Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Idolatry

Tim Keller is an author worth reading and taking seriously. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism is a superb Christian apologetic for our time. Now comes Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters and Trevin Wax convincingly demonstrates its value in this review:
Keller’s book stands out among other books on idolatry because of the way he goes beyond superficial expressions of idolatry to the root issues of the heart. Our hearts are idol-making factories that make good gifts from God ultimate in our lives, thereby replacing God in our affections. He writes:
What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give. (xvii)
How can you identify these insidious idols? How can you tell if you are worshiping a counterfeit God? Keller says:
A counterfeit god is anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living. (xviii)
Counterfeit Gods includes the obvious idols of money, sex and power. But Keller spends time treating idols that most Christians would fail to discern: doctrinal accuracy, religious communities, political activism, and even traditional family values. ....

Over and over again, as I made my way through this book, I found myself nodding my head in agreement at Keller’s analysis. But my desire to “amen” the thoughts in this book could only come after multiple prayers of “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner!” Counterfeit Gods convicted me of hidden idolatries in my own life. ....

The good news is that there is good news. The counterfeit gods are mere parodies of the one true God who has come to conquer our idols and restore us to himself. (more)
Counterfeit Gods: Tim Keller Takes On Our Idols : Kingdom People

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