We hope you enjoyed reading Tim Keller’s Counterfeit Gods with us.  By God’s grace may idols be cast down as we meditate on the breadth and the depth of the gospel and draw nearer to Jesus.

So, what are we reading next?  Stay tuned this week for the announcement.

by Ben Wright

First of all, my apologies for the delay in this week’s post. My computer has been down for about a week, and I decided not to try type this post on my phone’s mini-keyboard.

Second, this may be a bit of an unusual post. This chapter contributes relatively less new information than previous chapters, and lends more to reflection and introspection. With that in mind, I want to make a little list to introduce some questions, resources and brief observations:

1. Keller refers to a 17th century sermon preached by David Clarkson. I’ve heard occasional references to this sermon in the past, and Juan quoted extensively from it in a sermon a year or so ago. It’s remarkable that a sermon preached about 400 years ago speaks so naturally to our hearts today. I plan to read the whole thing myself. Here’s a link [PDF download] if you’re interested in spending a bit more time with it.

2. Keller is unusually gifted at analyzing the motivations (or idols) of characters in biblical narratives. Though we shouldn’t try to psychoanalyze people in the Bible, I believe Keller’s insights are rooted in clues we should all be able to find in the text of Scripture. I’m wondering what we can learn from Keller in identifying our own idols. Any thoughts? And though we need to take caution against paying more attention to other people’s sins than our own, can we learn anything that will help us encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ to turn from their idols to worship the one true God?

3. Commenting on Rachel’s theft of her father’s idol when she fled with Jacob, Keller wonders if Rachel thought of the idol as a sort of “spiritual insurance policy.” He writes:

The Lord cannot be added to a life as one more hedge against failure. He is not one more resource to use to help us achieve our agenda. He is the new agenda. (156)

I fear that Rachel’s impulse is common among contemporary American Christians. I know it’s a stumblingblock to me. We leverage God to get what we want. We tend to act as if (though of course we’d never say this) he’s a really good waiter. When he gets us what we want when we want it, we might leave him an extra nice tip. Or maybe we flip the sequence. We do all the religious stuff we know we’re supposed to do (daily devotions, church attendance, offerings, etc.) because we think it’ll earn his favor—as if we can put him in our debt. Or, sometimes we simply ignore him until we’re in over our heads, and then we make desperate vows (get me out of this mess and I promise I’ll ______________.) Either way, we’re using God for our ends. Our agenda. Question: When our agenda is at the center of our lives, who is our god?

4. Related to point #3, how should the gospel demolish this pattern of thinking? Hint: Keller digs into this a bit in his discussion of Jacob wrestling with God (160ff). What’s the difference for us between wrestling with God and clinging to him, and how does it relate to the gospel? How does clinging to him for blessing displace the other idols in our hearts?

“As with Jacob, we usually discover this only after a life of ‘looking for blessing in all the wrong places.’
It often takes an experience of crippling weakness for us to finally discover it.
That is why so many of the most God-blessed people limp as they dance for joy.”