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Pastors Round Table: Idols of the Heart

Date:3/31/20

Series: Following Jesus

Category: podcast

Speaker: Andrew VanderMaas

On this episode of Following Jesus with Christ Church, pastor Andrew VanderMaas brings you a conversation with fellow Christ Church pastors Bryant McGee & Addison Hawkins as well as Gracehill pastor Ben Seneker about the exposure of idols in their lives.

During this time of COVID-19 it should be no surprise that idolatry will be exposed. Thinker, author and former pastor of Redeemer in New York Tim Keller talks about idoltry in this helpful way;

"Why do we lie, or fail to love, or break our promises, or live selfishly? Of course, the general answer is “Because we are weak and sinful,” but the specific answer is that there is something besides Jesus Christ that we feel we must have to be happy, something that is more important to our heart than God, something that is enslaving our heart through inordinate desires. The key to change (and even to self-understanding) is therefore to identify the idols of the heart.” (The Gospel in Life: Grace Changes Everything, Study Guide (Zondervan, 2010), page 40)

Tim Keller goes on to break down four categories of exposed idolatry:
If you seek POWER (success, winning, influence)…
Your greatest nightmare: Humiliation
People around you often feel: Used
Your problem emotion: Anger
 
If you seek APPROVAL (affirmation, love, relationships)…
Your greatest nightmare: Rejection
People around you often feel: Smothered
Your problem emotion: Cowardice
 
If you seek COMFORT (privacy, lack of stress, freedom)…
Your greatest nightmare: Stress, demands
People around you often feel: Neglected
Your problem emotion: Boredom
 
If you seek CONTROL (self-discipline, certainty, standards)…
Your greatest nightmare: Uncertainty
People around you often feel: Condemned
Your problem emotion: Worry

For more on idolatry from Tim Keller check out Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters
For more resources please visit our Resources page, or check out previous episodes of this podcast. You can also check out Gracehill or find them on Facebook.

Psalm 139: 23-24
[23] Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
[24] And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

Thanks for listening. Grace & Peace

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