Editor-in-chief's idol factory

A newspaper article about idols prompts some "loose thoughts" about the idolatry so often mentioned in the Bible. And why even today so many Christians resort to their "feelings" and thereby drift with their faith. And how difficult it is as a believer to continue to live with what I'll just call a "half gospel" for a moment.
Does it strike you as loose sand? Then read on anyway! Below are the headings for the table of contents. I pray you will find some use for it.

Editor-in-chief's journey of discovery

On Saturday, June 17, the Reformatorisch Dagblad (RD.co.uk) an article about a journey of discovery into the idol factory. The occasion was a book by the recently deceased Tim Keller about "counterfeit gods. This book - from 2010 - prompted the newspaper's editor-in-chief to go on a quest in the Reformed denomination and in his own heart to find out where idols might be everywhere.
The newspaper article begins with Keller's "definition" of idolatry: 'anything that occupies your heart and imagination more than God is idolatry'.

But unfortunately this is a "definition," which is not really a definition [I say], because each one can fill this in very subjectively for themselves which will therefore lead to very different results. So it is not objective, not measurable. And even worse, it is not a Biblical definition, it is not what God understands it to be. What it really is then remains shrouded in mists.

The editor-in-chief's journey of discovery then involves a long list of things, all of which are placed under the label "idol" and thus can apparently become an idol for you.

• The smartphone
• Social media
• Games
• Three-day flight vacation Barcelona with nitrogen emissions
• Buying a bigger house for the third time
• Eating out every month
• A 1000 euro coffee machine
• An impressive closet full of books
• An impeccable tie
• A beautiful Sunday hat
• Doctrinal purity
• Pastoral performance
• Moral self-importance
• Your smooth talk
• Your sharp memory

It is apparently difficult to unmask something in yourself as an idol, and so some handles are given for it. But since that offers no real solution either, it concludes with the only remedy that remains in the author's opinion:

"... radical conversion: turning your back on those idols and seeking the things that are above, "the living God, Who, if you find Him, can truly fulfill your life' ".

Why not a biblical definition?

Now we have not described the above to somehow make fun of it. But to show what it can lead to when we do not understand what idolatry is all about. Because without knowing how God Himself defines idolatry, we end up in a forest of subjectivity in which everyone loses their way. Because whether a smartphone is an idol or not could be debated endlessly. And what is an idol for you may not be for someone else. So that at some point you think, "never mind".

According to the Bible, idolatry is very simply put: 'approaching God in the way the pagans approach their gods' (see also here). Or you could also put it this way: 'draw near to God in a way that you can experience Him.' Because 'experiencing' the invisible world is what people strive for. They want to experience 'God' or 'that which is greater than ourselves' (cf. here).

It stands in stark contrast to the way the God of the Bible wants to be served. When we approach God, we must 'believe that He is and that He rewards those who seek Him' (Hebrews 11:6). Believing is completely different from and the exact opposite of experiencing. The desire to experience "God" sends people in the wrong direction and brings them under demonic influence.
Unfortunately, this is something that unfortunately most Christians do not know. But that is precisely why it is necessary to see what God Himself says about idolatry and what is associated with it.

Neo-Calvinist conversion

At the end of the article it is said that radical conversion is the only way to get rid of idols.

"... radical conversion: turning your back on those idols and seeking the things that are above, "the living God, Who, if you find Him, can truly fulfill your life' ".

If I understand the article correctly, this is a quote from the book by Keller, who, by the way, is also called a "neo-Calvinist" in the article. Then it also becomes clear that this is actually just as much a call to conversion as we have seen with John Piper (see here) and encountered at "Behold your God" (see here).
It always comes down to first radically removing all the sinful from your life before you can find "fulfillment"; before you can enjoy God as supreme.

Notable is the short interjection "if you find Him. This shows that it is a search and that it is not certain that you will find what you are looking for. Probably it depends on how many idols you are able to radically remove.
So gradually I understand that with all these neo-Calvinists this is the 'gospel' - and I reproduce it in my own words - 'reach out to God, long for Him, and remove every sin from your heart and life, then God will be gracious to you and will hear you'. But this is not the gospel, at best a "half gospel.

Conversion according to the Bible

The Bible shows us another path of conversion.

• Understand that you are a sinner and on your way to the eternal judgment of the holy God.
• Understand that Christ - sent by God - became man and died a sinner's death on Calvary so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
• If you believe these things, you must personally accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.

Then you are a child of God and receive from Him the Holy Spirit. From that moment you no longer belong to this world that is in evil, but to heaven and you may live out that new spiritual life here on earth (see also here). Then you may serve God, read His Word and grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That is the new life you have received, as it says 'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has passed away, behold, everything has become new.' (2 Corinthians 5:17). Before your conversion, you lived for yourself, for visible things, but now Christ is your life. Now He, His things and His future are most important to you. Those are the things you are most and most concerned with. They are the things that give the joy in your heart and cause the praise to rise from your heart to Him.

Your old life also changes - the old has passed away. It becomes different because you are fundamentally different in life: primarily focused on heaven - where Christ is - and that affects your daily life here on earth.

What about sin?

But what about sin? Have you then become a "better person" or a saint? No, unfortunately not, because you must be well aware that you still have your sinful nature. That is "the sin in us" that is connected with the mortal body. That sinful nature you still have and it has not changed either. Indeed, it cannot be changed or improved either. Paul puts it this way: that 'the meat [that is sinful human nature] does not submit to the law of God, because neither can it' (Romans 8:7).

But every believer, if he is honest, will have to acknowledge that he still sins. The apostle John puts it this way: 'If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins: He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' (1 John 1:8-9). Even when we have sinned, we have boldness to go to God and confess: 'And this is the boldness we have in going to God' (1 John 5:14).

A Father who has our best interests at heart

Moreover, it is true that every believer can see the hand of God the Father in his life because He "will not leave us alone," so to speak. You read about it in Hebrews 12 beginning in verse 4. When you are a child of God - and not a bastard - our Father will make corrections. He raises us up so that we might partake of His holiness. Or in other words, so that we would live more devoted to God; more focused on heavenly things and less on earthly things.
Sin and its consequences can get in our way quite a bit as believers. It makes one have to return to the Lord again and again. This awareness of "imperfection" [let's call it that] also keeps us humble and makes us aware that we need grace. Grace to live to the glory of God and of the Lord Jesus. This is also why the Lord Jesus is our High Priest, who can suffer with our weaknesses.

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with boldness, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to be helped at the proper time." (Hebrews 4:16).

"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
- Hebrews 4:16 -

Thereby, mercy has to do with God's blessings we receive even though we do not deserve them. And mercy has to do with not receiving from God what we actually deserve. Then He has mercy on us.

A major stumbling block

The presence of sin in the believer is a major problem for many Christians. As far as I can tell, it is the cause of many dropping out of the faith they once professed. And many others end up in a "life of God experience" which leads them to believe that this is why things are right between them and God. 

There is little sound biblical teaching available about this, little preaching about it, and little mutual encouragement in your path as a Christian regarding these things. As a result, many either drop out altogether or end up going astray due to one-sided teaching.

On the one hand, there is the well-known view that at conversion you receive God's Spirit and a new life. Then one day you find out that you can still sin and do it. There is then a great danger of getting caught up in the charismatic, because then you still experience that God loves you and that He even works in and through you! But then again, the discovery that things in your life are not just "of the Spirit" may be such a big disappointment that you just leave faith behind.

The other view is to eradicate sin, preferably root and branch. That is hard work and fighting against sin, but even then you find that it does not work and things do not get better. Even praying and Bible reading does not help you; the life of faith remains bleak and barren.
But even then there is the great danger of being deceived by longing for a "God experience. Something mystical in any case, making you sure that things are all right between you and God after all, and that He loves you after all.

The road to idolatry

As I think about these things a bit, the teaching from the letter to the Hebrews comes to mind. We have talked about this before (see here) and should write more extensively about that soon.
But for now we limit ourselves by noting that as believers we must learn to live by the faith that

• .... we have a perfect High Priest in heaven, who offered a perfect sacrifice and entered once for all with His own blood into the inner sanctuary.
• .... Christ and His sacrifice is sufficient for our life here on earth
• .... Christ Jesus Himself is the throne of grace, to Whom we go to obtain grace and mercy (4:12-14).
• .... We have a Father who is working in our lives to make us more devoted to Him (12:5-11).

The letter to the Hebrews involves teaching that the writer says is "follow-up teaching" (6:1-2). This could well be the continuation of the gospel he sets forth in the letter to the Romans. They are things you need to know for a life of faith. They have to do with trusting in the perfection of Christ's work in view of our own "imperfection" [to put it euphemistically].

trust in the perfection of Christ and his work
in view of our own "imperfection"

When we do not learn these things in the practice of our lives, we are in great danger of falling into idolatry. Because then people need an experience of God that convinces them that "it's all right" and "you are loved". Without trusting Christ for our life down here.

Christ is the Guide and Finisher of faith

You can say of everything that is for sale in the world and of everything you think and find that it can be an idol, but in doing so we oversimplify reality a great deal. You then get a worldview in which a Christian can no longer find the (Biblical) way. It is very confusing and everything becomes subjective. Because what is an "idol" for one person may not be for another. It makes people uncertain about the way of salvation.

Moreover, if we can make everything an "idol," we are left in the mist as to what God's Word actually means with all the warnings against idolatry. Then it is also no wonder that people start longing for the moment when "it is given to you" and the mystical experience of "the divine" happens to you.

Every Christian after conversion will experience being "not perfect. We discover who we are "by nature" and what "our flesh" is, and this compels us to live humbly and live by God's grace.
But we then also discover that Christ - His Person and His work - is perfect and more than sufficient to preserve us and bring us into His glory.

“And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith.”
Hebrews 12:1-2

---

I have found the solid ground, in which my anchor eternally attaches.
Christ's death for sins, laid from eternity as the ground.
That ground will stand firm, immovable, as earth' and sky go down.

It is the eternal mercy beyond my awareness,
it is the loving arms, it is His heart that is open.
He needles the sinner, He forgives the one who surrenders to Him completely.

Oh, abyss into which all sin sinks and no longer exists!
O deep secret of Christ's wounds, - judgment is nullified!
O Lord, Your blood cries out forever: mercy, mercy!

On this I want to faithfully build, comforted, whatever befalls me;
Trust me to God's Father's heart when my sin weighs me down.
Again and again I find there prepared infinite mercy.

_{Geestelijke Liederen 277 - Johannes de Heer 641}

---