Last summer our family took a day trip to New York City. We got up super early, drove 4 hours to Staten Island, and then took the ferry over to Manhattan. Looking back, I amazed at all the sights we were able to visit. The kids had a blast, and Steph and I did too. We definitely want to go back. Hopefully next time we can stay a little longer. 

I will never forget standing in the middle of Times Square, one of the most photographed places on the planet. It was amazing to see all the advertisement screens and bright lights, even in the middle of the day. One such screen that I counted was no less than 12 stories tall! On the one hand, this was very cool, but there was also a side of me that knew I shouldn’t celebrate this moment too much. 

Times Square is a symbol of much of what makes the Big Apple iconic. The images plastered everywhere are emblematic of the idols of our culture – commerce, sports, technology, money, sex, power, food, business, success, false religion, and thousand more. I am not saying all those things are bad in and of themselves, but they can easily become idols. 

An idol might be defined as, “anything that is valued and worshipped above the Creator God.” The New City Catechism defines idolatry as “trusting in created things rather than the Creator for our hope and happiness, significance and security.” 

Whether you know it or not, there are idols all around. You don’t have to go to NYC to discover them. Even as Christians, we can become so accustomed to our cultural idols that they don’t even shock us anymore. When we fail to let the Word of God shape and influence us, the idols of the world inevitably become our own idols. 

Idolatry, of course, is nothing new. We might have better gadgets and brighter screens than they did in Bible times, but there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). 

Consider what we read in the book of Acts. “Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols” (Acts 17:16). Everywhere the apostle Paul turned, there was another idol waiting to be worshipped. It was said that there were more idols in Athens than there were people. When Paul saw this, he was grieved by the gross display of evil and wickedness.  

You can either let the Word of God shape and influence you or you can let the world.  If it’s the world that’s shaping you then it goes without saying that you’re going to embrace the world’s idols.  We need to examine our lives to see where we may have erected idols in place of the true and living God.

It is easy to be ignorant of our own idolatry. We don’t realize that this “thing” (football, job, leisure, endless scrolling on our device, etc.) has become so integral to our happiness and comfort in life, that if it was taken away, we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves. If you are a Christian, that means Jesus alone is to reign supreme in your life. God is calling you to align every part of your life under the lordship of Christ (Matthew 16:24-25).  

If we are honest, we would admit there are idols in our own hearts and lives that have taken us captive. We often look to them for our joy and significance before we look to our Savior. But where there are idols present in your life, you must do the hard, sometimes even painful work of destroying them. Jesus said, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off” (Mark 9:43). 

Several years ago, I did a pastoral visit for a man in our church. He had been longing to get a new flat screen TV, and he finally did. From our conversations, it was evident he was pumped. But upon arriving at his house, I was to surprised to find the old TV sitting in front of the new, which was smashed up pretty good, and totally useless. Memory fails me as to what happened to his gigantic flat screen, but it left a vivid picture in my mind. 

We are a culture that is addicted to screens – big screens, little screens, and everything in between. This is just one idol among many of our day. Whatever the idol is, it needs to be smashed and destroyed (Deuteronomy 7:5). This will not be easy, but by the grace of God, it is certainly possible. Be assured that God is a jealous lover and He will tolerate no rivals (Exodus 34:14).  

“Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.” John Owen.    

For a sermon related to this topic, click here.