Living for Christ or Living for Causes: Unmasking Modern Idolatry

Summary

Doing good deeds or serving worthy causes can quietly replace God as the center of life. Scripture teaches that our purpose is not generic goodness but abiding in Christ and doing the works God specifically planned. When good feelings, success, or causes take God’s place, idolatry results. True freedom comes from exclusive devotion to Christ, who alone gives meaning, direction, and lasting fruit.

When Good Causes Replace God

The last verse of “What I Live For” by George Linnaeus Banks: “I live for those who love me, Whose hearts are kind and true, For heaven that smiles above me, And waits my spirit too; For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrong that needs resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that I can do.”1 I’ve loved that poem since I memorized part of it in elementary school. Now I see it's subtle idolatry.

How many causes need assistance? How many wrongs need resistance? More than we can count. How do we choose what to do? Did God create us to find purpose in whatever good we do? No.

Unmasking Modern Idolatry

Our purpose is to do the specific good deeds God has planned. “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10 NLT). To discern them, we must remain dependent on God. Let's unmask modern idolatry.

Doing Good Without Abiding in Christ

We can offer assistance and resistance and do what most people call good things without any faith connection to Jesus the Vine.  Secular philanthropists do it all the time.

Our purpose is not to do good things for God, per se. It is abiding in Jesus who is the ultimate source of those good things (John 15:5).

 “He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them” (2 Corinthians 5:15 NLT).

When Good Feelings Become Idols

Many find purpose in helping people without living for Christ. The good things they do make them feel good, but those feelings are the enemy of the best—knowing and living for Jesus. As it is, the giver receives glory and good feelings, but God gets no glory. It’s the off-centered living of idolatry.

God’s Call to Exclusive Devotion

The Apostle John instructs us to keep ourselves from idols (1 John 5:21). The Apostle Paul tells us to flee idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14). God is the only worthy center for life. But the idolater organizes life around someone or something else.

These people or things that are God’s rivals fill our minds and time. They receive too much of our money. Our hearts march to their beats. We aren’t God-centered and God-governed. We think we’re self-governed, but numerous misdirected loyalties rule our lives.

The gods of Egypt were thought to rule many parts of life. The Egyptians worshipped many gods to maximize their blessings.

The children of Israel lived in Egypt for more than 400 years. Egyptian beliefs surely influenced them, but God commanded them not to imitate their former masters and worship many gods (Leviticus 20:1-6).

God compared worshipping other gods to prostitution (Isaiah 1:21-22). He wasn’t their first love. The church is Christ’s bride (Ephesians 5:22-33). He doesn’t want to share her with anyone else.

Today, other gods compete with God’s demand for exclusive worship. Modern idolatry provides our identity, security, and meaning. Is God our defining passion? What competes with Him for our thoughts, time, money, and energy?

A few of the candidates follow. Relationships?  Appearance? Success? Power? Sex? Reputation? Safety? Pride? Pleasure? Prestige? Possessions? Cause? Image? Dreams? Vocational goals? Others’ approval? Greed? Self-seeking priorities? Jealousy? Prejudice? Doing what is easiest?

The Captivity of Modern Idolatry

What are the consequences of our idolatry? When God doesn’t reign, fear and anxiety take His place.

God sent Israel into captivity because of idolatry. Idolatry is captivity. Whatever we value more than God controls us. We probably need numerous "idolectomies." Let’s consider some things we might need to remove.

A “Christian” faith without denying ourselves and following Jesus. A Jesus that isn’t fully God and fully man. A human religious authority to whom we bow. A “God” that fits our whims and convenience. A much too small “man upstairs.” Modern idolatry is everywhere. Do you know why people worship idols?

1.     What I Live For by George Linnaeus Banks | Daily Poetry

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