How to discern what are our other gods? (Exodus 20:3)

Short teachings from Hillcrest Church further exploring Sunday's teachings.

Transcript

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Hey, hope you're doing well. Tim here, and we are diving deep into 10 words of life. So Rachel did a wonderful job unpacking the first word of the 10 words of life this past Sunday. You shall have no other gods before me. And that's where Yahweh God essentially is telling the Israelites, I've rescued you. And the way of life is your exclusive loyalty to me, your exclusive worship to me, your exclusive devotion to me, the true and living God of the universe. This is the way of life. You shall have no other gods before me. And um and Rachel pointed out how you know from in the Egyptian world there's all these other gods. And they're in the Canaanite world that they're headed to, there's all these other gods. And um, and and God was calling them to a better way of living, letting their exclusive loyalty be aimed at him. And I just found myself one, I just appreciated it and I thought it was the worship afterwards was really powerful. And I just found myself kind of in this this space of like of yeah, just recognizing the need for repentance in response to that message. Um because I think, you know, we you know, as we recognize, yeah, um, the Israelites were called to exclusive loyalty to the true and living God, and we too, as as followers of Jesus, are called to exclusive loyalty to this triune God. Um the same God who revealed himself at Sinai revealed himself in Jesus of Nazareth, and he calls for our exclusive loyalty. And and and what are those other um, what are those other gods, those other idols uh that tempt uh me, that tempt us? And uh and I just wanted to invite you to to consider that for your own life. I just want to invite you to prayerfully um reflect on that, um uh to journal about it, to bring that into your quiet time. You know, the reformer John Calvin, 16th century uh pastor and theologian, he he talked about the human heart as a factory of idols. Like it's a factory continuously making idols. And uh, you know, I guess in the 16th century, probably factory is not the quite the right term, but like a perpetual, like a workshop churning out idols. This is what the human heart is, and um and and I think what Calvin is is getting at is hey, uh I idolatry is not this thing that like one random person here or there falls in. This is the default setting of the human heart. Uh, we all are continually turning from the living God to uh idols, and and and obviously he doesn't mean like literally little wooden or golden images. Um that's not what uh Calvin meant. What he meant, and at least this is my understanding, and um, is that we as human beings, we we are made, our hearts are made to adore, to be devoted to, to be uh uh to to love the the the true and living God of the universe. Like we are you are made um to be like enraptured by the living God. And uh that's that's that's what our heart, like our hearts, your heart, my heart has this insatiable hunger that ultimately is only met by the infinite God. Augustine said, our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee. Like our hearts have this restless hunger that can only, it's meant to be aimed at the infinite God, the God of truth and goodness and beauty. Um we we are religious animals. Like we're we're made to worship. We're made to have an ultimate thing that we love. We're made to have an ultimate thing that we devote our lives to. Like that's just how we are as humans. And I think that's borne out um biblically. I think that's very clear. And I also think just you look around, um, you look around the world and you tell, like, man, people want, they want a transcendent, something they aim their life at. Um and they they hunger for this. And so, um, and I and I found myself uh just recognizing as as we we heard about you shall know other gods before me, just this call to repentance and in that moment of worship of for myself and for us as a church. And I just want to invite you into that. Of like I think it's central to the to the to the spiritual life is recognizing what are those other gods that I'm tempted to go after? What are those other idols that I'm tempted to go after? And ultimately, it's what are those those good things that I'm tempted to make the most important thing? What are those good things that I'm tempted to make the thing that my well-being depends on? That I'm I'm that I the what are those good things I'm meant that I'm tempted to trust more than I trust in the living God Himself. And I think um, and I think letting like identifying those, letting God name those in us, repenting of those is is critical for our spiritual health. And so I would even invite you just what are those, what are those things that you are tempted or that you even now find, you're like, if you're honest, like, yeah, I have made that an idol. Um, I have made that another God. You know, um how you identify those things, I thought Rachel um asked some, you know, kind of had some good questions. I think one of them was, you know, essentially, I will be okay as long as everything is well with this. Um this is kind of where my my sense of well-being in the world comes from. I thought that's a good one. You know, in an earlier podcast a month or so ago, I mentioned the fear thing, like follow your fear, like like identify your deep anxieties, and it usually leads back to an idol. Um at least leads back to something that you're worshiping. Um yeah, so these are some questions uh that might help, but maybe I'll just name some that come to my mind that I think I think in our world today. And what notice what these are, a lot of these are good things that I think we make the most important thing. Um physical health, um uh either health or looking a certain way or a certain weight, um, finances, uh, our bank account being a certain place, um, how much of our anxiety around money is actually an idolatry. Um reputation. I know for myself, a lot of times there's been times where I've struggled. I like I want people to perceive me a certain way, and and that's that's become something I need to repent of. Um how our kids are doing, our grandkids are doing, or how our spouse is doing, or how our brother or sister is doing, and like um, and almost kind of a not a not a responsible love for the other, which is biblical and good, but actually a kind of um an idolatry where my my well-being, my sense of the world being okay depends on them. Um success in sports, success in work, success in jobs. Um, I've known people where like a really particular relationship, I like I can remember uh a guy where um uh he uh like he was in this relationship and he wanted to marry this girl and thought that he like essentially like God almost owed him this relationship ending in marriage. Like, God, I played by your rules, this is why I want to marry, it's better work out. And when the relationship ended, um it broke his relationship with God, and I and I really believe part of that it was because ultimately the relationship was was the ultimate thing, was was more the idol than the living God um himself, relationships. Um I think in our world sexual pleasure can be a big one, and this can go anywhere from kind of the pornography route all the way to the ways that um, and I don't think I you know this this is a um this can be a sensitive, but one that often doesn't get I think there's all sorts of ways that um that sex and sexual pleasure can get idolized or can turn into an idol in marriages, and there's nothing um you know, there's nothing about being married that means this can never no longer become an idol. Uh and I think oftentimes it can, and that's uh you know, another thing to be repented of. But anytime uh that a good thing becomes the ultimate thing, um, anytime um that it's like my well-being depends on this, uh that it uh yeah, you can tell idols when they get moved, you get angry. And before they get moved, you're scared they might get moved or taken. Um and I think uh and I think God uh God wants us to recognize um that we have been this this deep hunger in our hearts is ultimately for him. And he's placed us in a good world with good gifts, and we're meant to enjoy those things. But if we place our deepest trust in those gifts rather than in God, we're always gonna be disappointed. Or they're always not gonna be mad. And I think, um yeah, I guess I guess I think my just pastoral invitation is God is saying to you, again, I want to be your highest loyalty. Um what and my qu my pastoral question for all of us is what are those things um that you are tempted to go after? What are those other gods that you are tempted to go after? And to to take time and genuinely repenting of those before God. So that's imitation. Uh praise and peace.