Grumpiness, Money and Idolatry

13 September 2008

Much of my free time in the last few weeks has been spent preparing a sermon on the subject of idolatry, which I am preaching tomorrow as part of a series my church is doing on the Ten Commandments.

I wanted to include some reflection on how we can examine our hearts to see if we are guilty of idolatry. One way of looking at this is to take John Piper’s maxim, “your pleasure is the measure of your treasure”. If something brings you great joy, it reveals that you value that thing highly.

But I began to wonder whether the reverse is equally revealing. What are the things that make me grumpy, irritable, miserable, depressed, or angry? Often it is because I have been deprived of an idol or an idol has let me down.

Here are some examples…

A football supporter kicks a chair across the room in anger as his team concedes a last minute goal, yet again.
A woman lives under a cloud of depression because her dress size is one bigger than this time last year.
A teenager sulks the whole family holiday because he will miss an opportunity to attend a concert.

I like to think that money is not an idol for me, but last month when I checked the bank balance, I found that things were considerably worse than I was expecting. I was in a bad mood about it for a few days as I stewed over in my mind how we could reduce our monthly expenditure. I rationalized this at first as simply being concerned about being a “good steward” of my money. But preparing this sermon on idolatry made me realise that something else was at work too. Could I join Habakkuk in rejoicing even when things are not going my way financially…

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. (Hab 3:17,18 NIV)

Refusal to rejoice in the Lord reveals that something else matters more to us. And that thing, whatever it may be, has become our idol.

6 comments

Matt 16 September 2008

I preached the other week on obedience and in preparing I mused that some times we're not obedient because we think that we know better...For example, our boss asks us to do something one way and we do it slightly different because we know better (like attack in the last minute, rather than keep the ball in the corner and therefore concede a last minute goal) - or we're given directions somewhere but we try our own route (and get lost) because we think we know better... Unfortunately because we do this with everyday things we also do this with God's commands (I suggested that everything kinda blurs into one) and are therefore we're disobedient. ..Where's this leading I hear you ask - well, if we regard our wisdom higher than that of God's i.e. we are disobedient because we think we know better, then surely we put ourselves above God and effectively make idols of ourselves and therefore break one of the commandment due to our own pride and self-inflated opinions...Just a thought.
Mark Heath 17 September 2008

thanks Matt, you have a good point there.
Liz Curtis 19 September 2008

Very good point. We had a sermon about idolatry last Sunday and the measure Phil used was what do you look forward to ... what do you talk about and think about as well as the pleasure thing. Hadn't thought of the reverse and lack of something causing grumpiness. Makes me think about my attitude to money too.
Andrew Fountain 22 September 2008

My take on idolatry in the OT is that it was about power and whom you feared. So if there is a crisis, where do you go for help? Where do you look for strength? Who gets the praise when things go well?.That is why it is often spoken of as .serving. false gods..This would fit in very well with the idea you have expressed here, since if you are looking to finances as your source of strength, you are idolizing them.
George Tasker 23 September 2008

I had never thought about idolatory in this way before but it sure rings true. However it hurts because I can think of so many times when I've been in a bad mood because something hasn't worked out...It has caused a total paradigm change within me. May God give me and others similarly rebuked the grace and strength to overcome.
Mark Heath 23 September 2008

thanks Andrew, that's a good point. Chris Wright has a similar emphasis in his Mission of God book