Idols of the Heart by Tim Keller

This article is based on training materials from Redeemer City to City. Please do not
use or distribute outside of this curriculum. Copyright © Redeemer City to City 2016.

Part 1: Understanding Your Idols

THE INEVITABILITY OF IDOLATRY
In the first of the Ten Commandments, God prohibits idolatry: “I am the Lord your God…
you shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2-3). The command asserts that we
will either worship God or something else. Notice, it does not envision a third option—
there is no possibility of our worshiping nothing. Since we need to worship something,
because of how we are created, we cannot eliminate God without creating God-
substitutes. Something will capture our hearts and imaginations, becoming the most
important concern, value, or allegiance in our lives. So every personality, community, and
thought will be based on either God Himself or on some god-substitute, an idol.
THE CONCEPT OF IDOLATRY
Romans 8 makes it clear that “those who live according to the flesh set their minds on
the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the
things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit
is life and peace” (Romans 8:5-6 ESV). At the heart, then, of gospel change is recognizing
and changing what we put our minds on. In the Bible, mind and heart are not two
different things; they are the core of the being. When Paul says that we have set our
minds on the flesh, he is prescribing the condition and preoccupation of our hearts. What
has captured our imaginations? What most preoccupies and engrosses the very core of
our thinking and dreaming? Whatever occupies our hearts is our way of justifying and

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proving ourselves. It is our way of developing our own sense of value and worth, and
therefore, it is our way of being our own Saviour and Lord.
So, what are the things you have set your mind and heart on as ways of self-justification?
Whatever it is, if it is not “the things of the Spirit,” it is an idol. To set the mind on the flesh
is to put your mind and your heart on something besides Jesus Christ as your functional
Saviour. An “idol” is anything more fundamental than God to your happiness, meaning in
life, and identity. Idolatry is not so much wanting bad things as it is turning good things
into ultimate things. This means anything can become an idol, including good things, such
as career, family, achievement, independence, a political cause, material possessions,
certain people in dependence upon you, power and influence, physical attractiveness,
romance, human approval, financial security, your place in a particular social circle or
institution. David Powlison writes:
...that [the] most basic question which God continually poses to each human heart:
Has something or someone besides Jesus the Christ taken title to your heart’s trust,
preoccupation, loyalty, service, fear, and delight? It is a question bearing on the
immediate motivation of one’s behaviour, thoughts, and feelings. In the Bible’s
conceptualisation, the motivation question is the lordship question: who or what
“rules” my behaviour, the Lord or an idol? (1)
An idol, then, is anything more fundamental than God to our happiness, meaning in life,
and identity. It is making a good thing into an ultimate thing. Idolatry is the inordinate
desire of (even) something good. Idols are not only personal and individual, they are also
corporate and cultural. Different societies can make into ultimate values things like the
family (“traditional values”) or feelings (romanticism) or the state (communism) or racial
superiority (fascism) or rationality (empiricism) or individual will and experience
(existentialism) or group identity (postmodernism.)
THE POWER OF IDOLATRY
On the one hand, an idol is an empty “nothing” with no real power to help us and save us
(Isaiah 40:20; 41:6,7). It is only a way we are trying to save ourselves (Isaiah 44:10-13.)
On the other hand, paradoxically, our idols exercise great power and control over us. They
enslave us (Jeremiah 2:25). Once we have come to believe that something will really
make us happy, then we cannot help ourselves—we must follow our god. Idols demand
complete dependence (Isaiah 44:17); they completely capture our hearts (Ezekiel 14:1-5).
Romans 1:18-25 is the classic New Testament text that explains the results and power of
idolatry. Paul shows how all the breakdowns in life—spiritual, psychological, social,
cultural—come because we “worship created things rather than the Creator” (Romans
1:25). The reason we turn to idols is because we want to control our lives, though we
know that we owe God everything. “Though they knew God, they neither glorified God nor
gave thanks to him” (Romans 1:21). Ironically, however, the things we look to in order to
gain control over our lives (instead of serving God) now exercise control over us. Verses 21
and 25 reveal the two results of idolatry to be deception and slavery: deception or a form
of denial that comes with the spiritual addiction of idolatry (“their thinking became futile
and their foolish hearts were darkened”), and slavery because “they worshiped and

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served created things.” Whatever we worship we will have to serve, for worship and
service are always inextricably bound together.
THE IMPORTANCE OF DISCERNING IDOLS
Idols are the deeper patterns of “the flesh” that we must discern beneath our behavioural
sins. Idolatrous desires for power or approval or self-control or pleasure or comfort are
roots of the flesh that can continue to control our lives even as religious people. Though
we may refrain from external sinful activities, the root motivations of pride, envy, and fear
can still be the impetus of our religious activities in particular and our behaviour in
general.
Here’s a perfect example: I once knew a young man who was very sexually active. After he
professed to become a Christian, he entered our campus fellowship and soon, despite
outward profession and pure behaviour, was wreaking havoc everywhere. In every small
group Bible study, he dominated the discussion. In every conversation, he was
argumentative and insistent he was always right. Soon it became clear that the real thing
he had set his heart on was power over others. Originally it had expressed itself through
sexual conquests. Now it was seeking power through evangelism and teaching the Bible.
While in the latter case he was technically obeying all the moral rules, inside he was still
worshiping the idol of power; he was still getting his significance and security out of
controlling the lives of others. He had repented for his sexual sin, but he had not gone
deeper to identify the idols of his heart.
The Bible does not consider idolatry to be one sin among many (and thus now a rare sin
only among primitive people). Rather, idolatry is always the reason we ever do anything
wrong. Why do we ever fail to love or keep promises or live unselfishly? Of course, the
general answer is “because we are weak and sinful,” but the specific answer is that there
is always something besides Jesus Christ that we feel we must have to be happy, that is
more important to our hearts than God, and that is enslaving the heart through inordinate
desires. For example, we would not lie unless first we had made something—human
approval, reputation, power over others, financial advantage—more important and
valuable to our hearts than the grace of God. So the secret to change is always to identify
and dismantle the basic idols of the heart.
I remember counselling two men who had both lost their jobs because of an unfair action
by a supervisor. One of the men forgave his boss and moved on and was doing very well.
The other man could not move past it; he stayed bitter and cynical, and it affected his
future career path. Some people tried to help him by working directly on his emotions.
The more sympathy people showed him, the more he felt justified in his anger, his self-pity
grew, and he got worse. Other people tried to work directly on his will (“get past it and
move on”). That did not work either. The gospel is different. It does not work directly on
the emotions, saying “God loves you in some general way” (although He does). The gospel
also does not work directly on the will, saying that you have to do the right thing (although
you do). The gospel asks, “What is functioning in the place of Jesus Christ as your real,
functional salvation and Savior?” What are you looking to in order to justify yourself? One
man looked to his career to prove himself, and when something went wrong, he felt

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absolutely condemned. He was paralyzed because the very foundations of his identity
were falling apart. His career was his way of self-salvation. It was not just that he had to
forgive his boss; his real problem was that something besides Jesus Christ was
functioning as his Saviour. There is always something underneath our inordinate and out-
of-control problems, desires, patterns, attitudes, and emotions. Until we find out what
they are, we cannot have life and peace. Things will fall apart in our lives; it is called
death.
In the gospel, we have the support to be honest about what needs to be changed. We
also have a method to identify what we have set our minds on so that we can understand
where we need to change. What if you technically believe that there is now no
condemnation and that you are loved, but what your boss says is more real to you than
what the King of the Universe says? Your boss is on video, but the King of the universe is
on audio. You know with your head but not with your heart.
Now we can also see that the gospel is not an elementary principle that we grasp when
we are newly saved, and then we go on to discover and live by more advanced biblical
principles. No, rather, since all sin is rooted in idolatrous attitudes and idols are always
pseudo-saviours, then unbelief in the gospel of Christ is always the major root of every
actual sin. The gospel is that I am saved not by my own righteousness and behaviour, but
because I am righteous in Christ. All our failures in actual righteousness come from a
failure to rejoice in our legal righteousness—in Christ. All our failures in sanctification
(living a Christ-like, godly life) come from a lack of orientation to our justification. And
therefore we will never change unless we come to grips with the particular, characteristic
way in which our hearts are resisting the gospel and continuing self-salvation projects
through idolatry.
IDOLATRY AND THE GOSPEL
1. Wisdom from Martin Luther.
No one understood this better than Martin Luther. In his A Treatise on Good Works, an
exposition of the Ten Commandments, Luther said something that changed my life. He
said the first law of the Old Testament law—that you must have no other gods before God
—and the New Testament teaching of justification by grace through faith alone are both, in
essence, the same thing. To say you must have no other gods but God and to say you
must not try to achieve your salvation without Christ is the same thing. Why would that
be?
Anything you look to more than Christ for a sense of acceptability, joy, significance, hope,
and security is by definition your “god,” something you adore and serve with your whole
life and heart. If you try to achieve your sense of self by a performance (as I have often
done with my work and ministry), then you are putting something in the place of Christ as
a Saviour. That is an idol by definition. The sign of idolatry is always inordinate anxiety,
inordinate anger, and inordinate discouragement. Idols are good things (family,
achievement, work, career, romance, talent, etc.) that we turn into ultimate things in order
to get the significance and joy we need. Then they drive us into the ground because we

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have to have them. If we lose a good thing, it makes us sad. If we lose an idol, it
devastates us.
Luther concluded from his study of the commandments that we never break one of the
other commandments unless we are also breaking the first one. Idolatry, then, is the
fundamental root of our sins and problems. He says we don’t lie, commit adultery, or steal
unless first we are making something more fundamental to our hope and joy and identity
than God. When we lie, for example, it is because our reputation (or money or whatever) is
more foundational to our sense of self and happiness than the love of Christ is. We
always sin when we trust something besides Jesus to be our real, functional trust and
savior. Let me give you some illustrations.
2. Examples from My Pastoral Ministry.
Many years ago as a young minister, I counselled two women in my church. They had very
similar problems. Both had teenage sons who were beginning to get into trouble. Both
had husbands who were not being good fathers and who were not spending time with
their sons. Both women came to me confessing great anger and resentment toward their
husbands, who, they felt, were responsible for what was happening to their sons. In both
cases I sat down with them and showed them the places in the Bible that calls all
Christians to forgive no matter what. I showed them Luke 17, which asserts that we must
forgive “seventy times seven.” I said that Jesus had forgiven us, and I called on them to
forgive their husbands and let go of their anger. But two different things happened. The
first woman was a newer Christian and had a very irresponsible husband. She read the
Scripture passages and turned to God for help and prayed and got rid of her anger and
softened her heart toward her husband and found relief. But the second woman had
been a Christian longer and also had (what I thought was) a husband who was not all that
bad. But this woman simply could not let go of her anger at all. She remained deeply
bitter.
Years later I looked back and realised what the difference was and the mistake I made.
Both women loved their sons, but the second women had made her son the very centre of
her whole life. She was a believer; one could even say she was very strong and sound in
her commitment. But her son’s love was far more important functionally to her than the
relatively abstract concept of Jesus’ love. Deep in her heart she was saying something
like, “If I am a good mother, then my life is worthwhile. If my son is happy and doing well,
then my life has been worth it. But if he is going astray or has rejected me, then I cannot
receive life joyfully—I feel no happiness in life at all.” But anything you add to Jesus Christ
as an absolute requirement for happiness is functionally your Savior, even though you
would never call it that. Mother-love is a good thing! Loving her son was a good thing. But
she had turned him into the ultimate thing, and therefore when her son was struggling,
her anxiety could not be remedied; rather, it became blinding fear, and when her husband
was not helping, her anger could not be assuaged—it became irresolvable rage.
She could not deal with her lack of forgiveness unless she would have gone down
underneath it and seen the idolatry that was the reason she couldn’t forgive. As Luther
said, you don’t sin unless you are making something besides Jesus Christ your real
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salvation, unless you are forgetting the gospel and trying to achieve your salvation without
him. So at the root of all sin is failure to really “get” the gospel in the deep places of the
heart. At the root of any particular sin is some idolatry—of making something besides
Jesus your real salvation instead of resting and rejoicing in how Jesus has achieved your
salvation for you. You won’t make progress unless you can identify what those idols are.
A second example follows: When you first get married you stay on your best behaviour for
a while, but after a while you can’t really keep it up. You just start to act like yourself—
since your spouse is always around. And soon your spouse sees things in you that you’ve
studiously hidden from pretty much everyone else. For Kathy and I we came to see that
we both tended to “twist the truth” (a gentle way to put it!). One of us would hear the
other talking on the phone saying we wouldn’t be home then and when he or she hung up
the other would say, “That wasn’t exactly true, was it?” We caught each other and fought
a bit about it and saw we were both equally bad in this. But as time went on, we came to
realise that we each would “twist the truth” in extremely different situations from one
another. For example, someone would say to me, “Did you get to that thing I asked you to
do for me?” and I would say, “Yes, I have—I’ll get it to you soon.” But actually I had
forgotten all about it! The lie came out of my mouth instinctively. The fact is, however, that
my wife would never lie in that situation. She’d just say, “I forgot all about it and you.” This
is not to say she was simply more honest than me. She simply doesn’t care that much
what people think of her. I am far more concerned about approval and my reputation than
she is.
Now she has her own idols—but I’m not here to confess her sins. Let’s finish with mine. I
came to realise I would never grow in honesty and integrity and courage simply by
shaming myself or telling myself, “Bad Christian! And you’re a minister!” Rather, I saw that
my idol was this need for human approval that was at the root of all my “truth-twisting.” In
other words, I believed the gospel in my head, but at the moment I fudged on the truth I
was not believing the gospel of grace. To the degree I rejoice in God’s approval of me in
Christ, to that degree I can simply be honest without fear.
3. Pseudo Saviours.
So Luther is right. We sin. But why do we sin in the particular instances and ways that we
do? Why do we fail to forgive, not control our temper, tell lies, or lash out in the particular
instances that we do? For example, let’s say a person cheats on his income tax form. Why
does he do that? Well, you say, because he is a sinner. Yes, but why does his sin take this
particular form? (Many other sinners don’t cheat on their income tax returns.) Luther’s
answer would be that the man cheated because somehow money and possessions—and
the status or comfort from having more of them—was more important to his heart’s
significance and security than what he had in Christ. We sin because we are not at that
place and moment believing the gospel. The solution is not simply to force ourselves or
scare ourselves into doing the right thing, but to use the gospel on the idols of the heart.
Idols are always an alternate form of self-salvation apart from Jesus.
Now we can also see that the gospel is not an elementary principle that we grasp when
we are saved and then we go on to discover and live by more advanced biblical principles.
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 No. Rather, since all sin is rooted in idolatrous attitudes, and idols are always pseudo-
saviours—something we trust more than Christ for our significance and security—then
unbelief in the gospel of Christ is always a major root of every actual sin. The gospel is
that I am saved not by my own righteousness and behaviour, but because I am righteous
in Christ. All our failures in actual righteousness come from a failure to rejoice in our legal
righteousness in Christ. All our failures in sanctification (living a Christ-like, godly life)
come from a lack of orientation to our justification. And therefore we will never change
unless we come to grips with the particular, characteristic way in which our heart is
resisting the gospel and continuing its self-salvation project through idolatry.
4. Two Disclaimers.
First of all, don’t discount self-control. This does not mean that Christians should not use
every possible means to exercise self-control in the crucial moment. If you feel an impulse
to pick up a rock and hit someone with it, of course, you must do all that is necessary to
keep yourself from doing it! Tell yourself “I’ll go to jail! I’ll disgrace my family!” Anything.
There’s no reason why in the short run a Christian can’t simply use willpower like that to
make a change that is necessary. But in the long run, change will only come from
changing the heart’s deepest affections with the melting, moving grace of God. Titus
2:11-14 says that it is the “grace of God that teaches us to say ‘no’ to ungodliness…and
live self-controlled lives.” The ultimate way to shape the life into self-control is to use the
gospel of grace. Moving the heart with the gospel is how we really change.
Secondly, don’t expect simple solutions. This does not mean that change is simply a
matter of personal prayer and repentance. The idolatrous patterns, extremely deep-rooted
and complex, did not arise in us through merely individual choice. They are a product of
what has been done to us, both in our upbringing and in our social surroundings. Getting
the gospel to “go down deep” takes far more than personal prayer and resolutions.
Counselling, community, intimate friendships and accountability—all of this is crucial for
personal change! But if you want to see a pattern in your life changed in any lasting way, it
is not enough to have friends exhorting you or even to uncover childhood patterns of
insecurity through self-reflection. You must apply the gospel to your heart at the point of
your idols. Otherwise there will be no heart change, no lasting change.

Part 2: Identifying Your Idols

How do the particular idol systems come to be formed in us? How do we come to have our
specific idols?

THE CONSTRUCTION OF IDOL SYSTEMS

1. The Interaction of the Personal, the Cultural, and Spiritual.
The world, the flesh, and the devil (1 John 2:16-17) are inextricably linked in their
influences to produce idols in us. First, our “flesh,” our sinful heart is by nature an “idol
factory” (as Calvin put it). Second, the “world,” our social environment, coaxes us into
various idols by model and example and sometimes direct appeal. Our family’s idols, our
culture’s idols, our class’s idols shape us either in our embracing of their idols or in our
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rejecting of them for something else. Third, the “devil” works in us to stir up and enflame
desires into idolatrous bondages. If we leave out any one of the three aspects, we will
reduce behaviour to simplistic labelling: either “Johnny is bad” or “Johnny is abused” or
“Johnny is sick.” But simplistic labelling is not what the Bible describes. None of our
behaviour is simply the result of only our inherent nature or our environment or our free
choice. The Bible is not essentialist (“He was born that way; it is hopeless”), behaviourist
(“He is a victim of what they did to him; it’s hopeless”), or existentialist (“It’s all a matter
of his choice; he can be whatever he wants to be!”) Idolatry can therefore be a useful way
to understand very complex, pathological personal and relational patterns of life.
2. The Combination of “Far” and “Near” Idols.
“Far idols” such as power, approval, comfort, and control are more subtle and basic. They
are at the roots of your life—farther from the surface of things. They are motivational
drives. They can work through many “near” idols. They are addressed mainly by a process
of repenting and rejoicing. “Near idols” are more concrete and specific objects and
subjects such as your spouse or your career. Now these things—your business, your
ministry, your music—are extremely good things that you need to detach from the far
idols, which are using them. That means they often (even ordinarily) may remain in your
life, if they are put in their proper place. This is what Augustine meant when he spoke of
the “right ordering of our loves.”
3. The Creation of a “Delusional Field” of Inordinate Desires.
Idols spin out a whole set of assumptions, false definitions of success and failure, false
senses of happiness and sadness and worth. This is critical to understand. There is
legitimate sorrow, and then there is idolatrous, inordinate, inconsolable sorrow, that is
really the curse of the idol. It is saying, “If you don't have me there IS nothing else that
can satisfy you!” There is legitimate guilt, and then there is un-remediable guilt. When
people say: “I know God forgives me, but I can't forgive myself,” they mean that they have
failed an idol, whose standards are different than God's and whose approval is more
important to them than God's.
So you should always look hard at your deepest, more overwhelming negative emotions,
such as great anger, paralysing fear, deep despondency. Ask “Why am I so upset?” Far
idols give franticness to our work with near idols. Often, after we become Christians (or
after we get serious about our Christianity) we will have a period of disorientation, even a
lapse in intensity, as we lose our old idolatrous motivations and learn gradually to pursue
our ministry, marriage, and work for Christ’s sake. But that is an extremely important
transition. Jonathan Edwards insisted that only when we detach our work from far idols do
we actually do the work for its own sake. True virtue is to love your work for its own sake,
or your spouse for his/her own sake. And you are free to do so in the gospel, because now
you love God for his own sake, not just to get heaven and reward from him. That is what
the fullness of grace does. Without the gospel, you will do your work to get a name for
yourself or to prove yourself, not for the sake of the work itself.

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EXAMPLES OF PERSONAL IDOLS (2)
1. Work. Work becomes the thing you live for—to be productive and useful, or to feel
successful and powerful.
2. Codependence. Because you need to feel needed, you stay in unhealthy relationships
with perennially needy individuals.
3. Beauty and Image. This can have various forms, including eating disorders; excessive
time, effort, and concern about appearance; the false intimacy of pornography and other
anonymous sex; the romantic idol. (This is not the same as pure sexual gratification. You
live for crushes or for the dream of some true love that will fix everything.)
4. Family. Family as idolatry has many variations: your children’s prospects and happiness
become the most important thing, or meeting your parents’ expectations become the
most important thing, or getting married or having a “perfect” marriage becomes the
most important thing.
5. Money. Money as idolatry has many variations: having (and saving) a lot of money may
be your security, the main way you feel safe in the world; or having (and spending) a lot of
money may be the main way of feeling significant and important.
6. Control. Control reveals itself in several manifestations, such as perfectionism (being
able to control yourself) and anxiety (being unable to control your circumstances). It’s the
underlying need to keep complete control of your life.

EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL-CULTURAL IDOLS

1. Communism. Communism makes an idol of the state. Government will solve all
problems rather than God. Marx said everything is political, and all problems are political/
economic ones, rather than spiritual ones.
2. Populism. Makes an idol out of public opinion or majority rule, rather than what God
says is right.
3. Capitalism. Capitalism makes an idol out of the free market. Like communism, it views
all our problems as economic ones and all issues in cost-benefit terms. Even people are
viewed as “commodities.”
4. Humanism. Enlightenment or “humanism” makes an idol of reason and scientific
investigation. Science has an answer for everything, and reason will open all doors.
5. Individualism makes an idol out of individual freedom. Nothing must curb the
individual’s freedom to choose whatever he or she desires in his or her pursuit of
happiness and purpose.
6. Traditionalism makes the family and tradition an idol. Traditional cultures see the rights
of individuals as unimportant compared to the name and interests of the family and tribe.

USING PROBLEM EMOTIONS TO IDENTIFY IDOLS

If you are angry, ask, “Is there something too important to me? Something I am telling
myself I have to have? Is that why I am angry, because I am being blocked from having
something I think is a necessity when it is not?” Write down what that might be. If you are

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 fearful or badly worried, ask, “Is there something too important to me? Is that why I am so
scared, because something is being threatened which I think is a necessity when it is
not?” If you are despondent or hating yourself, ask, “Is there something too important to
me? Is that why I am so despondent, because I have lost or failed at something which I
think is a necessity when it is not?”

USING MOTIVATIONAL DRIVES TO IDENTIFY IDOLS

We often don’t go deep enough to analyse our idol structures. For example, money is, of
course, an idol, yet in another sense, money can be sought in order to satisfy very
different, more foundational or “far” idols. For example, some people want a lot of money
in order to control their world and life (such people usually don’t spend their money, but
save it), while others want a lot of money for access to social circles and for making
themselves beautiful and attractive (such people do spend their money on themselves!)
The same goes for sex. Some people use sex in order to get power over others, while
some use sex in order to feel approved and loved; still others use sex simply for pleasure
or comfort.
The following analytical tool can be helpful in determining one’s foundational idol
structures. Additional diagnostic questions are included here: Idols of the Heart
Diagnostic. (also attached as a download).

Part 3: Dismantling Your Idols

“Mortification,” or putting to death “the misdeeds of the body,” is basically repenting of
our worship of idols (cf. Judges 10:10-16 and Romans 8:13). We have been worshiping an
idol and rejecting the true God. Every idol is the centre of some system of works-
righteousness by which we are seeking to earn our salvation, in a sense, trying to be our
own Saviour. So we must repent. But this actually gives much hope—it means there is
something we can do. How do we repent? First, we need to get specific. In prayer, name
these things to God: “Lord, these are the things I have built my life and heart around…”
Secondly, we need to unmask the idols. Idols create delusions. They appear more
wonderful or all powerful than they really are. They lead us to deny their hold on us. Stand
back and put them into perspective. In what ways are your idols distorting your thinking or
hiding themselves from you? (For example: “My idol of status and money has made me
deny how much I hate my job and how much happier I would be in another, but lower
paying, career.”)

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RECOGNIZE HOW WEAK THEY ARE (IN THEMSELVES)
In prayer, confess that these things are good, but finite and weak, and praise God for
being the only source of what you need, such as, “Lord, this is a good thing, why have I
made it to be so absolute? Why do I feel so pointless with out it? What is this compared to
you? If I have you, I don’t have to have this! This cannot bless me and love me and help
me like you! This is not my life—Jesus is my life! This is not my righteousness and
worthiness. It cannot give me that. But you can and have!” Write out such a prayer in your
own words.

RECOGNIZE HOW DANGEROUS THEY ARE (TO YOU)

Idols enslave, and they will never be satisfied. Realise how they increasingly destroy you.
Look, and now in prayer confess that these things are absolutely lethal, and ask a strong
God for his help. Sample prayer language: “Lord, why am I giving this so much power over
me? If I keep doing it, it will strangle me. I don’t have to do so—I will not do so any longer. I
will not let this jerk me around on a leash any longer. This will not be my Master—you are
my only King.” Write out such a prayer I your own words.

RECOGNIZE HOW GRIEVOUS THEY ARE (TO CHRIST)

Idols ultimately are cruel to the heart of the one who offers us so much and at such
infinite cost. Realise that when you pine after idols (in your anger, fear, despondency), you
are saying: “Lord, you are not enough. This is more beautiful, fulfilling, and sweet to my
taste than you. You are negotiable, but this is not. Despite all you’ve done for me, I will
only use you as long as you help me get this. You are negotiable, but this is not. You
haven’t done enough for me—if you don’t help me have this, I will discard you.” In prayer,
admit how deeply you have grieved and devalued Jesus, and ask forgiveness. Sample
prayer language: “Lord I see how repulsive this idol for what it is—an idol. In yearning after
this, I have trampled on your love for me. I realise now that the greatest sin in my life is a
lack of thankfulness, a lack of grateful joy for what you have done for me.” Write such a
prayer in your own words.

Part 4: Resting Your Identity in Christ

THE IMPORTANCE OF REJOICING IN CHRIST
Idolatry is a grievous sin; it is the turning away from the beauty, love, and joy of Christ.
Therefore, we cannot complete the process of change until we turn from our idols and
turn to Christ. He offers what we have been seeking elsewhere. He “stands at the door”
knocking (Revelation 3:20), seeking a far deeper connection of intimacy with us than he
has had previously. Setting the mind and heart on things above (Colossians 3:1-3) means
an appreciation, rejoicing, and resting in what Jesus has done and offers us. It means
rejoicing that our names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20). It is this superior joy and rest
that will replace the idols—the lesser joys—of our hearts. If we uproot the idols, yet fail to
“plant” Christ in their place, the idols will reappear and reposition themselves back in our
hearts.

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Rejoicing and repentance must go together. Repentance without rejoicing will lead to
despair. Rejoicing without repentance is shallow and will only provide passing inspiration
instead of deep change. Indeed, it is when we rejoice over Jesus’ sacrificial love for us
most fully that, paradoxically, we are most truly convicted of our sin. When we repent out
of fear of consequences, we are not really sorry for the sin but for ourselves. Fear-based
repentance (“I better change or God will get me”) is really self-pity. In fear-based
repentance, we don’t learn to hate the sin for itself, and it doesn’t lose its attractive
power. We only learn to refrain from it for our own sake. But when we rejoice over his
sacrificial, suffering love for us—seeing what it cost him to turn us from sin—we learn to
hate the sin for what it is in itself. So the thing that most assures us of God’s
unconditional love (Jesus’ costly death) is the thing the most convicts us of the evil of sin.
Fear-based repentance makes us hate ourselves. Joy-based repentance makes us hate
the sin.
Rejoicing in Christ is also crucial to repenting for idols, because we must remember that
idols are usually good, worthwhile things. We make idols out of work and family, for
example. We should not, therefore, learn to hate these “near idols.” We don’t want to love
our work and family less. We want to love Christ so much more, and we want to hate the
“far idols” (the self-saving need for power, approval, etc.) that keeps us enslaved.
Therefore, joy, glory, and a sense of God’s beauty are crucial to deep-seated, transforming
gospel change.
In Colossians 3:1-3 Paul says that we must set our minds on things above “for you died,
and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Let me illustrate this. Some years ago I
came to know a woman who had a pretty severe emotional problem. She had a very deep
need for male affection. She needed it so much that she took it from virtually any man
who offered it. As a result, she fell into many abusive relationships from which she could
not break free. After she became a Christian and while going to a nearby counsellor, she
began to attend my church. I got to know her a bit during this time, and her spiritual
growth taught me a lot. She recounted her meetings with her counsellor: “I’m going to my
counsellor and much of what she has said is right. My counsellor said I have built my very
significance and acceptability and identity on men. That’s why I’ve been defenseless with
them. I simply have needed them too much. All of that is right and helpful. I hadn’t seen
that.” But she went on, “However, my counsellor doesn’t have a very good solution for me.
She says that what I should do instead is to get myself a great career—get an education,
have a successful career—and then I’ll feel good about myself. Well, my counsellor means
well, and of course I do need to get some training and get myself a job and career. But
what she’s asking me to do is to feel better about myself by doing that. But that would
mean I would switch from one kind of idol to another. For many years my heart has been
looking at men and saying, ‘Unless I am successful at love, I’m nothing.’ But the therapist
wants me to look at my career and say ‘Unless I am a successful, independent woman
who is in control of my own life, I am nothing.’ I don’t want to be as enslaved to my work
as I was to men. I am being asked to exchange a typically female idol for a typically male
idol. But I want neither.”

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I asked her how she how she was going to get that kind of freedom. Her answer was
Colossians 3: “Your life is now hidden with Christ in God… When Christ who is your life
appears, then you will appear with him in glory.” She said, “It’s very practical; I look at
men and I say ‘I’m glad to know you—but you are not my life; Christ is my life! I’m done
making anything else my life. You are a good thing but not an ultimate thing. I would love
to have a husband, but if I don’t have one, I’ve got Jesus and his people. I set my mind on
things above. You can’t give me any of the things he can give and has given me.’ See—I
don’t want to look to men or to a career. A career can’t die for me! If I live for a career and
fail, it will just beat me up all my life for having been a failure. But if I fail Jesus, he died
for me to forgive me.”

WHAT IS REJOICING IN CHRIST?

But we have to get even more practical. How do we melt the heart by looking to Jesus
rather than just bending it temporarily by fear and pride? The key is worship. If change
were mainly a matter of behaviour, mainly a matter of taking biblical principles and
putting them into practice, then the key to change would be teaching and instruction and
maybe counselling. But if our main problem is that Jesus’ love is not real to our hearts,
then we will only be liberated through worship. It is an appreciation, rejoicing, and resting
in what Jesus has done and offers us that will dethrone the idol. Notice how often growth
and change is a dynamic of two interactive processes: “put to death” (repentance) and
“set your mind” (rejoicing). See Colossians 3:1-9, Romans 8:6-13, and Hebrews 12:1-3.
These are not really two separable things. Only rejoicing in Christ strengthens us to admit
the worst about ourselves in repentance. On the other hand, only the sight of our sin
reveals to us how free and unmerited his grace is. Rejoicing and repentance must go
together. Repentance without rejoicing will lead to despair. Rejoicing without repentance
is shallow and will only provide passing inspiration instead of deep change.
What does it mean to rejoice or “set your mind” on Christ? In the Bible, the meaning of
rejoicing is much deeper than simply being happy about something. Paul directed that we
“rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4), but this cannot mean always feeling happy,
since he also said that every day he was weighed with concern and anxiety over his flock
(2 Corinthians 11:28-29). Jesus forbid his disciples to rejoice in their power over demons
and insisted that they rejoice over their salvation (Luke 10:20). What you rejoice in is the
thing that is your central sweetness and consolation in life. To rejoice is to treasure a
thing, to assess its value to you, to reflect on its beauty and importance until your heart
rests in it and tastes the sweetness of it.
So rejoicing is a way of praising God until the heart is sweetened and rested and until it
relaxes its grip on anything else it thinks it needs. The rejoicing is thus not strictly a
second distinct step after repentance, but rather it completes the repentance. Why? In
Christian repentance we do not take our sins to Mount Sinai, but to Mount Calvary. Sinai
represents only the law of God and makes us fear that God will reject us. But Calvary
represents both the law of God and his commitment to save us no matter what—even if
his Son has to fulfill and pay our debt to the law. Going to Sinai with our sins means we

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use the painful fear of rejection to motivate us to change. Going to Calvary with our sins
means we use gratitude for his love to motivate us to change.
A note of warning is in order here. Romans 8:13 admonishes us to destroy and root out
our fleshly way of living, our self-salvation projects, by the Spirit. This is where we move
away from pure technique. We are not completely in control here; we cannot just pick up
the Holy Spirit and start to use it like a pair of scissors. “Minding” is more than thinking. It
means that our whole hearts, minds, and beings are to be enthralled and captivated by
something. Jesus Christ says that when the Holy Spirit comes, he will take Jesus’
teachings and manifest them to us. The Holy Spirit’s job is to make the teachings real to
us, to smite us with the beauty of Jesus Christ and what he has done until what he says
about us is more real than what anybody else says. The only way I will ever have self-
control and be able to handle the troubles of life is if the ministry of the Holy Spirit makes
what Jesus Christ has done for me so real that I weep with the beauty of it. Only that will
replace those other things in the core of my being.

HOW DO I REJOICE IN CHRIST?

To replace idols so they cannot grow back, we must learn to rejoice in the particular thing
that Jesus brings that replaces the particular idol. Whenever you see your heart in the
grip of some kind of disobedience or misery, some temptation, anxiety, anger, etc., always
ask:
• How are these effects being caused by an inordinate hope for someone or
something to give me what only Jesus can really give me?
• How does Christ give me so much more fully and graciously and suitably the very
things I am looking for elsewhere?
• Then rejoice and think of what he has done and what he has given you.
Here are some examples:
1. If You Struggle With Temptation. Often temptation is a near idol linked to a far idol
of comfort. Let Jesus entice you with his life. Rejoice in the gospel until you see its beauty.
How are these temptations being caused by an inordinate hope for someone or
something to give me the comfort and consolation that only Jesus can really give me?
How does Christ give me so much more fully and graciously and suitably the very things I
am looking for elsewhere? Rejoice and think of what he has done and what he has given
you. Let him entice you with his beauty.
Sample rejoicing prayer for times of temptation: “Lord, only in your presence is fullness of
joy and pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11), yet here I am trying to find comfort in
something else. Why rake in a mud puddle when you have set a table for me (Psalm 23:5)
filled with your love, peace, joy? This thing I am tempted by is just a pleasure that will
wear off so soon; it is a sham and cheat, while your pleasure, though it may start small,
will grow on and on forever (Proverbs 4:18). Remove my idols of pleasure, which never
can give me the pleasure I need.”

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A meditation for rejoicing in Jesus (and the gospel) when tempted: John 6:5-13, 32-40.
See Jesus feeding people with his bread, the only bread that will not leave you hungry
Meditate on John 6 and write out a rejoicing prayer that replaces temptation thoughts.
2. If You Struggle With Anxiety. Often, anxiety is a result of the far idol of control. Let
Jesus comfort you with his care. Rejoice in the gospel until you are humbled enough (to
see you don't know best) or valued enough (to see that he could not forget you). How are
these anxieties being caused by an inordinate hope for someone or something to give me
the control over my life and environment only Jesus can really give me? How does Christ
give me so much more fully and graciously and suitably the very things I am looking for
elsewhere? Rejoice and think of what he has done and what he has given you. Let him
quiet you with his loving power.
Sample rejoicing prayer for times of anxiety: “Lord, I live by your sheer grace. That means
though I don’t deserve to have things go right, yet I know you are working them all out for
good (Romans 8:28) because you love me in Christ. All my punishment fell into Jesus’
heart, so you only allow bad things for my growth and for loving, wise purposes. I can
relax, because my security in life is based neither on luck nor hard work but on your
gracious love for me. You have counted every hair on my head (Matthew 10:30-31) and
every tear down my cheeks (Psalm 56:8). You love me far more and better than anyone
else loves me or than I love myself. Remove my idols of security, which never can give me
the security I need.” Pray this prayer when anxious or one you write out yourself.
A meditation for rejoicing in Jesus (and the gospel) when anxious: Luke 8:22-25; Mark
4:35-41. See Jesus assuring his disciples of his care. Meditate on this and write out a
prayer that replaces anxious thoughts.
3. If You Struggle With Anger and Pride. Often anger and pride result from the desire
for power. Let Jesus humble and soften you with his mercy. Rejoice in the gospel until your
heart is melted of its pride by the humbling grace and work of Jesus. How are this anger
and hardness being caused by an inordinate hope for someone or something to give me
the power and significance that only Jesus can really give me? How does Christ give me
so much more fully and graciously and suitably the very things I am looking for
elsewhere? Rejoice and think of what he has done and what he has given you. Let him
humble and soften you with his grace and mercy.
Sample rejoicing prayer for times of anger: “Lord, when I forget the gospel, I become
impatient and judgmental of others. I forget that you have been infinitely patient with me
over the years. You are slow to anger and rich in love (Psalm 145:8). When I am anything
other than tenderhearted and compassionate to people around me, I am like the
unmerciful servant, who, having been forgiven an infinite debt, is hard toward his fellow
debtor (Matthew 18:21-35). I live completely and solely by your grace and long-suffering
mercy, and I praise you for it. Tenderise my heart toward others as I do so. And remove the
idol of power—the need to get my own way—which is making me so hard toward these
people.” Pray this prayer when irritable and angry or one you write out yourself.
A meditation for rejoicing in Jesus (and the gospel) when cold or angry: Matthew
26:36-46. See Jesus being let down by his disciples, but still giving them credit for their
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willing spirits (Matt 26:41). Remember that you have fallen asleep on him so often.
Meditate on this and write out a prayer that replaces hard-hearted thoughts:
4. If You Struggle With Rejection and a Sense of Worthlessness. Often this results
from a desire for approval. Let Jesus assure you of his love. Rejoice in the gospel until you
are affirmed. How is this despondency being caused by an inordinate hope for someone
or something to give me the sense of approval that only Jesus can really give me? How
does Christ give me so much more fully and graciously and suitably the very things I am
looking for elsewhere? Rejoice and think of what he has done and what he has given you.
Let him assure you with his fatherly love.
Sample rejoicing prayer: “Lord, when I forget the gospel, I become dependent on the
smiles and evaluation of others. I let them sit in judgment on me and then I hear all their
criticism as a condemnation of my very being. But you have said, ‘Now there is no
condemnation’ for me (Rom 8:1). You delight and sing over me (Zephaniah 3:14-17), you
see me as a beauty (Colossians 1:22). Why do I pant after the approval of the serfs when
I have the love of the King? Ironically, I am being a lousy friend, because I am too hurt by
criticism to either learn from it or give it to others (for fear of getting it back). Oh, let me be
so satisfied with your love (Psalm 90:14) that I no longer respond to people in fear of
displeasing them, but in love, committed to what is best for them. Remove my idols of
approval, which can never give me the approval I need.” Pray this prayer when feeling hurt
and rejected or one you write out yourself.
A meditation for rejoicing in Jesus (and the gospel) when hurt or rejected: John 15:9-17
and 17:13-26. Listen to how Jesus talks about you to his Father. Think of what you mean
to him, what he is willing to do for you. Meditate on this and write out a prayer that
replaces despondent thoughts.
It should be clear how to reflect on your heart in such a way that you can deal with its
idolatrous motions and effects. You may have other problems besides the four mentioned
above. For example, you may have a particular problem with guilt over the past or with
boredom in general and so on. Follow the same pattern you see above:
• What is the “far idol” motivation (e.g. power, approval)?
• What is the “near idol” it is attached to (e.g. success at work, dating a particular
person, ministry)?
How does Jesus particularly provide what the idols cannot? Pray to him, thanking him for
it, and find some passage of Scripture in which he very visibly and concretely
demonstrates this gift or quality. Meditate on it.

"QUICK STRIKE" READINESS

Essentially, rejoicing in Christ is worship. There is no relief simply by figuring out your idols
and saying, “But Jesus gives me peace that this idol cannot.” You have to actually get the
peace that Jesus gives, and that only comes as you worship. The specific Rejoicing
exercises listed above are just abstractions that will not affect you, unless, as you pray
and praise and meditate, the Spirit inscribes these truths on the heart (Ephesians 1:18ff;

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3:15ff). These exercises can give you the truths you need, but through the Spirit you have
to “pray them in.” That takes time. It is a process.
So it is not enough to spend time repenting and rejoicing in fixed times of solitude and
prayer. You must also “catch” your heart falling into idolatry during the day, and you must
draw on your hard work of reflection by learning to quickly strike your heart back into
shape with the two-pronged tool of repenting and rejoicing. This means that you should
have a series of “quick strike” prayers that go against your main idols and negative
patterns that may happen during the day. (You may wish to write these prayers out on a
card.) Often the prayers might be accompanied by a Bible passage or verse. The following
are examples of what I mean by “quick strikes.”
1. Deep Humility (vs. Pride). Have I looked down on anyone? Have I been too stung by
criticism? Have I felt snubbed and ignored? Repent like this: Jesus on the cross made
himself of no reputation and gave up all his power-so we could have his name put upon
us and rule with him. Consider free grace of Jesus until I sense a) decreasing disdain
(since my gifts and accomplishments are all gifts anyway), and b) decreasing pain over
criticism (since I don’t need human recognition when I have God’s.) In light of his grace I
can let go of the need to keep up a good image and reputation—it is too great a burden
and now unnecessary. Consider free grace until I experience grateful restful joy.
2. Burning Love (vs. Indi erence). Have I spoken or thought unkindly of anyone? Am I
justifying myself by caricaturing (in my mind) someone else? Have I been impatient and
irritable? Have I been self-absorbed and so indifferent and inattentive to people? Repent
like this: Jesus was gentle and affirming with us when we indifferently went to sleep on
him in the garden. On the cross he was loving us even when we were absent or mocking.
Now his love enables kindness to those who are not being sensitive to us. Consider the
free grace of Jesus until there is no more coldness or unkindness (think of the sacrificial
love of Christ for you), no more impatience (think of his patience with you), no further
indifference. Consider free grace until I show warmth and affection. God was infinitely
patient and attentive to me, out of grace.
3. Wise Courage (vs. Anxiety). Have I forgotten that only by his grace I have what I
have, that this position I’ve gotten wasn’t me, and maintaining it is not up to me? Have I
remembered that Jesus has plenty of joy in store for me (that’s his way!) even though it
may not be the joy I’m so concerned about losing? Have I avoided people or tasks that I
know I should face? Have I been anxious and worried? Have I failed to be circumspect or
been too rash and impulsive? Repent like this: Jesus set his face like a flint to go up to
Jerusalem and go to the cross—for me. Now his bravery for me melts my heart out of
anxiety, since the “dangers” I face are nothing like what he faced for me. Consider the
free grace of Jesus till there is a) no cowardly avoidance of hard things (since Jesus faced
evil for me), and b) no anxious or rash behavior (since Jesus’ death proves God cares and
will watch over me—my life is hid with God in Christ). It takes pride to be anxious—I am not
wise enough to know how my life should go. Consider free grace until I experience calm
thoughtfulness and strategic boldness.

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ff
 4. Godly Motivation (a “Single Eye”). Am I doing what I am doing for God’s glory and
the good of others, or am I being driven by fears, need for approval, love of comfort and
ease, need for control, hunger for acclaim and power, or the “fear of man”? Am I looking
at anyone with envy? Am I giving in to any of even the first motions of lust or gluttony? Am
I spending my time on urgent rather than important things because of these inordinate
desires? Repent like this: How does Jesus provide for me what I am looking for in these
other things?
All we have been trying to say in this last section is well summarized by a few famous
lines in a poem by John Donne. Meditate on it and make it a prayer:
Take me to you, imprison me.
For I, except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

ENDNOTES
1. David Powlison, “Idols of the Heart and ‘Vanity Fair’,” Christian Counseling &
Educational Foundation (CCEF) Online: http://www.ccef.org/idols-heart-and-vanity-fair
(October 16, 2009).
2. This list is only illustrative, not exhaustive.

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