I've never really understood the term "idolatry" and so assumed it couldn't possibly apply to me. Come to find out, just because I don't understand something, does not mean it doesn't apply to me. Only took me 25 years to figure that out. The dictionary defines idolatry as "blind or excessive devotion to something."
We were created to worship. Not to just worship anything, but to worship our Creator specifically. But, guarantee, if we're not caught up in worship to Him, we're worshipping something or someone else. I'm not talking about the thirty minutes of singing on Sunday morning, but of the 10, 050 other minutes that make up our week.
We're going through 1 Corinthians at church and Pastor Mark's (I stole these ideas from him) teaching yesterday was from chapter 10, with an emphasis on verse 14 "Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry."
He gave us a little quiz to help us figure out what it is we worship (what is an idol in our life)...
1. What are you most afraid of? (poverty? rejection? aloneness?)
2. What would make you fall apart if you lost it?
3. What are you most passionate about?
4. What makes you come alive?
5. Where do you run for comfort? (alcohol? tv? food?)
6. When you have that empty/hungry feeling, what do you turn to?
7. What do you complain about the most?
8. When someone criticizes you, how do you react?
9. What makes you the happiest?
10. How do you explain yourself to others? How do you introduce who you are? (the neighborhood you live in? what you do for a living? your education? your income?)
11. What do you brag about? (your ministry? your car? your job? your skills?)
12. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? (what would you chase after only to get it and discover it didn't give you what you thought?)
13. Who's approval are you seeking? Who are you hoping will say "good job" to you?
"There is nothing greater in life than being who God created you to be, doing what He created you to do, worshipping Whom He created you to worship." ~ Pastor Mark Anderson
So, what is it that you worship?
