Welcome back! We skipped a post (or two?) in January, but we’re back again to get it poppin! So, we’ve been talking about idol worshipping and what that means. Now we need to start looking into solutions for idol worshipping. Let’s dive into this.
How To Stop Idol Worshipping
For some people, or in some cases, idol worshipping can be an addiction. It can be a habit you’ve formed out of comfort, or a strong appreciation. Something you wanted for so long is now in your grasp and you can’t let go of it. These are all ways that idol worshipping can form.
As a review since it’s been a while, here are the 3 keys to recognizing idol worshipping:
- The object is your main focus
- The object has no flaws
- The object’s mistakes are overlooked
Have you done this? Have you made idolized something and didn’t recognize it? If you’re here right now, and you’re unsure, stop. Go back to my previous post about idol worshipping from January, and you’ll be caught up and clarified. Then rejoin us here. Everyone else, let’s keep going.
So, you want to stop idolizing things right? But we first have to find out why you’re idolizing something. Where does giving our worship to something else come from and why? Well, I think we have to take another step back before we look at the root of idolatry, let’s look at worshipping. What even is worshipping? Why is our worship so important?
What is Worshipping?
Worshipping is the act of submitting to a deity. But that’s only partially true. That definition is for the world, the definition of worshipping for us as believers in Christ comes from two passages from the Bible. The first is an outline of what worship is, the second is a description of how to worship.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies bas a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (2) Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:1-2
Here, brother Paul tells us that worship is done first and foremost with the sacrifices of our bodies. That means giving up our will and desires to do things our way and to accept the path of righteousness. Presenting ourselves a living sacrifice means denying our bodies the things they crave in an unrighteous way. Like, sex outside of marriage in any capacity. Like overeating and being lazy. When we resist the temptation of the devil, we are making ourselves a living sacrifice to the Lord.
It is also important to point out that we realize that Paul told us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. That means be present in our minds and our thoughts. When we kneel down to pray, be focused and disciplined by calling on the Holy Spirit to help us focus. Presenting ourselves is also a daily matter before the world. We teach nonbelievers what it looks like to serve God, and that starts in our bodies, in our kindness, in our behavior. When someone cuts you off in traffic, what do you do? On Friday night, are you going out drinking? Are you cursing? Are you adding tattoos to your skin? Some people think that these things aren’t bad, but I’m here to tell you they’re not good if you are trying to present yourself as a living sacrifice.
Thinking points:
A) We are to come to God without a spot or blemish (Eph 5:27, Is 43:25). That’s why Jesus’ blood washes away our sins, His blood purifies us. So we don’t have to stay muddled in sin. But when we go out drinking, swearing, tattooing, fornicating, or cheating on our spouses, we are not without spot or blemish. We are purposely getting down on all fours and crawling back to the vomit we spit up when Jesus purified us (Prov 26:11).
B) We must also understand that when we indulge in practices of the world…we look like the world! Jesus told us that we are the light (Matt 5:14-16). How can anyone see a light with a shade on it? If we are dressing up on Halloween, drunk as a skunk, cussing like sailor, does any of that look like Jesus? Does any of that present you as a living sacrifice? If the world does those things, how will you look any different? If Jesus walked into a football game where there’re drunks and screaming crowds, how would He find you? Would He recognize you as His child?
C) The reason we don’t drink, we don’t curse, we don’t get tatted, we don’t fornicate or have extramarital affairs, the reason we resist those things, is because it’s part of our worship. It’s part of presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice. When we abstain from something, that is a sacrifice for God, and He recognizes it every time. Every second you choose to do righteous, God adds more blessings to your life and to your home in heaven. The Holy Spirit whispered to me as I was writing this, that God wanted us to abstain from things as our presentation. Not to become religious, but to keep ourselves separate from the world. Making a sacrifice is the biggest part of our worship, because we deny the world when we accept Christ, and that is our spiritual service. To live for God, to obey Him and bring honor to King Jesus is our spiritual service. The world can’t resist the temptation of the devil, but through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we can. And when we do, God celebrates that.
Next, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That’s another form of worship. It goes along with presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice to God. Now let’s get back to ‘What is Worshipping’ with our second scripture.
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him
John 4:23
God is a spirit, we know that. So we know that ultimately, we have to worship in the spirit to honor Him. But that doesn’t just mean praise and worship and singing songs. That is a form of worship, but the form Jesus is talking about here (John 4:23), is the worship we’ve been talking about, which is living as a sacrifice for God. We know this by looking at the woman at the well. Her lifestyle was not pleasing, so Jesus’ prophecy that the time will come when people worship God in spirit and in truth is reflected in Paul’s words in Romans 12:1-2. We know that worshipping in truth means living in Christ. Jesus is the truth that we must abide by, and so when we worship God, we do it through living pleasing and living out the truth of the Word.
Now that we know all about worshipping, let’s look back at the OG question: why are we idol worshipping? Why give our worship to something else?
I’m going to be completely honest, that is a question only you can answer. Because now that you know how important worship is, you can better understand where that stem is at. Ask yourself: Where is the root of giving my worship to someone or something other than God? Satan asked for Jesus’ worship, so you know that he is going to ask for yours. Maybe not flat out, but bringing things your way that you enjoy deeply, whether that can be a person, a celebrity, a spouse or friend, a car, or pet. Anything can be worshipped if it means more to you than your Jesus.
Closing
I didn’t get to the solution today because I was going in on worship-ha! But I promise, the next post will provide you with a solution to idol worshipping. And the post after that will likely be more opinionated on the reasoning for idol worship after giving you some scriptures. Also, I haven’t forgotten about the dating series! Especially since my new book (shameless plug), Singlehood, just came out and it’s all about dating. However, I thought it’d be so cliché if I posted about something romantic in February. Yuck. Anyways, come back for the next post on idolatry for a real solution!
Until then…
