, self control, marriage, lying, anger, faith) I'll write a post. I might for throw some stuff out, quote that I found that were cool or powerful verses but for the most part it'll be on subjects. How often will a subject come? No idea.

   Anyhow, I'll be off now. Chores to do, clogged sinuses to deal with, and headaches to get over. Fun day.


PKL

God bless!