Modern day idols

By Daniel Francis

I don’t know about you, but when I think of the word ‘idol’, I think of the statues and fake gods that the ancient people would worship instead of God. I think of the Bible verses where they describe how these false idols were pulling believers further and further away from God, and it seems quite obvious that these idols were bad.

Yet what if I told you that many of us still bow to idols in the present day? The only difference is that these idols tend to fit neatly in our pockets, sit on our desks, and fill our bank accounts.

When I think about idolatry, my mind runs to the First Commandment, Exodus 20:3: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” It seems clear-cut, right? The thing is, it’s not just about the statues and the false gods, but idolatry has to do with anything that we place above God in importance, love, or trust.

If you are getting a bit nervous, it’s okay because so am I. There are things in our lives we hold with too great importance, so much so that we prioritise them over everything, sometimes even God.

But why do we do this? Idolatry is not just about pagan worship but a constant temptation to faith. This divinising of something that is not God, and if you think it’s not that deep, I would have you think about how much time you give to these modern-day idols, and how you interact with them.

Here are some of these modern-day idols that I am referring to:

Technology & Social Media: As simple as the phone in your pocket. How many of us are guilty of grabbing our phones as soon as we wake up? That can be seen as a form of false worship. We chase this online validation and, through social media, have this obsession with followers. We don’t realise that we are being sucked into a form of idolatry by our behaviour. Some of us can’t even go without holding our phones, even though we aren’t using them.

Career & Success: Another common one is when our ambitions outrun our faith and even our family life. I have been training corporate professionals using leadership development courses through my parent company for years now, and the most common feedback I hear from these professionals is that they have poor work-life balance.

They are excellent at their jobs, bordering on obsessed, yet they don’t have a life outside of work. Their family and faith life are suffering. Why? Because their jobs and ambition are at the forefront, and everything else is a lesser priority.

Money & Materialism: The pursuit of more at the cost of spiritual peace. Some get caught up in this idea that they can buy their way to happiness or peace. After they purchase this thing, everything will be okay. After they make this amount of money, everything will be okay.

They buy more items, not realising the missing link is God. The things they buy and all the money they have become their idols, and they grow away from their faith because they want to accumulate.

Entertainment & Comfort: I confess, I’m guilty of this one. If I totalled and shared the number of hours I’ve spent binge-watching television and using the excuse of needing rest as the reason, you would all be alarmed.

Nothing is wrong with a little leisure, but the problem is when binge-watching, sports, and leisure become your life’s centre. If it’s the centre, then where is God?

Self & Image: This is a very common one in my generation because of social media. We worship our appearance, opinions, or personal brand. This obsession with appearing a particular way or selling this idea of who we are by presenting a particular way online. We focus more on what we want people to think of us, as we lose our faith identity.

As you can see, this modern-day idolatry displaces God from His rightful place in our lives. It distorts our identity as Christians, as our worth comes from God and not our possessions or achievements.

Ask yourself, “What do I turn to first for comfort or guidance?” Maybe it’s a good time to fast from these things or habits and replace the idols with God’s Word. Redirect your attention to God today and watch as the idols lose their power over you.

Daniel Francis is a millennial helping other millennials. He is a two-time author of the books The Millennial Mind and The Millennial Experience, and an entrepreneur. Over the past four years, he has served as a Personal Development Coach whose work targets Millennials and helps them tap into their full potential. He is also a self-publishing coach and has guided hundreds on self-publishing their book successfully.

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