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A Heart Without Idols
by Francis Frangipane
When
we first come to Jesus, He accepts us just
as we are: problems, sins, and all. As our
needs are met, however, we gradually discover
that God is seeking something from our lives.
What He seeks is our worship. But true worship
is the consequence, the result, of seeing
God as He is. It springs naturally from
a soul purified by love; it rises like incense
from a heart without idols.
The
God Whose Name Is Jealous
Christ does not personally destroy the idols
of sin and self within us. Rather, He points
to them and tells us to destroy them. This
message is about repentance. If you withdraw
from the sound of that word, it is because
you need a fresh cleansing of your soul.
In fact, we are talking about a type of
repentance that is uncommon to those who
only seek forgiveness but not change. We
are speaking of deep repentance - a vigilant,
contrite attitude that refuses
to allow sin or self to become an idol in
our hearts.
In
Exodus we see Christ's view of idols. He
warns,
"Watch yourself that you make no covenant
with the inhabitants of the land into which
you are going, lest it become a snare in
your midst. But rather, you are to tear
down their altars and smash their sacred
pillars and cut down their Asherim - for
you shall not worship any other god, for
the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous
God." (Exodus 34:12-14).
There
are many aspects to the nature of Christ.
He is the Good Shepherd, our Deliverer,
and our Healer. We perceive God through
the filter of our need of Him. And thus
He has ordained, for He Himself is our one
answer to a thousand needs.
But
how does Jesus see us? Looking through His
eyes, the church is His bride: bone of His
bones and flesh of His flesh (Eph. 5:22-32).
He has not saved us so we can live for ourselves
again; He has saved us for Himself (Col.
1:16). True salvation is a betrothal.
He purifies us for our marriage. From
His perspective, our independent ways are
idolatrous. They kindle the fires of His
jealousy.
An
idol is not an occasional sin; it is something
that rules us and makes us its slave. For
some, fear is an idol; for others it is
lust; for still others it is rebellion or
pride. Whatever challenges Jesus' right
to our hearts becomes His enemy, which He
will confront. Because of His jealousy
toward us as His bride, in regard to these
false gods, the Lord demands we destroy
these idols ourselves.
From
the above Scriptures we see that Jesus does
not want us to "carefully" take
down that hidden altar of sin so we will
not break it; rather He commands that we
"TEAR DOWN" what is offensive.
He is not politely asking us to dismantle,
bolt-by-bolt, our pillars of pride; instead,
He demands that we "SMASH" them
to pieces. When He shows us an inner idol,
we must demolish it completely. We cannot
secretly harbor the slightest intention
of ever using that idol again. It must be
destroyed.
You
may feel you are not worshiping any idols.
You do not stand, morning by morning, before
a statue of Baal and praise it as your god.
Indeed, we do not worship the idols of the
ancient heathen. Like everything in our
modern world, man has sophisticated idolatry
as well. Paul talks of the antichrist who
will appear in the last days as that one
"who opposes and exalts himself above
every so-called god or object of worship,
so that he takes his seat in the temple
of God, displaying himself as being God"
(2 Thess. 2:4).
Where
is the temple of God on earth - is it a
building? Perhaps, but in no other place
in Paul's teaching does he refer to the
temple of God as anything other than the
church. Yet, even if Paul is referring to
a man seated as a god in Jerusalem, somewhere
in that man's life he had to first think
of himself as "being God."
Let
us perceive the antichrist as did the apostle
John, who saw it not only as one who was
coming, but also as a spiritual enemy that
sought to infiltrate and then replace true
Christianity (1 John 2:18; 4:3). The antichrist
spirit is a religious spirit; it is manifested
in that thinking which refuses to be taught
and corrected by Christ or anyone else.
The spirit of antichrist is resident
in much of the church today, opposing the
move of God, displaying itself as being
God.
Simply
put, the spirit of antichrist is that spirit
which exalts self as deity.
You see, the spirit of antichrist is much
more subtle than someone suddenly announcing
to the world he is the Creator. Again, our
world is far too sophisticated for that.
For us today, we must look for the influence
of antichrist in our religious traditions:
are those traditions founded upon Scripture
or upon man? And then, beyond our traditions,
in the immediacy of our own hearts, we must
discern the disposition of the
antichrist spirit in the thought structure
of our flesh nature. Is there something
in your soul which opposes and exalts itself
above God, taking its seat in the human
temple of God, displaying itself as being
God? The resistance in you against God is
an idol. It is the most powerful idol in
the human heart.
But
the false god of self-rule does not stand
alone in man. The ancient god Mercury would
be hard pressed to keep pace with today's
gods of Anxiety and Haste. The world has
taken its bloodlust out of the ancient Roman
arenas and put it into violent movies. They
have taken the goddesses of fertility from
the Greek hillsides only to idolize sex
in our theaters and televisions. What mankind
has done is move the pagan temples from
the high places of the countryside to the
hidden places of the human heart.
If
we exalt money, status, or sex above the
Word of God, we are living in idolatry.
Every time we inwardly submit to the strongholds
of fear, bitterness, and pride, we are bowing
to the rulers of darkness. Each of these
idols must be smashed, splintered, and obliterated
from the landscape of our hearts.
"I
Am a Jealous God"
"You shall not worship any other god,
for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is
a jealous God!" (Ex. 34:14) The Lord
did not say He was, at times, jealous; He
said His Name, which reveals His
nature, is Jealous. Right next
to His Name "I AM" is His Name
"JEALOUS." His love is not some
ethereal principle of "higher cosmic
consciousness." His love is focused
upon us, actually jealous for us as individuals.
He "calls his own sheep by name"
(John 10:3). Jesus knows your name. He loves
you personally. The fact that Christ is
jealous for us as individuals, caring and
providing for each aspect of our lives,
and that He suffered humiliation and death
on the cross to pay for our sins, demonstrates
how great a love it is with which He loves
us. He gave all. He deserves all.
His
jealousy for us is perfect. It is not the
same as human jealousy: petty, possessive,
and insecure. He is not sitting in heaven
wringing His hands, wondering what we really
think of Him. His jealousy is based upon
His pure love for us and His desire to bless
us and fulfill our lives in Him. He understands
us, yet knowing our weaknesses, He still
"jealously desires the Spirit which
He has made to dwell in us" (James
4:5). His promise to us is faithful: "I
will never leave thee, nor forsake thee"
(Heb. 13:5 KJV). He refuses to stop loving
us. You may think of yourself as a sinner,
as unlovable - as though no one wants you,
but Jesus desires you.
Early
in my ministry, upon occasion I gave up
on certain individuals, people who seemed
to me hopelessly unreceptive to God. As
the years passed, I would later discover
these same individuals were now walking
with God. Jesus is faithful. He loves you
with a love that is jealous for you as a
person.
God
knows, however, that in order for you to
experience His love, the idols
of self and sin must be destroyed. And to
prove our intentions and love for Him, He
tells us to smash these idols. Would
you be holy? Then remove the idols of self
and sin from within you. For holiness exists
in a soul purified by love; it exudes like
incense from a heart without idols.
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Francis
serves as senior minister of River of Life
Ministries in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 
