In our circles, Pastor John, we hear a lot about idols. So what is an idol? What is idolatry? Why is idolatry dangerous? And what does an idol look like in today's world? Maybe the best way to get at this, instead of trying to reach out to the whole Bible and pull all the pieces together, which is not a bad thing to do, here, let's just go to one verse, one passage of Scripture, because I think in this verse, namely Colossians 3, 5, and 6, the answer to all three questions are there.

What's an idol? Why is it dangerous? What do they look like today? So here's the verse, Colossians 3, "Put to death what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming." So, answer to the question, "Why are idols dangerous?" is because the wrath of God is coming upon idolatry.

Nothing is more dangerous than the wrath of an omnipotent, all-righteous God. And Paul says, "The wrath of God is coming on idolatry." Now, why would that be? Exodus 20, listen to this, "You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness or anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is under the earth.

You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God." The wrath of God comes on the idolater because God is jealous. There is a righteous and holy jealousy and an unrighteous and weak and insecure jealousy. And God's jealousy is not only righteous, that is, he deserves our deepest and strongest affections and admiration, but he's loving.

It's a loving jealousy because we were made to find our greatest joy when he is our greatest treasure. He's jealous that he be honored by being treasured, and he's jealous that we be satisfied by treasuring him. So, he is jealous in a loving way, and he's jealous in a righteous way.

And if we find God to be so boring or so negligible that we must put other things in his place that really satisfy us more than he does, then we not only offend him, but we also destroy ourselves. And those two things make God angry. He doesn't want to be offended, and he doesn't want us to destroy ourselves.

And idolatry contradicts both of those things, and so his wrath comes upon the idolater. So, that's the answer to the first question, why it is so dangerous. And the other two questions can be taken together, I think, something like this, "What is an idol, and what does it look like today?" Paul says, "Covetousness, which is idolatry." So, what idolatry looks like today is the activity of the human heart.

This is not a deed of the body that follows like fruit on a branch. It starts in the heart, craving, wanting, enjoying, being satisfied by anything that you treasure more than God. That's an idol. Paul calls this covetousness, a disordered love or desire, loving more than God what ought to be loved less than God, and only for the sake of God.

But covetousness is the condition that this disordered heart is into, an act of loving too much what ought to be loved less, and that's why the wrath of God is coming. That's what idolatry looks like today, and it's everywhere in our culture. So, finally, what is an idol? Well, it's the thing.

It's the thing loved, or the person loved more than God, wanted more than God, desired more than God, treasured more than God, enjoyed more than God. Could be your girlfriend, could be good grades, could be the approval of other people, it could be success in business, could be sexual stimulation, could be a hobby or a musical group that you're following, or a sport, or your immaculate yard.

I was looking for some yard stuff the other day, and I clicked on a video ad for a yard service, and three people came on, and all of them made the point that this yard service enabled them to brag that they had the best yard in the neighborhood. What a motivation!

I want to be number one in green grass. So that could be an idol, or your own looks could be an idol, could be anything. So Paul puts it like this in Romans 125, "They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature." Anything that's created, rather than the Creator.

But there's no wrath for the children of God. And why is that? Because Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 1, "You turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come." So when we turn to Christ from idols, we escape the wrath of God, because he's for us, God is for us in Christ on the cross.

Yes, amen. Thank you, Pastor John. So does Christian hedonism, this thing we're all about, a desiring God, this idea that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him, does this lead us to make an idol out of joy? It was the question raised and answered by Pastor John in episode number 120, be sure to check that out in the podcast archive.

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Thank you for your partnership, we appreciate it. Well, we want to obey God's will, but that can be really hard on a daily basis. How do I know who God wants me to marry, or what car to buy, or what career path to choose? Tomorrow, Pastor John will explain the single most important key to knowing God's will.

I'm your host Tony Rehnke, we'll see you tomorrow on the Ask Pastor John podcast.