Tim Clark’s Blog

You are about to cross over and take possession of that good land. Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol… (Deuteronomy 4:22-23)

In much of Deuteronomy, Moses is telling the Israelites about their impending journey into the Promised Land. He’s reminding them of their deliverance from bondage, of God’s Covenant with them, and of the civil laws they must agree to live by. He won’t go with them, but he wants to set them up for success.

And in the middle of it all, Moses warns them about idols. These people who have seen the undeniable supernatural hand of God would be tempted to make and worship idols. This seems strange to us, but we quickly rationalize that it was a different culture, a long time ago, in a land far, far away.

But let’s not be quick to limit idolatry to little faux-avatars made of gold, wood or clay. We have idols, too; and not just cover girls, leading men, and fast cars. In ministry, our idols are much more subtle than those easily recognizable things.

I think we idolize methods of church growth. I’ve seen other churches and pastors made into idols. We idolize buildings, books, and broadcasts. Programs become idols, too.

It generally isn’t the fault of these things that they get made into idols. A few verses earlier, Moses was warning Israel not to make bird idols, sun and moon idols, men and women idols, even fish idols! Verse 19 says the Lord provided these things.

Big churches and impacting programs aren’t inherently bad, but when I secretly worship them I’ve allowed something else to take God’s place, and that isn’t good.

How do we worship those things? We put our hope of future effective ministry in them. We also give those tools the credit when ministry growth or fruit happens.

When God brings me into a place of promise and fruit, I am to give nobody else the credit. When you read Genesis through Joshua that is one of the great subtexts: These Hebrew people had nothing to do with God choosing them or God delivering them or God giving them the Promised Land. Every time they tried to take things into their own hands, they failed miserably. Their success wasn’t because they were good warriors or because they had the right strategy or because the Sun was on their side. They were wholly dependant on Yahweh for any success, and their part was always and only total obedience.

That’s our part, too. God speaks; we respond. Period. In ministry and in life there are many methods, tools, and strategies that can be good and God-given. I think we’re free to appreciate and use these gifts. But the minute we start giving them credit for what God is doing, we have crossed into idolatry—and God won’t share His glory with anyone, or anything, else!