Fleeing Idols, Following Christ - 1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1

Well, good morning, Northland. So glad to see each and every one of you here. You made it. You made it through all the snow and those who are tuning in online. Let's see, we just switched cameras. All right, over here, all y'all online. So glad that you're able to join us via live stream. The coffee's hot. The parking lot is clear. The sidewalks don't have any snow on them. And so if you're thinking about coming to the 1030 service. Go ahead, come on, and join us. There's a lot of people here already. And so we're just going to dive right into it into 1st Corinthians as we continue on in our series. So as you guys turn there, 1st Corinthians chapter 10, we'll be finishing out that chapter. Let me just say, about this time last year, if you were coming here, it was the 1st week of January, where that blizzard just rolled into Kansas City, we are on our way back from Colorado Springs, I was scheduled to preach January 5th, the 1st Sunday, and we canceled all of our services, if blizzard was coming in, it was crazy. Everything in town was canceled. So I don't know what it is about scheduling me to preach, but the storms, just the winter storms just roll in this time of year. So I'm grateful to be here, grateful to have you guys here, grateful to be able to preach God's word this morning. First Corinthians chapter 10, starting in verse 14. We'll go all the way to the 1st verse of chapter 11, which if you've ever read that before. It kind of seems like the 1st verse of chapter 11 should actually be at the end of chapter 10. And that's right. The chapter segment divisions and how verses are outlined, that came much later than all the manuscripts and God's word being put together. And so the numbers and the chapters aren't inspired. And so someone just kind of made a mistake along the way. And verse one of chapter 11 should actually be at the end of chapter 10. That's where it fits. So for those who haven't been with us in the previous weeks, let me just catch you up with where we're at because Paul is continuing in this argument that he established 1st at the beginning of chapter 8, okay? And so if you're not super familiar with it, or you've been kind of in and out and you haven't been tracking with it, let me just get you caught up to speed, Paul's been dealing with the problem of idolatry since chapter 8. So what's this problem? What's the idolatry problem? Well, there were Christians in Corinth, churchgoers that were visiting pagan temples, and they're eating meat sacrificed to idols? And they had considered this airtight theological argument or justification for what we're doing. It's okay, Paul. They said, it's no big deal. We know that the idol is nothing. We know that the food is nothing. There's no God in there, in that idol. It's just normal meat, normal food. And so what's the harm, Paul, right? There's no spiritual thing going on here. And Paul has spent 3 chapters now, eight, 9, and 10 just kind of systematically dismantling their argument. And he told them, hey, your knowledge has made you arrogant. Like, it's puffed you up. You're not thinking about your weaker brothers and sisters who might follow you back into idolatry. You're not thinking about even, not just other people, you're not thinking about your own soul. Because if you keep indulging in your appetites without restraint, you might prove yourself to be like those Israelites who didn't please God. That was last week. Remember that? And now in verse 14, Paul just becomes crystal clear. No more careful nuance, no more extended reasoning. He just says it in verse 14. Therefore, my beloved, preach into Christians, to believers. My beloved, flee from idolatry. Run! Like, don't just, like, walk or idol, like, sprint in the opposite direction. Flee. Get out of there. And now, I know that for some of us, we might be thinking over the last several weeks, uh, in 1st Corinthians, really, a lot of these uh, epistles in the New Testament, uh, This is all interesting history, but I don't have any idols. Like, I've never bowed down to like blocks of wood or stone statues. It's not a problem I struggle with, right? So what does this have to do with me? And I think that's an understandable question. But here's the thing. We've got to understand that idols back then were never just about pieces of wood or blocks of stone. Idols were the structures around which society is built. Think about our own society. What are the things that we gather politically, economically, financially, socially? There are structures around everything. And in Corinth alone, there are about 26 pagan temples. Just in this city, just in this region, in this town of Corinth, where the Christians are gathering, we know that there are at least about 26 pagan temples. And when you adjust for the size of Corinth, because it's much smaller, you'd see a pagan temple about as often as you see a quick trip in Kansas City. Okay? So Corinth is about a 10th the size of Kansas City, but about as often as you drive around and see a quick trip, you'd see a pagan temple in Corinth. So how did it work? You would go to a deity or an idol, you'd go to a temple, and you'd bring your offering because you wanted the idol to give you something. It's transactional. We actually have prayers that are recorded to various deities across the Roman Empire. I put some of them on screen for us. We'll go to those quotes. These are actual recorded prayers, so you would go to Artemis and pray, dispatch the sickness, for I'm offering you a mountain roaming boar, right? Because I need healing from this God. Or you'd go to Apollo, and you ask, Apollo, be gracious to me and give me sales, give my sales, favorable wins. Because I got a business deal. I got my career on the line, right? I got to get from one place to another. Or one of the more popular prayers to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, was simply, oh Lord, I have a simple request. A husband's loving heart is all that I ask. Right? Prayers that we probably often prayer throughout our life. Maybe not word for word, but similar. So it was never really about the statue itself. It wasn't like, well, this is just a beautiful statue. You are now my lord, you know, like that's not what it's about. It's about something deeper. Every statue is a manifestation of the desires of the people. That's what it's about. You want beauty, you go to Aphrodite's temple. You want to hang with her crowd, you reflect her values, you sacrifice to her, you play by her rules, so you can get that person that you have a crush on. You want victory, you don't go to Aphrodite, you go to Ari's. Make me strong, make me victorious. I'm going into battle. Help me lift these weights. You want wisdom? You go to Athena. You want money in your business, you go to Artemis. You want to be the life of the party, you go to Dionysus. which I can't explain to you what's going on at Dionysus' temple because we have a few kids here, right? And that would be highly inappropriate. But you'd go to all these different places. The point is that you would serve these gods. You would play by their rules, you would obey their priests, you would kneel at their altars, and then you would wait for them to deliver you. You'd wait upon them to deliver me from poverty, from social rejection, from lack of love, from whatever circumstances I find uncomfortable. And that's why Paul writes in Romans chapter one, many of us know it. He traces idolatry back to the very beginning of the human story. He says, although we knew God, although they knew God, they didn't honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking. And their foolish hearts were darkened, claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchange the glory of the immortal God for images, resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. So here's what Paul saying. He's saying, we were made by God. We're made to worship him. We're made to receive his love and to give it back to him. Grace received, becomes grace extended. We're made to glorify him, to express our gratitude and thanksgiving to him because from him all blessings flow, to be enraptured by his love, to see his beauty, and to bring that beauty into the world around us. He says, that's what we're made to do. But in the human story, we said, rather than do those things, rather than worship God, I just want to do whatever I want. Like, that sounds much better than all those things. I just want control. Like, isn't that so is that so bad, God? I just like want to do things my way. But here's the problem. As soon as you pull God out of the center of human history, you have to grab something else and put it in. Something has to take his place. We have to orbit around something. Something has to give our lives gravity and meaning. So if you remove God, you will start to worship something else. And if I don't orbit my life around God, I will orbit around my life, something to give my life meaning and significance, purpose, a sense of peace. And that's an idol. It's anything that occupies the place in your life that should be occupied by God alone. Anything that's just so central to your existence that you can't imagine a meaningful life without it. Anything that holds a controlling position over your desires, your emotions, your schedules, your identity. Anything you look at, you say, man, if I have that. I've got meaning. I've got purpose. And if I lose that, Well, I don't know if I want to keep going. So when you hear that, you should be thinking, Well, then anything can be an idol. And you're right. The prophet Ezekiel told Israel, you've built your idols in your hearts. It's not about the idols out there. It's about the idols in here. In your heart, you've decided something else is going to give you significance. Maybe it's a career. Maybe it's a significant other. Maybe it's your family. Maybe it's your reputation. Maybe, and this is this is a hidden one. Maybe it's our role in this place. Like maybe it's what we do as part of the church. Because whenever you turn a temporal thing into an ultimate thing, you turned a good gift into a bad God. Whenever you turn a temporal thing into an ultimate thing, you turn a good gift into a bad God. A famous theologian once said that the human heart is like an idol factory, it's always in production. It never stops producing. This is who we are. all do this. The trick is to just honestly, just to admit it. So when Paul says, hey, flee from idolatry, he's not talking about just talking about ancient temple practices, he's exposing something in the human heart. But notice he doesn't just command this and then leave it there, right? He's not like, hey, keep uh, stop following these idols. Flee. And that's all he has to say. He continues reasoning with them. I love this about Paul. Verse 15. He says, I speak as the sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I say. He's saying, hey, remember, we've already established this. Like, you've got knowledge, but that, all that knowledge has just puffed you up. And so now I'm going to challenge you to use that logic, that knowledge, to reason with me. And Paul kind of invites them into this. And here's his argument. He raises 2 examples to prove that the act of eating food that's offered to idols isn't neutral. And so here's his 1st example. Look with me at verse 16. His 1st example is actually the Lord's Supper. We all know about this. So he says in verse 16, the cup of blessing that we bless. Is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break? Is it not participation in the body of Christ? Because there's one bread. We who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. So Paul says, I want you to think about what's happening during this communion time, during Lord's supper. When we as Christians gather around the table and we remember the blood of Christ and the body of Christ broken for us, we're publicly identifying ourselves as followers of Jesus. So although, he says, the food is ordinary, the act is not. We are declaring something in the Lord's Supper. We're saying that we belong to Christ. We belong to him. We're his people. And so it's ordinary food. It's just bread and juice. But it's not an ordinary act. This is something that's deeply spiritual to us. So that's his 1st example. And then look at his 2nd example in verse 18. He's going to say, as my 2nd example, I'm going to reference the sacrificial system of Israel, something we don't often know as much about, he says in verse 18, consider the people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices, participants in the altar? So when an Israelite offered a sacrifice to God, and then ate a portion of that meat, They were identifying themselves with worshiping God. They're declaring, hey, I belong to the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. That's my God. And so I'm identifying with him. So now from these 2 examples, Paul draws his conclusion. In verse 19. He's building this argument. What do I imply then? He says, that food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice, they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. So Paul says, I'm not saying that the food is something, or that the idol is something. The food's just normal food. The idol is just an inanimate statue. But the act of eating that food in that context, Well, that is something. Did you catch that? The food is nothing. The idol is nothing. But behind all of that, is something. And that's something is sinister. Behind every idol, there are demons. Not pagan deities, but demons. So all those people in Corinth, all those who didn't know God, they were actually giving their offerings, their sacrifices, not to the true God, nor actually to pagan deities. They're being deceived by demons. And when you participate in idol worship, you're not just saying you're not just doing something neutral. Paul says, hey, you're aligning yourself with a demonic. And you don't even know it. Then in verse 21, Paul continues. He says, he comes back to the Lord's Supper. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? So now Paul is saying, hey, God is a jealous God. And it's not like petty jealousy like humans have that we often struggle with. God's jealousy is holy, it's separate, it's distinct. God wants to guard his glory. And so he's saying, I will not share my bride with demons. I do not want my church. to participate in the demonic realm. I'm protecting you, and I'm protecting my glory. I will not share my bride. So Paul asks them, hey, do you want to provoke the Lord? Like, do you want to test his patience with you? So now when you get to verse 23, like a good lawyer, Paul has made his case. Signed, sealed, delivered, but he's also a good pastor. So he wants to like tie up some of the practical issues that we often ask of various theological situations. And so I think Paul is likely answering 3 practical questions with the end of chapter 10 here. Uh, like one of the questions might be, what about eating idle food outside of the temple, Paul? Because in those days, much of the meat that's sold in the public market, it had actually been 1st offered in pagan temples. And so Christians are kind of worried. Like, okay, I'm not going to go to the idol temple, I'm not going to, uh, offer sacrifices, but what about that meat that was? And then it's gone to price chopper and high V. Can I buy it? Am I living in sin here? And so he's going to answer questions like that. So Paul lays down a principle in verse 23. And he says this, all things are lawful. But not all things are helpful. We've heard that one before. It's not the 1st time Paula said this in 1st Corinthians. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. So let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. So he says, yes, you're free in Christ. You're not under the condemnation of the law anymore, but Christian freedom isn't about just doing whatever you want whenever you want to do it. It's about considering what does what builds up other people, what builds up the church, what edifies, what encourages, what speaks life into people. And then here's the 1st question that Paul's going to answer. What about the meat market? Like, can Christians buy meat from the public market? We'll have that 1st question on the slide with Paul's answer? Verse 25. Hey, eat whatever is sold in the market without raising any questions on the ground of conscience, for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. He says, uh, you don't need to interrogate the butcher, right? Like, that's not what you need to do. You don't need to go from stall to stall. Hey, was this one offered to idols? Was this one used in sacrifice? What about this one? Was this from the pagan temple? You don't need to do that. He says the earth belongs to God. And the food is his gift. So be thankful. Eat the food with gratefulness. And the next question, what about dinner? At an unbeliever's house, Paul. How are we to handle this? Verse 27. If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner, and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you, without raising any question on the ground of conscience. Same idea. Paul's like, hey, don't make it weird. Like, don't turn dinner into an inquisition, right? If someone invites you to their house and they're an unbeliever and they're serving meat, sacrifice to idols, just eat the food at the neighbor's house. You'll be fine. But here's the kicker. Verse 28. But if someone says to you, this has been offered in sacrifice, then do not eat it. For the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience. So if you go to dinner, in the 1st century, and the host is an unbeliever, and the host tells you, as they're serving you or whatever, they you walk in the door, and they tell you that, hey, this food was offered to idols, well, now it's different. Now the host knows that you know. And they know that you're a believer. And that's the key thing. Because if you eat it anyway, what message does that send to the host? You're saying, hey, I'm a follower of Jesus, but idol worship. No big deal. Not a big deal that I'm concerned with. It communicates that you're comfortable with idols. Paul says, hey, no. You kindly refuse the meal. And not because the food's gonna hurt you, but because your witness to that person, matters more than your Christian freedom. It matters more than your appetite, that you actually care for the host, more than you care for the food, more than you care for your own freedom. And that brings us to the summit of Paul's argument, verse 31. Uh, a verse that we often put in our homes. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of your career. Oh, I'm sorry. I meant to do all to the glory of your reputation. Oh, I mean, sorry, what I meant to say is do it all for the glory of your comfort. Oh, actually, for the glory of your ambition, right? Do it all for your legacy. Whether you eat or drink, do it all for your legacy, who you'll be known for. No. It says, do all to the glory of God. Do you see how consistent Paul is? It's the same heart from chapter 8 all the way through? Love God. Love others. Don't let your freedom become an obstacles to someone else's salvation. And he says, this isn't legalism. This is discerning love. It's a love that seeks to honor God and to care for others, not to care for myself. And so here's the uncomfortable question. What idols do you have? And listen, we've all got them. Like myself included. So this Sunday is kind of like support group, right? Like, hey guys, my name is Tyler, and I am a redeemed idolater. That's what this time is on this Sunday. That's what Paul is getting at. He wants us to flee from these things, and here's the crazy thing. It's easy to see idols that other people have, right? Some of us, we look at someone just like obsessed with their social media account and think, look at how much they post. Look at how much they comment. Oh, they're just wasting their time. And then some of us may look at others and think, look at their obsession with their career. Ah, so much work, not enough rest. Look at them just grinding all day. the worst. They're obsessed. It's easy for us to look at people chasing fame or beauty and go ridiculous, fame gods, beauty gods. But it's so much harder to see the power of the gods in our own lives, the gods of power and influence in our own hearts. Because we twist it and we tell ourselves, man, I'm just being a good steward. Like, I'm just being responsible. I'm just managing my resources. Well, I'm just following someone's expert advice. Who cares about what God thinks? I'll go to that later. That's just how I've always kind of gotten things done. I'm just a go getter. I'm gonna, I'm gonna do all my research before I go to the Lord. Some of us never ask the question, what does God want for my life? Like, what does the Bible say about this thing? I've done it too, because we already know what the business experts say. We already know what the celebrity thinks about it. We already know what our parents would say or what our parents would want us to do. So I'll just do that. So we may not worship in the temple of Aphrodite. But how many times have we sought out advice, opinions, expertise from people before we ever went to the Lord? So we've all got them. How do we identify them? Well, let me give you guys a few diagnostic questions that have been really helpful in my own life. We'll have all of these up on the screen for us. So, The 1st one. We'll do one at a time. What do you think about most often? Like, what do you think, what do you find yourself daydreaming about? If I had that job, if I lived there, if I was in that city, if that person noticed me, if I could achieve that title, then I'd feel complete, whole, safe, secure. Second question. What do you get stressed or anxious about? What stresses you out? When it doesn't go the way that you want it to go? What do you find yourself constantly like trying to control? If I can just grab onto something and control this situation, some sort of variable in this? Man, I'll feel so much better. I just want to be in control. I want to know what's gonna happen before it happens. Third question. What or who? Would you manipulate to get it? What rules would you bend? I don't have to break the rules. I can just bend them. What relationships would you manipulate or cut off? What people are you just willing to sacrifice in your life to get what you need? Maybe not even what you need, but what you want. I remember when I was in grad school, I was studying visual effects, and I was kind of in a class at one point that was on the fast track to interview with all these power brokers in LA and San Francisco. And so I was in this class and we were getting ready to interview with companies like Disney and DreamWorks and Pixar, Industrial Light and Magic. And I remember we're all learning about this, and they brought in coaches to help us with interviewing skills and salary negotiation, and they told us, write out your name tag, real fancy, put it on your right hand side, so when you go to shake their hands, they see your name, you're like, yeah, my name's Tyler, right? And then you're like, you got power, you're ready to engage these people. And they would bring in etiquette coaches to teach us. And then we met with the power brokers of LA and San Francisco and New York City. And sometimes they bring in the owners or the directors of these movies, who are like multimillionaires, right? And I remember being in a room with some of them. And also some of the most just ambitious students at the university. Like, these are people that have wanted to do this their whole lives. And I'd watch how some of the other students were just in awe of these famous people as they walked into the room. And I remember thinking, man, if that world-famous person, if that multimillionaire, that director, if that influencer were to just like, take out a knife and throw it on the ground in the middle of the room and say, whoever picks up that knife and stab someone gets to be my intern. I thought, well, I'm getting stabbed today. Like, I'm dying today. I don't know about the rest of these people, but I'm not going for that knife. I'm gonna die here. Some of them would have done it without hesitation. Because money and power and fame just meant that much to them. Fourth question. What do you constantly compliment and what do you constantly criticize? What do you find yourself always saying, hey, that's right and that's wrong? This is good and that's bad? I really like that I don't like that. Some of us will rage against the failures of other people, but we won't call out hypocrisy with our own tribes, our own groups, our own communities, because if we do, we risk being cast out. So don't call them out. Don't call out the priests, the leaders, and it may not even be about the issue. It's about the people involved. I need to be in this group. Their acceptance is my idol. It's my security. So I will obey the rules. I will honor their priests because I need to belong to particular tribe. 5th question. What do you defend most aggressively? Like if I stood here and said, hey, Jesus wants to exercise authority over your money over your relationships, over your career, over your dating life, over your retirement accounts, over your relationship with your phone, what could be mentioned that you would just be so ready to defend? What makes you say, nope, not that. No, I get to control that in my life. Well, let me tell you, you just found your idol. It makes me think of this, uh, the great moment in Lord of the Rings, right? They just re-released the 25-year anniversary edition last weekend. I went with Dalton and Shannon Bradley to go see, what was it? Two towers. But they released all 3 of them. And so I was thinking about this moment in the fellowship of the ring, this great moment at the beginning of the film, where Gandalf, the Wizard, just notices that Bilbo Baggins, this hobbit, has this ring, this powerful ring. And they don't quite know that it's the one ring to rule them all. And it gets to this moment. And Gandalf is trying to convince Bilbo to give up the ring and Bilbo tells Gandalf, I can quit at any time. Uh, I'm actually going to give it to Frodo. And as soon as Gandalf kind of asks them, like, then why is it still in your pocket? He's like, oh, yeah, I haven't gotten rid of that thing yet. And as soon as Gandalf moves towards it, Bilbo gets all defensive, right? His demeanor changes. He accuses Gandalf of trying to steal it for himself. And then Gandalf kind of has to flex his power, like the room gets dark. He gets really big. He's like flexing his authority. And what does he say? I'm not trying to rob you. trying to help you. And it causes Bilbo to run into his arms. It's not a fear that chases him away. It's a fear that brings him closer to Gandalf. And that's what the Lord does with us. That's exactly what happens when God reaches for the our idols and our hearts. We accuse him of being unfair. Or taking away our joy of not understanding what I need. But he's not trying to rob us. He's trying to free us. Because good gifts make bad gods. The incomplete joys of this world will never satisfy the human heart. They were never made to. Our loving Father knows that the thing that we're clinging to will destroy us if we don't just let it go. See, the problem with idols is they're not living and they're not true. They're not neutral. And they can't deliver us. Last question, the 6th one. What would devastate you if you lost it? What do you fear losing? What terrifies you? What's the thing that if it were gone, you wouldn't want to go on living? For some of us, the grace of God will be that we will chase what we think will complete us, and he just won't let us have it. Because what would do it, what will do with that thing will just crush us. For others of us, the grace of God will be, we'll chase something and he'll let you have it. Everything that you thought that would make you complete and full is gonna leave you feeling empty, and it will terrify you the day that you figure that out, and you'll feel like life isn't worth continuing anymore, because that thing you've been chasing your whole life, you finally caught it, and it was empty. And it'll terrify us. I remember in 2008, when the financial markets just crashed, and all the people that had their careers wrapped up in the markets, it seemed like they're just entire careers just evaporated, disappeared, seemingly overnight. And some of their people, if you know about that time, they were taking their own lives. I remember reading about people jumping out of skyscrapers in New York City. Because they didn't find it worth living anymore. I remember hearing from a family friend who lost 10000s as a financial advisor. His clients devastated. And I remember asking him, hey, how are you? And he gave this beautiful image. He said, the boat's beat up, but the mast is strong. Money was his career, but it wasn't his king. God had given him a good gift, managing finances, and he was great at it. It's a good gift, but it wasn't his God. And so when he lost the money, he didn't lose himself. Okay, so how do we get free of this? How do we flee from idolatry, as Paul says. Well, Paul doesn't say, hey, stop worshiping idols, knock it off, quit it. Because that doesn't work. You can't just stop worshiping like you're made to worship. We're designed to worship. God designed you to do that. It's a good thing. It's funny, when I put my kids in the bed and sometimes they're scared. I got a seven-year-old, five-year-old, two-year-old. Sometimes they're scared. I'm like, hey, buddy, what's going on? Uh, I'm scared of wolves, dad. I don't, I don't, just go, well, stop thinking about wolves, right? Like, that's not gonna work. I don't focus on the fear itself. I tell them to think about something better. something more beautiful. Something more grand. I tell him, hey, remember that adventure where Asland is on the move? And he's bringing about a new kingdom, and he's going to establish his castle and care Paravel, where the kings and the queens will rule. And all things will be made new and right. Think about that, buddy. He's out, right? You replace it. With something more beautiful. And the same is true with idols. You can't dislodge something that the heart believes is so precious. and is necessary for your life to go on. You don't just, the only way to dislodge it is to replace it with a more beautiful thing. And look at what Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica. who have a similar issue with idols. I'll read it for us. You turned 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. They didn't just lead the temples. They found something better. A god who's living. Not inanimate stone, but a God who's true, not deceptive. A God who doesn't just demand transactions, but gives of himself freely. A God who didn't take from them, but sacrificed for them, a God who loves, a God who promises a future beyond the grave, because when the grave comes, it will take everything from us. Our money will leave. Beauty will fade. Power will pass to someone else. Health will diminish. Romance will disappoint. All of it will fade. The grave takes everything. But there's one who conquered. the grave. That's what Paul says in chapter 11, verse one. He says, be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Paul can say that because he lived this. He gave up his rights. He made himself a servant. He lived for the glory of God and the good of others. He came not to be served, but to serve. Just like Christ. Christ gave his life as a ransom for many. So church, we are, we're all recovering idolaters. But the gospel offers us someone, not just something. It offers us a new love, a greater beauty, a truer God. It offers us a new love. So flee from idolatry, not just running away from something, but to someone. Someone who gives more than our idol saturated culture ever can offer. And just like them, just like the Thessalonians, we can say, I'm going after him. I'm chasing his kingdom. I'm reading his word. I'm surrounding myself by his people. Not because I'm stronger or smarter, but because I've been captivated by a greater king. Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you that it offers us life and life abundantly, that it convicts us down to our bones. It's not just an old book. It's not an ancient book, it's an eternal book that speaks to our very hearts and souls, our struggles, our lows and our highs, our strengths and our weaknesses. It calls us out. And it comforts us. And so, Lord, I pray that you would rescue us in this moment. that you'd encourage us and challenge us, that you'd rescue us from our own idols, that we've built in our own hearts, help us to see them. Help us to hate them. Help us to flee from them. Help us not to be a people that point to all the idols around us, but to be broken by the idols within us. that we would turn to you, a God who's beautiful, a God who's loving, a God who's sacrificed himself for us, so that we might live not on our own merit, not by our own strength, but that we would live through you. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.