{"id":1450,"date":"2011-10-13T13:34:47","date_gmt":"2011-10-13T13:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/davidcprice.wordpress.com\/2011\/10\/13\/idols"},"modified":"2011-10-13T13:34:47","modified_gmt":"2011-10-13T13:34:47","slug":"idols","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/idols\/","title":{"rendered":"Idols of the Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media.tumblr.com\/tumblr_lt0az40NH61qiv6fh.jpg?w=640\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Rarely do I teach a class or deliver a message that hasn&#8217;t already penetrated my soul and taught me first.\u00a0 I think that the only way a message is really exceptional is if the Holy Spirit has brought the hammer down first in the teacher\/preacher&#8217;s life so that the passion can come from a place of real, deep conviction.<\/p>\n<p>Last night, however, as I taught on really <em>believing<\/em> the Gospel (*see below for explanation of &#8220;Gospel&#8221;), the real weight of that came at that point and later as I reflected on it more and more.<\/p>\n<p>I taught about how we say we believe the Gospel and and we do a lot of things that would be considered right for a disciple to do and yet it seems we tend to battle with the same surface sins over and over.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 I say <em>surface<\/em> sins because those are the ones that we can <em>see<\/em>.\u00a0 However, usually the surface sins indicate something much deeper: what Bob Thune and Will Walker, authors of <em><a title=\"The Gospel-Centered Life (Amazon)\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Gospel-Centered-Life-Participants-Guide\/dp\/1936768011\/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1318510475&amp;sr=1-2\">The Gospel-Centered Life<\/a>,<\/em> call &#8220;Idols of the heart&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s the example we looked at last night &#8211; <em>gossip<\/em>.\u00a0 Everybody knows when they gossip, right?&#8230;usually.\u00a0 Anyway, so we realize we&#8217;re gossiping and so we feel convicted by it and repent.\u00a0 Then we run along and gossip somewhere else. <em>Doh!<\/em> Why can&#8217;t we break that?! What&#8217;s going on that I keep gossiping when I know it&#8217;s wrong and don&#8217;t really want to (or do I?)<\/p>\n<p>The question we explored last night was, &#8220;Why do we gossip?&#8221;\u00a0 Here are some reasons suggested by the above-mentioned authors listed as &#8220;heart idols&#8221;:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><span>\u00bb \u00a0<\/span><span>The <\/span><span>idol of approval <\/span><span>(I want the approval of the people I\u2019m talking to) <\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>\u00bb \u00a0<\/span><span>The <\/span><span>idol of control <\/span><span>(Using gossip as a way to manipulate\/control others) <\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>\u00bb \u00a0<\/span><span>The <\/span><span>idol of reputation <\/span><span>(I want to feel important, so I cut some-one else down verbally) <\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>\u00bb \u00a0<\/span><span>The <\/span><span>idol of success <\/span><span>(Someone is succeeding\u2014and I\u2019m not\u2014so I gossip about him) <\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>\u00bb \u00a0<\/span><span>The <\/span><span>idol of security <\/span><span>(Talking about others masks my own in- security) <\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>\u00bb \u00a0<\/span><span>The <\/span><span>idol of pleasure <\/span><span>(Someone else is enjoying life\u2014and I\u2019m not\u2014so I attack her) <\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>\u00bb \u00a0<\/span><span>The <\/span><span>idol of knowledge <\/span><span>(Talking about people is a way of show- ing I know more) <\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>\u00bb \u00a0<\/span><span>The <\/span><span>idol of recognition <\/span><span>(Talking about others gets people to notice me) <\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>\u00bb \u00a0<\/span><span>The <\/span><span>idol of respect <\/span><span>(That person disrespected me, so I\u2019m going to disrespect him) <\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What&#8217;s the problem?\u00a0 I haven&#8217;t <em>really believed<\/em> the Gospel to the point that I don&#8217;t need these idols to make me feel successful, validated, accepted, respected, etc.\u00a0 I haven&#8217;t realized that IN CHRIST, I am <em>complete<\/em> so that my validation, acceptance, respect and on and on are found in and completed in <em>HIM<\/em>.\u00a0 I don&#8217;t need to serve and\/or be held captive by these idols IF I TRULY BELIEVE THE GOSPEL and so I am freed from fear, anxiety, low self-image and all the other deep-seeded problems that are MANIFESTED through actions like gossip, lying, etc.\u00a0 Make sense?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So, I&#8217;m left with the question of whether or not I truly BELIEVE the Gospel.\u00a0 If so, it should have an absolutely <em>RADICAL<\/em> affect on my entire life.\u00a0 As we said last night, my whole life and everything in it should be leveraged for the sake of the Kingdom of God. That includes my family, my stuff, my money&#8230;<em>everything<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Are you content to give lip-service to your &#8220;belief&#8221; in the Gospel of Christ?\u00a0 Do you feel the same level of conviction I&#8217;ve felt?\u00a0 If so, it&#8217;s time to do some spelunking of the soul and figure out what idols are living why down deep in caves and crevices of your heart.\u00a0 Ask God to shine the helmet light on them and start breaking them down.\u00a0 Clear them out! Be free from fear, depression, anxiety, anger and all the other manifestations that come with failing to believe in the deliverance and power of the Gospel.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Am I minimizing or over-simplifying deliverance from things like depression, anger, etc? Absolutely not! Many, if not most of these things require some help both in identifying and removing them.\u00a0 Seek Godly, qualified help and accountability if you are wrapped up in these things, but I encourage you to follow my example on this and start addressing it today. Stop saying you <em>believe<\/em> the Gospel but living as if you&#8217;ve never even heard it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>* In this post, I am referring to the Gospel (which literally means &#8220;Good News&#8221;) as the revealed message of the work of Jesus Christ to bear the wrath of a just God towards sin and, thus, serve as a substitute for sinners in order that they can then be at peace with God, having been cleansed and adopted by God Himself. The only proper response to hearing the Gospel is to believe it and repent of the sins that evoked the wrath of God and precipitated the sacrificial death of Christ.\u00a0 For more information on the Gospel, feel free to email me.<\/p>\n<div class=\"twttr_buttons\"><div class=\"twttr_twitter\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=Idols+of+the+Heart\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-via=\"\" data-hashtags=\"\"  data-size=\"default\" data-url=\"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/idols\/\"  data-related=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Tweet<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rarely do I teach a class or deliver a message that hasn&#8217;t already penetrated my soul and taught me first.\u00a0 I think that the only way a message is really exceptional is if the Holy Spirit has brought the hammer down first in the teacher\/preacher&#8217;s life so that the passion can come from a place&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[42,50,684,142,198,228,472],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s3jKZO-idols","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":732,"url":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/your-best-life-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":1450,"position":0},"title":"Your Best Life&#8230;Now?","date":"November 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"In my last post, I poked a little jab at a fellow minister, Joel Osteen.\u00a0 If you're a fan, I'm sorry, but I have some serious issues with Mr. Osteen's theology, mainly because I believe that he not only simplifies the Gospel of Christ, he largely ignores it. The following\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Christian Living&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":797,"url":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/a-rant\/","url_meta":{"origin":1450,"position":1},"title":"A Rant.","date":"February 4, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been thinking a lot about the state of The Gathering and where we're going and how we will get there.\u00a0 I am incredibly encouraged by the spirit of the people who currently make up this Body and the excitement that is present about our future. There is a focus\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Christian Living&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":691,"url":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/piper-on-the-prosperity-gospel\/","url_meta":{"origin":1450,"position":2},"title":"Piper on the Prosperity &#8220;gospel&#8221;","date":"November 17, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The so-called \"Prosperity Gospel\" sells millions of books a year for it's proponents, but it is a counterfeit gospel.\u00a0 John Piper pulls no punches in telling it like it is in this compelling video. (ht: Shane Waldrop, @fuelshane)","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Christianity&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2559,"url":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/impact-witness\/","url_meta":{"origin":1450,"position":3},"title":"Impact: Witness","date":"January 21, 2014","format":"video","excerpt":"Here is the video from my message at The Gathering on Sunday, the third installment of a 4-week series called Impact.\u00a0 This message deals with the difference we make in the world through our witness of the Gospel in our lives. IMPACT - Witness from The Gathering on Vimeo.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Church&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1193,"url":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/who-wins\/","url_meta":{"origin":1450,"position":4},"title":"Who Wins?","date":"March 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"So, Rob Bell, young evangelical's favorite controversial expounder of questionable truth, has a new book coming out. \u00a0For the record, no, I'm not a fan and, yes, I'm fine with you knowing that. \u00a0In the stream of what has emerged as the emergent church movement in which the Gospel is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Christianity&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1000,"url":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/acts-of-the-holy-spirit-the-final-chapter\/","url_meta":{"origin":1450,"position":5},"title":"Acts of the Holy Spirit: The Final Chapter?","date":"August 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Wow, one year and one week later, we've concluded the \"Acts of the Holy Spirit\" Sunday morning series at The Gathering. What a great journey that was as we systematically saw how God worked through individuals to form His church and spread His Gospel throughout the world.\u00a0 Of course, that\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidcprice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/acts-series-001.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1450"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1450\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}