A sermon on idolatry that goes beyond false gods to time, attention, and priorities. The speaker asks: if God demanded you give up your family, spouse, or ministry, would you? He argues that truly putting Jesus first means being willing to surrender anything.
As we start to put other things before God, everything goes out of alignment. When you get caught up in what is called idolatry, that is to put things before God, to worship other gods instead of the one true living God, then that begins to affect every aspect of your life. Now, you might be saying, well, I don't do that. I don't serve a god by another name, or I'm not worshiping false beings or false gods. Well, I want you to listen very carefully. Because idolatry isn't always very blatant. It's not always going to be obvious that you're committing idolatry. It's not gonna be as plain, as simple as serving a different god by a different name. Sometimes idolatry comes simply in the form of compromise. Sometimes idolatry is simply expressed in the way we spend our time. Sometimes idolatry is expressed simply in where we put our attention. This is so key. Because we may, in one sense, profess that Jesus is first, but we demonstrate by disobedience and compromise that He actually doesn't have the place of first in our hearts. Who sits on the throne of your heart? Who do you follow after? What is the priority of your life? You know something's an idol because if God were to ask you to give it up, that doesn't mean that He always is asking you to give these things up. And this doesn't mean that you can't enjoy any of the blessings that he's given to you. You are supposed to enjoy your spouse. You are supposed to enjoy your children and your family and the ministry. Of course we understand that, but a real test of the heart is, were God to ask you to give it up, were God to require it from you, would you obey him?
