How to Destroy an Idol: Measure

Last week, I posted a blog titled “How to Detect an Idol,” which was a meditation on Psalm 115. We closed that blog post by saying there is hope for removing idols, which is the aim of this post and others to follow.

What can we do about our idols? How can we destroy them? I want to give you 4 weapons for destroying idols, and my plan will be to give you 1 word for each weapon. And each word will have a verse in the N.T. to refer to.

Today’s word is “Measure” and for that weapon, I want to meditate on I Corinthians 8:4.

In I Corinthians 8, Paul addressed the issue regarding eating meat offered to idols. Greeks were poly-demonistic, which means they believed evil spirits could attach themselves to food before someone consumed them. And, in Corinth, meat was brought to the temples as an opportunity for blessing and consecration by the local priests. The meat could be sacrificed formally to false gods. If you were a member of the Corinthian church and you were invited to a friend’s house for dinner, you might ask, “Where did this meat come from? Should I eat the meat provided for me? Is it going to defile me in some way? If I choose to eat it, will it communicate some kind of allegiance to a false god?”  

But, instead of answering that question directly, Paul told them to love the one showing them hospitality (vs. 1-3). Love as a primary motivator is a Pauline theme in this book (I Cor 13:1-3). Paul said that to be insensitive to those who can’t or aren’t eating meat is a failure to apply the knowledge you have in love. Paul said, “Your motivation should always be love. When you are with a person whose conscience is not where your conscience is, love must reign over every decision. Your motivation must be love.”

Then, he writes this in vs. 4, “Don’t worry about meat offered to idols, because an idol isn’t real, when compared to God.” Paul says that before you answer the question about whether to eat food offered to idols, you must first determine what an idol is; and idol is not real. And if they are not real, why worry about meat consecrated to them? They have no power or influence over you. They aren’t going to possess the meat and then possess you, because there is nothing in them to do so.

In other words, MEASURE. Evaluate what an idol can and cannot do. Count the cost. That is our 1^st weapon for destroying idols. Know what they are and what they are capable of.   

Think about your idol(s). What kind of effect has it had on your marriage? Has it got in the way of your communication? Your intimacy? Are you less approachable? What about your kids? Do they seem like a distraction to you when you are spending time with your idol? What about ministry in the church? Are you more likely to give time to your idol when someone in the church could use a hand or a word of encouragement? MEASURE. Know what your idols want.

Much of the battle against our idols is knowing who or what they are and what they want from us. What does your idol want from you? And when you figure that out, take Paul’s counsel in Romans 13:14 – “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” MEASURE.