5 Pagan Idols of the Church
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Many years ago, I attended a large meeting. There were Christians from several various churches in our city and the meeting opened with praise and worship.
As the worship band led us in worship, I grew more and more confused and disturbed as the people around me stood chatting with one another out loud.
I was trying to sing along, worship, and raise my hands, but but was constantly distracted by the several conversations going on around me.
Then, the worship band began the next worship song, one that was currently being played on the radio over and over.
The conversations halted.
The people turned toward the front of the auditorium and raised their hands as they belted out the words.
Yet, they were not worshipping God.

As we read the history of Israel and Judah, we find disturbing accounts of idol worship mixed with the worship of God in the temple.
They would even bring the foreign gods right into God’s temple, defiling it.
Today’s church has done the same thing.
No, we haven’t brought wooden or golden idols into the church, but like the children of Israel, we mix our idol worship with worship of God right in His house.
5 Pagan Idols of the Church
Idolatry in the modern church is not a new thing. In fact, it has always been a struggle, even as far back as the early church.
However, like Jesus cleansed the temple, God is cleansing His church.
He is exposing the corruption and sinful practices that lay behind the idols we’ve worshipped, and the only way to respond at this moment is to repent and turn our hearts back to Him.
Just like Jeremiah, God has sent prophets to the Church to warn us about our idolatry and fallen state.
But like in the time of Jeremiah, the Church has persecuted these prophets, turned a deaf ear to them, and killed their message.
As we will read in this important book, so relevant for our time, God continually calls out, extending grace and a promise of restoration.
If only we will turn from our idolatrous ways and worship Him in Spirit and truth.
1. The Idol of Celebrity
I purposely chose this one first. I believe one of the most common idols we worship is man.
Whether it’s celebrity preachers, Bible teachers, worship leaders…
The church is in love with celebrity.
We have sacrificed our money and time to enrich many of these ministries to a place of grotesque wealth, which they lavish upon themselves with mansions, luxury cars, exclusive vacations, and private jets.
None of which is necessary for ministry.
None of which resembles Christ’s ministry on earth.
All done in worship to the idol of celebrity ministers, most of whom have been corrupted with their own idol of wealth and prosperity.
2. The Idol of Money
Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Mark 10:25
Paul said, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” 1 Timothy 6:10
The Bible has a lot to say about money.
It warns against the idol of wealth and encourages us to be content and thankful to God for what we have.
Despite the numerous warnings against accumulating wealth, many Christians continue to chase the idol of prosperity and money.
For decades we have heard preachers tell us that God doesn’t want us poor. He wants us to be happy and prosper.
And yet wealth is no more a sign of God’s blessing than poverty is a sign of piety.
Both are a preoccupation with money and things.
God is impressed with neither of these. God looks at the heart, and a Christian can be poor and materialistic as much as he can be rich and in love with money.
3. Signs and Wonders
I remember when the “gold dust phenomenon” hit the Bible school I was attending.
For those unfamiliar, there was a period of time when it was believed that God’s presence was manifested in a meeting by gold dust falling from heaven.
For a very brief moment, I was carried away by it, until the Lord’s voice broke through the manifestation hysteria going on around me.
He asked, “Why? Why would I do that? What is the purpose? How is this drawing all men unto Me?”
That was when I began to recognize a new pagan idol in the church: the idol of signs, wonders, and manifestations.
When Jesus was on earth, the Pharisees continually sought a sign from Him, testing Him to prove that He was the Son of God.
This generation is no different.
Why else would today’s so-called prophets use social media to data mine for their false prophecies?
Because there is this assumption that unless there are signs, wonders, and manifestations in a meeting, God is not present.
This generation seeks signs, wonders, and manifestations to gird up their faith when Jesus clearly taught that signs and wonders were not for the believer, but for the unbeliever.
It is a display of His power to draw the unsaved to Christ!
We have the Holy Spirit as our witness that Christ is real, and that God is all-powerful. We don’t need signs and wonders to prove that!
Or at least we shouldn’t.
In the end, the “gold dust” at the Bible school was lab-tested and proven to be nothing more than party glitter.
Yet another idol proved to be made of destructible material, and not God’s work after all.
4. The Idol of Emotion
There have been seasons of my Christian walk where I have felt distant from God.
I would attend church and not feel moved. I wouldn’t feel joy, I wouldn’t feel touched, and I wouldn’t feel God’s presence.
This used to bother me deeply.
I would use it as a gauge to measure my spiritual walk and closeness with Christ.
I would repent, trying to induce tears of sorrow for my dead and dry spirit and cry out for revival and a renewal of the joy of my salvation.
But there was nothing wrong with me.
There was nothing wrong with my spirit, other than I had made an idol of my own emotions.
God was still moving and working in my life.
His presence was still with me.
There is a reason why we call Christianity a faith; and that is because we must choose to believe God is real, active, and working even when we cannot see or feel His work.
Our feelings are not evidence of Him working any more than our lack of feelings is evidence of our distance from Him.
Feelings are a very poor and deceptive metric, and should never be trusted.
God’s Word is all the evidence we need that God is working and moving powerfully in our lives.
5. The Idol of Self
There are few enemies more destructive to the Church as humanism has been.
The exaltation of self has brought untold damage to the body of Christ and destroyed our need to rely on Him for His strength and grace.
What our physical strength or talent may be incapable of doing, our intellect and wit can make up for; and many ministries are propped up on human wit and intellect.
Many prayers of salvation are prayed because of human talent, wit, and intellect.
And yet, many souls are lost when it is discovered that human talent, wit, and intellect are not enough to withstand the trials and tribulations that come with living the Christian life.
The idol of self is one of the most hollow idols of all because there is no substance to self without Christ!
And today’s Church is finding out just how hollow human talent, wit, and intellect truly are as we discover how the many celebrity Christian leaders have sought to fill that hollow void with money, luxury, sex, and recognition.
None of these are lasting, and we can now smell the rotting stench of these short-lived attempts to fill a void that only Christ can fill.
Dear sister, I know this post hasn’t necessarily been very encouraging.
I realize that to many it may even seem harsh.
Please know that I did not write this post to attack the church, for then I must first and foremost attack myself.
I have been just as guilty as anyone for worshipping many of these idols.
This message has lay heavy on my heart for weeks, as the Lord has convicted me heavily and I am learning to walk in a greater level of faith and closeness with Him.
Learning to worship Him with a heart not crowded with dozens of other loves.
It is time we repent and return to our true worship – to the one and only God who can give us meaning and satisfaction!