Debt is a common problem in western countries. But why? What compels us to make our futures more difficult for just a tiny bit of pleasure right now?
One of the commandments in the list of ten given to the Israelites at Mount Sinai is one that many people believe they’ve done a great job at not breaking:
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Exodus 20:3-6
Some people interpret this as 2 separate commandments, but either way, you may believe that you’ve done a good job of not worshiping an idol, right? Seriously, when was the last time we made a little statue and started bowing down before it and praying to it and all that nonsense? Never, right?
Well, have you broken any of the other commandments? Kyle Idleman writes in his book, Gods at War: Defeating the Idols that Battle for Your Heart,
Idolatry isn’t just one of many sins; rather it’s the one great sin that all others come from. So if you start scratching at whatever struggle you’re dealing with, eventually you’ll find that underneath it is a false god. Until that god is dethroned, and the Lord God take his rightful place, you will not have victory.
Idolatry isn’t an issue; it is the issue.
Idolatry is the “why” behind every sin you commit. Why did you steal? Because you cared more about that thing, or about your pleasure, etc. than you did about God. Why did you disobey your parents or commit adultery or covet or murder? You set something or someone else as a priority above God and his will. By placing something ahead of God, you have declared it your god, even if just for an instant, and therefore have broken this commandment. It doesn’t require you to bow down before it, pray to it, sing praises, or any other sort of overt worship like that. You just have to make it more important than God.
What Does This Have to do With Debt?
Everything. You are in debt because you cared more about having a thing than you did about obeying God, than you did about others around you that God has commanded you to love, because now you’ve given up money that can no longer be used generously as God asks. Every swipe of the credit card is done to satisfy your own desires, in worship of the idol of “me”.
As always, my words sound harsh, but it’s not out of judgmentalism or anger. It is because I struggle with the same things and I’m trying to drill it into my own head. I do not write these words from a pedestal, but from the ground pleading for you and me and others to hear the words and take them to heart.
Last week I showed you how to pay off your debt, but if we don’t recognize and deal with the root of the problem of debt, you’re just going to create more. No amount of math, worksheets, and planning can help you if you don’t stop idolizing the things that cause you to spend money you don’t have. We need to stop sacrificing our future to the idol of instant gratification and put God back in his place. He is our one and only priority and all other priorities flow from his will.
Confess with me your sins of idolatry, repent of them, and turn back to God.
Lord, we confess that you are not always the ruler of our lives. Rather we worship deceptive idols all around us, disguising themselves as good things but calling us to fix our hearts and minds on them rather on the one who created the entire universe, without whom these idols would not even exist, and nor would we. Forgive us and work in our hearts. Help us fix our eyes on you. Amen.
