Idolatry bible study series based on Timothy Keller ‘Counterfeit Gods’

Week Teaching point/program Week 1 Introduction to idols/a case study into idolatry: who, what, how and where of idols and

idolatry in humans. Week 2 Love is not all you needWeek 3 Money changes everything Week 4 The seduction of success Week 5 The end our own idols: Self-reflection on our own idols and understanding the futility

and fatality of idols in comparison to our God.

Week one: Case study into idolatry

1)Opening activity;Spot the idols: How many idols can you spot in this picture?Spot the idols and share with the group why you think it is an idol?

READ: Spotting the idol is difficult isn’t it? It’s not easy or obvious. It’s really complex. In this

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study you will be doing a case study on idols in addressing the key questions??a) What is an idol?b) How is an idol made?c) Why is an idol so bad?d) What are the idols in our lives?We will be looking hard into the bible for these answers, while it may seem a bit technical, the problem of idolatry is BIG, everyone struggles with that and it prevents us from enjoying our relationship with God to the fullest.

1. Case study of idols Read Exodus 20:1-6And God spoke all these words:2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments

a) The passage comes from the context where God gives the Ten Commandments to Moses at Mount Sinai. This is the first commandment that God gives to his people, what is it?

b) From the passage what is the definition of an idol?

c) Why this commandment is so important that it’s put before other commandments like do not murder or commit adultery? -

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… If anything becomes more fundamental than God to your happiness, meaning in life and identity than it is an idol. (Keller, 2009, pp. xvii-xix)

2. Case study into idols pt 2Read Isaiah 44:14-20

14 He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the

forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.

15 It is man's fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes

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bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it.

16 Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats

his fill. He also warms himself and says, "Ah! I am warm; I see the fire."

17 From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and

says, "Save me; you are my god."

18 They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see,

and their minds closed so they cannot understand.

19 No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, "Half of it I used for

fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing

from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?"

20 He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, "Is not this

thing in my right hand a lie?"

a) According to Isaiah, how are idols made?

b) Based on both passages (in Isaiah and Exodus), why are idols so bad?

Red lights: So we see that idols are things we put above God and they are really bad for us and our relationship with God, but you don’t see us making our own idols/statues and bowing down to them. Or do we?

3. Idols in the 21st century “To contemporary people the word idolatry conjures up pictures of primitive people bowing down before statues…. Our contemporary society is not fundamentally different from these ancient ones. Each set of idols has its own shrines where sacrifices must be made in order to procure the blessings of the good life and ward off disaster. We may not physically kneel before the stature of Aphrodite but many young women today are driven into depression and eating disorders by an obsessive concern over their body image. We may not burn incense to Artemis but when money and career are raised to cosmic proportions we perform a kind of child sacrifice, neglecting family and community to achieve a higher place in business and gain more wealth and prestige” (Keller, 2008, pp. xi-xii)

a) What does Keller have to say about what and how idols are worshipped and expressed in the modern day society?

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b) Referring back to the opening activity, what are some idols that you or your friends struggle with mainly and what type of sacrifices make for these idols?

c) Why are these contemporary idols so bad? (refer to the passages and reflections from Tim Keller’s quotes)

4. Idols in our lives So we understand that our society is filled with many idols, however just because something is a created thing and not God doesn’t mean everything is an idol. But rather as we have seen it is our perception of the created thing in that we trust in it above God to give us identity, happiness, blessings and purpose. So what idols do you struggle with? Here is a helpful indicator.

a) What idols do you currently struggle with?

“a. Idols capture our imagination, and we can locate them by looking at our daydreams.

What do you daydream about?

What do you enjoy imagining?

b. Idols give us a sense of being in control, and we can locate them by looking at our nightmares. What do you fear the most?

c. We can also locate idols by looking at our most unyielding emotions. What makes you uncontrollably angry, anxious, or downhearted? (Keller, 2008)”

Based on these questions what are your idols?

b) Spend some time praying to God and repenting of these idols and asking that God will change your heart and mind to worship him alone and find happiness, identity, purpose and hope in God alone.

Pray also about the coming few weeks as we look at different types/sorts of idols that God will convict us to take following God seriously and be open/honest and repentant about the idols in our life.

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