false god battle
In the fall of 2008, I had a brief weekend available to travel home from college to be with family and friends. As I did often in those days, I planned on going to the local house of prayer that was such a crucial part of my spiritual formation and walk with the Lord.
When I got to the prayer room, I remember coming in with an eagerness to ask the Lord to talk to me, show me His heart, and help me continue to grow in hearing His voice. I closed my eyes and had a vision.
In this vision, I saw a Medieval scene that depicted armies climbing castle ladders to get to the tops of their walls in preparation for war. They carried various weapons and were getting ready to protect what was behind their walls. Behind the walls, I saw a light that was shining but was dim.
I asked the Lord what this meant, and felt like I heard the following:
“These people are preparing to be in an unnecessary battle for the purpose of protecting their concept of ‘God.’ They believe what lies behind their walls and is in need of protection is the light of God, but it is actually a false god. Although the light shines, it is dim and not fully shining. It is dimmed because this light (people’s false god) is rooted in false interpretations of who God is. For some, their false god is themselves. For others, it is a person in power. For others, it is power itself. No matter who this false god is, the people believe they must defend it at all costs. My invitation for them is to know that I alone am God, I do not need defending, and by my grace and true light, they must turn around to fight and overcome their false gods.”
As I was driving home the other day, I was reminded of this vision and nudged by the Lord to reflect on how this prophetic word still speaks today. I look around and see signs of it everywhere. Nations, political parties, groups, teams, schools, states, and so many others find themselves either at war or preparing for it. They are climbing their towers to attack anybody who stands against their concept of what is right, true, and good. The false gods of themselves and their power preferences are being defended by any means necessary. We watch divides get wider, ears close up faster, and eyes stay fixated on some dim form of light that is neither illuminating nor bringing light.
But here’s what I know. This is nothing new. The story of God is filled with moments in which the people of God looked the wrong way, worshiped the wrong god, and engaged in the wrong battles. In fact, in the early chapters of Genesis, we read about the people of God reaching for the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In doing so, they rejected God as God and proclaimed through their actions that they were God and could define what was good and evil in their lives and world. In other words, they made themselves out to be “god.” In fact, as the story goes, the whole earth gathers together to build a tower to heaven so they would be known and worshiped like the gods around them.
Throughout human history and today, the individualism of our story is one that breeds a false narrative that we are at the center of the story. It’s all about me. It’s all about my gain and what best advantages me, even if it damages, divides, and destroys others. However, God’s story reminds us that we are not the center of all things but rather God is at the center. We are not the Savior or Redeemer or Sustainer of all things, we are not the ones to be worshiped and praised for our mighty works, and we are not the ones who are perfect in every way.
We also see the Scriptures reminding us that humans have always been welcomed to relate to God as the King and Ruler of the world. However, humanity has always looked for others to take that seat. Whether it be the judges, priests, and kings, the people of God continually asked for leaders when the Lord clearly and repeatedly reminded them that He alone was their King, Priest, Prophet, and Judge. Yet, just as clear and repeated as God’s reminders were, the people sought the next political figure to fix their issues.
As if the false gods of politicians weren’t enough, the people of God also engaged in idol worship. They sought certain deities who were worshiped by surrounding nations as a means to secure their agricultural, economic, and national blessings. No matter the type of false god, the Lord continued to interrupt these wicked cycles of idolatry. The prophets spoke to the people of God, reminding them of God’s faithfulness to save them and calling them to repent from their idolatry, their mistreatment of the marginalized (namely the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner), and their corrupt partnerships with other nations. If they would not repent and return to the Lord, God would bring about judgment and justice upon them. Well…needless to say, the people were engaged in a false god battle, and they raised their voices as weapons against these prophetic warnings. Unfortunately for them, this led to their exile and, graciously, to God’s restoration of His people as well.
Finally, we see a theme revealed throughout the framework of the Scriptures that shows us how humanity has constantly craved power as a false god. We have idolized control, possessions, wealth, title, fame, sex, and all the “blessings” of God without wanting anything to do with God. God’s people constantly seek God’s power for their gain, yet neglect the truth of what actual power looks like: love. They want the gifts but not the Giver. They want the blessings but not the Blesser.
And if anybody stands in their way, they oppose them vehemently. We saw this through church history as splits took place over who was in power and control. We continue to see this today over anything that hinders people’s grasp of or access to power. Ultimately, our reaching for power has turned us into junkies seeking domination in every area of life where we can obtain it. Our obsession with doing whatever it takes to secure our advantage is grossly on view for all to see.
Yet again, the Lord graciously continues to guide His people away from what they understand as light for the true Light that overcomes the darkness of power and domination. He showed us His patience, mercy, compassion, and faithfulness as we grasped for power by coming in flesh. The Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, came to overcome our false gods once and for all. And He did it by showing us that true power is not domineering, it’s sacrificial. True authority is not forceful; it is humble. True strength is not found in the ways that we violently overthrow, but rather through lovingly laying down our lives for the sake of others' good.
And this matters immensely today because whether the false god is one’s self, another person, or power itself, we are seeing the effects of how people are defending their false gods.
When we view ourselves as “god,” we can do no wrong. It’s everybody else’s fault, and any questions are not open doors for conversation but rather arrows and spears that we need to shield ourselves from. Whatever we feel, however we vote, and whatever we decide to say or do is absolute truth. Ultimately, we build barriers between ourselves and others, ourselves and God, and ourselves and growth. When we view ourselves as “god,” we stay stuck behind the defenses we put up in order to preserve and protect who we think we are.
When we see a certain person as “god,” we will come to their defense no matter what. No matter what they’ve done, are doing, or will do, we stand against the “haters.” Rather than seeing any alternative perspectives as opportunities, we see them as challenges against not just that person, but the hope we have in them and against the group of followers they represent. Whether this is a president and their political party, a celebrity, an athlete, or whoever else, we allow their prophets (aka. News channels, influencers, voices of leaders, etc.) to give us all the ammunition we need to defend their actions, speech, and deity. This divides us from anybody who is not for our “god” and creates more reasons for our false god battle, which is more like a civil war in many global settings, and most specifically, the American context.
When we see power as “god,” we position ourselves to accrue and protect our power no matter the cost. It’s blatantly clear how power-hungry our world is and how obsessed we are with power. Whether it’s through money, possessions, title, or feelings of safety, we hunger for power and do anything we can to keep it by taking advantage of others through our working, speaking, voting, and living. Ultimately, we never allow ourselves to break free from this consuming appetite for power.
So, how do we break free? How do we stop the false god battles we are in? How do we denounce these idols and come to the Only True God, receiving His power of love and living in His freedom and victory?
I’d like to propose the following steps:
Reflect.
Perhaps the best first step is reflecting on where we may have a false god or idol in our lives. Tim Keller defines an idol as, “good things turned into ultimate things. An idol 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.” Whether the idol or false god is ourselves, another person, or power itself, we must be willing to reflect and ask the Holy Spirit to help us become aware.
David gave us a great model prayer in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Start in prayer and ask the Lord to search you, show you any offensive things (false gods/idols), and lead you in the everlasting way.
Repent.
Once we are aware of these false gods, we must be willing to take the next step: repentance. Repentance is the Greek word that Jesus used to start His public ministry and that the apostles called early believers to do as a way of becoming Christians. To repent literally means to change one’s mind. The goal of changing our minds is to turn a different direction because we are aware of how painful, damaging, and sad the other way was that we were going. Through a humble and contrite heart, we can repent through asking for God’s forgiveness and grace to cover our sin of idolatry and lead us into a new way of thinking and living.
The Good News of Jesus is that He loves us just as we are, and He loves us enough not to stay that way. We don’t have to remain stuck in our false god battles because the True God is reaching out to us and offering us a new way forward. Take the step of repentance and let God lead you forward.
Reimagine.
For many stuck in their false god battles, they can’t imagine another way. They could never be wrong, their candidate, celebrity, or party could never fail, and their power would never let them down. Ironically, they couldn’t be more wrong, failed, or let down. As we reflect and repent, there is also an invitation to imagine a new way forward with the power and grace of the Lord.
God’s grace is an unmerited gift. That means we get what we do not deserve. This gift not only covers our mistakes, but it empowers us to live full lives. Reimagining what that full life looks like gives us the opportunity to not only receive the freedom God offers but also to structure our lives to remain free.
The difficulty of this process is that we must lean on the prophetic imagination of the Holy Spirit to lead us to see things differently and then live differently. It will look strange, weird, and “other than.” Why? Because God is holy and His ways are not like our ways. His thoughts are way higher than our thoughts. His authority and power are not like the world’s. His reign and victory are not won the same way humans defeat one another.
In God’s Kingdom, humility is power. Serving others is greatness. Loving and blessing our enemies is just as important as loving and blessing those who love us. Our goal is to carry the cross of Christ, die to ourselves, resist the empire, and remain faithful to the way of Jesus. And the last time I checked, Jesus is not seen as a donkey or an elephant, but as the Lamb.
Reimagining our lives with the Lord calls us to a difficult process, but nothing worthwhile is easy. As Henri Nouwen wrote, “What makes the temptation of power so seemingly irresistible? Maybe it is that power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love.” Enter into the transformative invitation of God’s love as you reimagine a new way of life, free from false gods and filled with the True God.
All around, there are false god battles. People are standing in defense of themselves, their idols, and power itself. They are stuck, they are divisive, and they are fighting the wrong battle. The Good News is that this battle has already been won, and our Champion offers us His victory so that we might live in freedom and the greatest power of love. Reflect, repent, and reimagine a new way of life that engages in freedom from idolatry, invites others to experience freedom from our false gods, and expresses a hopeful future in the reign of the True God. It is to that freedom and future that I write and pray, amen.
