The “Good Idols” Christians Love To Defend

Nearly everyone knows that idolatry is a big no-no in the Christian faith, but when I look at the Church I wonder if we understand idols at all. Believers aren’t crafting literal golden calves as far as I know. On the other hand, there sure are a lot of “good idols” in the lives of believers that Christians will defend more fiercely than the gospel itself. It’s troubling, but we can make this right if we first acknowledge what we’ve done.

Are there idols in your life? We better check.

What Is An Idol?

Depending on your age, the only idol you think about might be an American Idol.

I get it. She’s really talented, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Idolatry is condemned throughout the Bible (Jonah 2:8; 1 John 5:21; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Corinthians 10:14), and it even makes the Big Ten. Although we know that any sin separates us from God, the world usually only thinks about the Ten Commandments. Here’s what God says.

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” (emphasis mine)

Exodus 20:4-6

Building physical idols to worship from stone, bronze, wood, etc. is not a common behavior we see in America, but this is still practiced across the globe. So, first things first. Don’t create something you will worship. That is idolatry in its most basic form.

Must we have some physical item to pray to in order to commit idolatry? No. The second commandment warns against serving and bowing down to these idols, or we could say, having other gods above the True God.

This is where we get ourselves into trouble. I’ve heard a lot of Christians explain that they don’t have other gods because they don’t have a statue of Buddha or something similar in their home. On the other hand, they do skip church for the entirety of football season…

Got Questions says it succinctly and accurately. “When we emotionally rely on anything other than our relationship with Him to validate us, we are breaking the second commandment.” With that definition in mind, let’s consider if something good can become a “good idol.” More importantly, let’s examine our lives and figure out if we have any “good idols” of our own.

Six “Good Idols” Christians Love To Defend

“Good Idol” #1: Spouses

Christian ladies, we are so guilty of this. I didn’t grow up in the Christian bubble, so I missed out on the obsession with marrying young people off which is so often observed in churches. But man alive, Christians really want to put a ring on it!

Christian college is like an insanely expensive dating show, but contestants have to take classes, too. And I can’t begin to imagine how many women go off to college in hopes of an M.R.S. degree. All right, I’m simplifying the situation, but facts are facts. We want to get married, and Christians believe in the importance of marriage and building a family. (Rightly so!) Is marriage the most important thing, though?

I have encountered women who have been trained to be wives and mothers but left completely unprepared for the possibility that they may remain single for an extended period of time. As time goes on, fear sets in and then desperation. Eventually, thoughts creep in that have no truth to them.

“I have nothing to offer God without a husband.”

“I’m single because God is punishing me.”

“My life can’t begin until I’m married.”

“I just need to find my soulmate.”

Well, I have bad news, gang. Getting married won’t be the answer to all your troubles, shortcomings, and needs. In fact, marrying someone will probably create new troubles, shortcoming, and needs. Put two sinners together and you get two sinners…together.  It’s not magic. It’s marriage.

You might be thinking, “I’ll marry a great guy who will complete me and meet all my needs.” If so, I’m thinking, “Wow, this woman is going to have a tough transition into marital life. I should pray for her.”

All husbands are sinners. All wives are, too.

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”

Romans 3:23

Your husband will fail to meet your expectations because he’s human, and there is no doubt you will also fail him. Nonetheless, women will hold their husbands up to godlike standards and be crushed when these poor men don’t succeed at the impossible.

I encourage marriage, and I think it can bring great satisfaction to many people. However, it was never meant to be held in higher regard than God. Putting your husband before God hurts your marriage and hurts your relationship with God because it’s sin. You have turned your husband into an idol.

God loves you more than your husband ever will, and He will never turn from His children.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:8

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

1 John 4:10

“Good Idol” #2: Family

Family is one of those blessings from God that makes me extra thankful for my faith. I didn’t have a healthy family dynamic when I was growing up, and the Lord has seen fit to give me a much better home life than I ever could have dreamt up for myself.

It’s not perfect, of course. C’mon, five kids live in the same house with me.

Unfortunately, family can become the foundation of our identity and become a “good idol” that detracts from God.

Children

Moms seem to be especially susceptible to allowing the children to become the center of the household. “Anything my babies want, they get!” This damages families in a myriad of ways. The husband feels sidelined, the kids become entitled brats who grow into entitled and insufferable adults, and the mother has no sense of purpose or joy once the kids move away. But that’s not the worst of it.

Parents who make the children their identity and the recipients of their worship have failed their children and God. First, these children were taught to serve and put worshipful energy into people rather than God. The family narrative naturally revolved around the children and their wants, preferences, and needs. Scripture instructs parents to do something quite different.

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

Deuteronomy 6:5-7

Second, the parent fails God because she turned her own kids into idols and deprioritized the Lord. All her worship transferred to them. It’s easy to do, but it is also incredibly damaging.

Extended Family

Allow me to issue a warning that some of you have turned your extended family into an idol. I’ve seen it displayed with a kind of “ride or die” attitude. No one can say a critical world against “my mother, brother, sister, grandfather, etc.”

Christians will even overlook grievous sins to protect this extended family from perceived harm and to keep the relationship intact. The relationship matters more than God’s truth in these circumstances. Again, idolatry. And some Christians will defend these “good idols” until they just leave the church altogether for the benefit of the idol.

“Good Idol” #3: Health

Full disclosure: I intensely despise working out. I’ve actually broken down into tears upon realizing that I wasn’t going to lose the baby weight after my fifth pregnancy unless I ate well and worked out. Couldn’t I just, like, not eat? So, I might be a little biased coming into this conversation.

My distaste for exercise aside, a healthy lifestyle is incredibly important for those of us who would like to live long lives with less medical issues than we would otherwise have. For me, that’s easier said than done, but for some Christians healthy living is an identity.

Some of y’all are living like there isn’t any more to life than kale, quinoa, and cardio. Every spare moment is spent working out, consuming fitness media, or planning next week’s ultra-fitness, high protein week. Somewhere along the way, an interest in fitness and healthy living replaced a focus on Christ.

As believers, there are good reasons to stay healthy. For instance, gluttony is a sin, and despite it being a socially acceptable one, we should refrain from it. Additionally, we should desire to be ready to answer God’s call to wherever He wants us to go, whenever He wants us to go. Good health is an important factor in that aspect. Not to mention, the Holy Spirit indwells Christians (John 14:17). Shouldn’t we want to care for the bodies in which the Holy Spirit resides?

The purpose of our health, though, should not be to look good in skimpy clothing, show off a body “transformation,” or feel good about ourselves. We should be considering what we can do with a healthy body to serve the Lord. Rather than cling to a “good idol,” Christians need to refocus their healthy lifestyles toward Christ.

“Good Idol” #4: Work/Career

I haven’t always been “just a housewife.” I was beginning a career that could have lasted my entire life. The women I worked with inspired me to be the best professional I could be because they had really made something of themselves. I wanted that to be me.

Then, I got saved at the end of my first year as a school social worker and Christ changed my focus. I had always wanted to “be something,” but God was showing me that I was everything I needed to be in Him. All I needed to do was trust in the Lord and obey His Word. (Do you like how I make that sound like it’s such a natural thing to do?)

Women are forgetting the role of wife and mother, leaving behind biblical womanhood, and seeking validation from their coworkers and bosses. I’m not saying women can’t work or have a career, but (don’t freak out) women should ensure they can also be available to their families.

No promotion, successful presentation, or pat on the back at work can trump a woman’s call to her home. As marriages and children suffer, it isn’t difficult to see the “good idol” of career wreaking havoc on families.

If a career has become the most important thing in your life and prevents you from being a good wife and mother, then it’s an idol. So, get your life back into a healthy balance with God in first place.

“Good Idol” #5: Professional Experts

The feminist and progressive Christians are all about the professional experts. Listen, expertise is a good thing. I want an expert looking at my scans at a hospital and working on my car when I have engine trouble. On the other hand, I have learned to think critically when determining someone’s “expertise.”

The world has recently seen the controversy surrounding expertise during the pandemic. Take the vaccine or don’t take it. Wear a mask or don’t wear it. Stay inside indefinitely or don’t… There doesn’t seem to be a single person on Earth who doesn’t feel strongly one way or another about all those examples, but without a doubt, there is a significant disagreement about them. There is also a group of individuals who seem to adore and worship some of these experts, taking what they say as gospel truth. Practically speaking, that’s a problem, but it’s idolatry, too.

Lately, I’m seeing the issue of experts superseding God regarding women in the Church. Someone will release results from a self-report survey indicating women are oppressed, sexually unsatisfied, underrepresented in church leadership, or any other “problem” progressives are looking to solve. So what, though? Don’t we want to know this kind of information?

Well, what happens when the results of the surveys and studies contradict the Word? I’ll tell you. Christians have to believe God, and reconsider what the experts are saying. So, if the professionals report that churches need to put women in the pulpit to prevent 25% of female suicide attempts (I have completely made that up), we need to recognize the professionals are giving unbiblical advice and seek out answers from God’s Word. But too many of us are willing to throw aside God’s teachings because an “expert” said God was wrong.

Experts are good, so long as they don’t contradict Scripture. Otherwise, they just become “good idols.”

“Good Idol” #6: Church Activity/Ministry

What could be less idolatrous than serving in your local church? It should be such an innocent way to spend time, but our sinful hearts can find a way to twist it up from good to “good idol.”

The best way I can describe this is to ask you to imagine a fictitious church member who signs up for everything, has a sense of pride about her ministry work, puts her nose up at people who don’t do as much as she does, and talks about her faith in terms of what she does at the church rather than about Jesus and what He did for her.

The most important thing about this woman is how she serves in the church. When you talk about God’s work in your life, she tells you about her ministries.

Even the best things can become “good idols” when we let them define us and determine our worth. Service to God can be idolatry when we live for the service, not the One we serve.

Final Thought

Idols bring images to mind of things many of us could never imagine having anything to do with, let alone having a hand in creating. Yet so many Christians have a tiny pedestal in their hearts for something they refuse to let go of, even for God. The situation becomes more confusing, of course, when the idol sitting on the pedestal is something anyone would view positively.

“Good idols” sneak into our lives by often beginning as a positive and later becoming something we love too much. Believers will defend these “good idols” with fervor, conviction, and an unwillingness to closely examine the effect the idols are having on their lives and spiritual well-being.

We are all capable of making idols out of pretty much anything. Take care by being vigilant in your walk and having people in your inner circle who will hold you accountable and lovingly correct you. Decide if you need to clear off that pedestal today.

Have you found yourself making an idol out of something good? What was it?

More “Good Idols” Christians Love To Defend

Image courtesy of Hanny Naibaho via Unsplash.