10 Commandments #2: Accept No Substitutes Series

ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES-DON’T IDOLIZE ANYTHING

Ten Commandments That Build Strong Families - Part 2

Exodus 20:4-5

Last week we started a new series called the Ten Commandments for Building Strong Families.

Today we're going to look at the 2nd commandment and how it will build our families and make

them stronger.

Exodus 20:4-5 "You shall not make any idols, you must never bow to an image or worship it in

any way."

Jews, Moslems and Christians all agree the Ten Commandments are the values God wants us to

live by. The second commandment says two things: don't idolize anything and worship God

only.

I. DON'T IDOLIZE ANYTHING

What is an idol? An idol is anything that takes the focus off God and puts it on something else.

Even a good thing can become an idol. What does it mean to idolize? In this sense it means to

value something more than God.

Archaeologists tell us in every culture there have been idols. Statues, little gods, goddesses.

There is the desire of man to turn objects or people or things into objects of worship. God says

don't do that.

In Bible times there were three primary idols. There was Baal who was the god of sex. There

was Mammon who was the god of money. And there was Molech who was the god of violence.

We don't have those idols today, we just pay billions of dollars to go to the movies to watch sex,

violence and money. In the old days, idols were made of stone, rock, clay, wood or metal.

Today, the altar we worship is the TV. Every night when we turn it on we see our idols on TV.

We don't worship objects as much as we worship images, images of success, images of wealth,

images of status, images of sex.

It's very difficult to raise your kids in an environment where the society is saying, these are the

most important things in life and you're trying to say, no there are other values that are more

important. So you have to teach your kids the disadvantages of idols.

In Deut. 4 "For your own good don't sin by making an idol in any form at all." God says for your

own good don't idolize anything or anyone. Why?

1. Idols will disappoint me.

They always promise more than they can deliver. Jeremiah 10:14 "Those who make idols are

disillusioned because the gods they made are false and lifeless." On TV it says Wear our label

and you'll be popular, buy our product and you'll be successful, drink our beer and it doesn't get

any better than this, buy our toothpaste and you'll have sex appeal. They always promise more

than they can deliver.

Have you ever ordered something through a mail order catalog and when you got it you were

disappointed with what you got? Anytime you put any person, any thing, any product in the

place of God, anytime you expect any one to solve all your problems or guarantee all your

happiness you're going to be disappointed. Idols will always disappoint you.

2. Idols will dominate you.

If you don't watch out they end up controlling your life. "Before you knew Christ you were

controlled by dead idols, who always led you astray." It says there are two inevitable effects

when you love something more than God:

1) The thing you love more than God will begin to control you. The word we use today for

idols is the word "addiction". You can be addicted to your work, to sex, to sports, to

numerous things besides alcohol or drugs. But eventually it runs your life when you love

something more than you love God. People say "I can give it up at any time." But they

struggle to do so. Why are habits so hard to give up? Because we have allowed them to

dominate our life and distract us.

2) You will be led astray, you lose your perspective when something takes place in your life

that ought to be where God is. How many people sacrifice time with family to get a

promotion? Or for the profit motive they threw their convictions out the door. God says if

you don't watch out, an idol, anything that you love more than God will distract you and you

will lose your values. It will dominate your life. If you allow a person in your life to control

your life by their approval or disapproval, that's not just co-dependency, that's idolatry. It's

making that person god. The number one way to break co-dependency on someone is 1) put

God first in your life and 2) give your ultimate devotion to Him and not to anybody else.

3. Idols will deform you.

They will change you. They'll warp you, you will lose your uniqueness that God gave you