The Most Powerful Christian Song I Had Never Heard

Mark Corbett · Aug 16, 2017

“Tearing Down Your Idols” is the theme God put on my heart for this year’s revival services at the church I serve. I was looking for a song that captured the theme. Hope and I looked for over an hour before we ran across this song. Perhaps some of you have heard it. I never had. It’s powerful. Here it is:

Listen to it again. Let the words sink in. Make it a prayer.

The message of the song is one of the major themes woven throughout the Bible.

God created us to be HIS people. Our minds were made so we could know Him. Our ears are crafted to listen to His voice. Our hearts are intended to love Him above all others.

But we have gone astray. We have been seduced by false lovers. We have listened to the world’s lies. We crave other things more than we desire our Creator. We worship idols.

What are your idols?

Where do you run to find relief and shelter? To alcohol, nicotine, opioids, or other drugs? To TV? inappropriate content? Gossip? Shopping? Comfort food? If the answer isn’t God, you’ve got an idol.

What captures your imagination? What do you dream about getting? Money? Sex? Power? Revenge? If the answer isn’t God you’ve got an idol.

What is it that you can’t live without? Your family? Your safety? Your comfort? Your bank account? Your position? Your pride? If the answer isn’t God, you’ve got an idol.

What drives your priorities? What determines how you spend your minutes, days, and years? A comfortable retirement? More money? Seeking pleasure? If the answer isn’t God, you’ve got an idol.

What does the Bible tell us we should do with our idols? Coddle them? Perhaps try to wean ourselves gently off them? No! The great men of God tore down their idols (Judges 6:25); they burned them (2 Kings 23:4); they ground them to dust (2 Kings 23:6); they crushed and destroyed them (2 Kings 23:12).

Don’t expect getting rid of your idols to be quick or easy. Idols are popular. Idols are adored. Idols have been passed down for generations. The idols and the idol worshippers will fight to keep their illegitimate place in your heart.

So get down on your knees. Seek God’s grace and power and strength. Pull down the idols. Don’t give up. Expect a long war. When you’re knocked down, cry out to God and get back up. Get help from your brothers and sisters in Christ. Walk forward, seek Christian counsel, get prayed for, get radical, do whatever it takes, and keep at it. Gouge out your eye (Matthew 5:29). Cut off your hand (Matthew 5:30). Crucify your desires (Galatians 5:24). Put them to death (Colossians 3:5).

Will it be worth it? What will you get in place of all your powerless, deceiving, empty, life-draining idols?

Jesus.

I don’t mean you get saved by getting rid of your idols. We get saved by grace through faith in Christ. I mean that as we get rid of idols our hearts become free to focus more fully on Christ. Our walk with Him is closer. We are filled and empowered by His Holy Spirit. He gives us new ministries. He bears more fruit through us. We have more joy, faithfulness, goodness, peace, and self-control. His love shines through us more brightly. We are blessed and everyone around us is blessed. Getting rid of idols is hard, painful, and difficult work. Is it worth it? Oh, yeah.

We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
(1 John 5:20-21 NIV)

This was originally a post on my blog.

Halbhh · Aug 16, 2017

Right, the law helps to convict us, and idol worshipping is against the law, and that can help us if we've rationalized it, to get that message. And, that's exactly right that in America now, in our prosperity, we have so many idols.

Just like Israel did when they had prosperity.

You've listed examples of current idols, ones most of us have at times been pulled towards.

For myself, my experience is that as I read more of what Christ said to do (compared to the law which is usually about what not to do), and began to put into practice what He said to do, then temptations to old idols simply fell away (I had repented from them one at a time, but there could still be a temptation at times to overcome). For instance, the most crucial, central thing is what Christ said to you and me and everyone is the "greatest commandment" -- the one that comes first, as He stated it. When we do what He said comes first, primary, then the effect of that on us is profound and transformative. Keeping His commandments, we are changed, radically.

So, in addition to that don't-do, don't worship idols -- which understanding can help some at some points to repent, a crucial thing -- we also have the invaluable do-this command to put into practice, that we should first and foremost love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, and all of our minds, and all of our souls, and all of our strength. Doing this is more powerful that the don't-do, ultimately, because the don't-do is only that crucial first step to repentance, and then next for us all comes the do-this.

Mark Corbett · Aug 16, 2017

What idols has the Lord helped you to get free of? What idols do you still struggle with?

Earlier this year, the Lord convicted me that for me watching TV shows on my computer had become an idol. Something which is neutral or even usually good can become an idol if it interferes with us loving God. I wrote about watching TV in another post, here:

Should Christians Watch TV?

Halbhh · Aug 16, 2017

Mark Corbett said:
What idols has the Lord helped you to get free of? What idols do you still struggle with?

Earlier this year, the Lord convicted me that for me watching TV shows on my computer had become an idol. Something which is neutral or even usually good can become an idol if it interferes with us loving God. I wrote about watching TV in another post, here:

Should Christians Watch TV?

Yes, it's easy to end up binge watching some well done drama on Netflix or Amazon -- something that can be 12 or 20 or 30 or more hours -- and after a few hours, it can sometimes begin to displace what is good in my/our minds with just the worldly goals of the characters and their drama, and that's starting to become an idol at that point.

I've done this plenty of times before in life.

A good thing has happened in the last couple of years about this for me. In the last couple of years I've begun to pray the Lord's Prayer more often than just on Sundays -- and that's praying not to fall into temptation, but to be delivered from evil. Compared to in the past where I'd start worshiping the show, starting to get more and more dependent on the buzz or thrill from it, that now I start seeing the empty falsehoods in the show, in the values in the show, the wrong ideas about life and such. The flaws are getting exposed to me quickly, so that the allure of the show is canceled. I'm grateful for this. We can rely on His aid through prayer, to help us overcome.

Mark Corbett · Aug 16, 2017

Halbhh said:
In the last couple of years I've begun to pray the Lord's Prayer more often

I'm also praying the Lord's prayer more often. It's awesome! It's powerful! Thank you Lord, for teaching us this incredible prayer.

Mark Corbett · Aug 16, 2017

Some of you might like the "official lyrics video", which is more "creative" for the same song. The reason I didn't use this one in the OP is that it is easy to miss some of the words, and the words are so important. But I love this video as well:

Faith Alone 1 Cor 15:1-4 · Aug 16, 2017

Mark Corbett said:
“Tearing Down Your Idols” is the theme God put on my heart for this year’s revival services at the church I serve. I was looking for a song that captured the theme. Hope and I looked for over an hour before we ran across this song. Perhaps some of you have heard it. I never had. It’s powerful. Here it is:

Listen to it again. Let the words sink in. Make it a prayer.

The message of the song is one of the major themes woven throughout the Bible.

God created us to be HIS people. Our minds were made so we could know Him. Our ears are crafted to listen to His voice. Our hearts are intended to love Him above all others.

But we have gone astray. We have been seduced by false lovers. We have listened to the world’s lies. We crave other things more than we desire our Creator. We worship idols.

What are your idols?

Where do you run to find relief and shelter? To alcohol, nicotine, opioids, or other drugs? To TV? inappropriate content? Gossip? Shopping? Comfort food? If the answer isn’t God, you’ve got an idol.

What captures your imagination? What do you dream about getting? Money? Sex? Power? Revenge? If the answer isn’t God you’ve got an idol.

What is it that you can’t live without? Your family? Your safety? Your comfort? Your bank account? Your position? Your pride? If the answer isn’t God, you’ve got an idol.

What drives your priorities? What determines how you spend your minutes, days, and years? A comfortable retirement? More money? Seeking pleasure? If the answer isn’t God, you’ve got an idol.

What does the Bible tell us we should do with our idols? Coddle them? Perhaps try to wean ourselves gently off them? No! The great men of God tore down their idols (Judges 6:25); they burned them (2 Kings 23:4); they ground them to dust (2 Kings 23:6); they crushed and destroyed them (2 Kings 23:12).

Don’t expect getting rid of your idols to be quick or easy. Idols are popular. Idols are adored. Idols have been passed down for generations. The idols and the idol worshippers will fight to keep their illegitimate place in your heart.

So get down on your knees. Seek God’s grace and power and strength. Pull down the idols. Don’t give up. Expect a long war. When you’re knocked down, cry out to God and get back up. Get help from your brothers and sisters in Christ. Walk forward, seek Christian counsel, get prayed for, get radical, do whatever it takes, and keep at it. Gouge out your eye (Matthew 5:29). Cut off your hand (Matthew 5:30). Crucify your desires (Galatians 5:24). Put them to death (Colossians 3:5).

Will it be worth it? What will you get in place of all your powerless, deceiving, empty, life-draining idols?

Jesus.

I don’t mean you get saved by getting rid of your idols. We get saved by grace through faith in Christ. I mean that as we get rid of idols our hearts become free to focus more fully on Christ. Our walk with Him is closer. We are filled and empowered by His Holy Spirit. He gives us new ministries. He bears more fruit through us. We have more joy, faithfulness, goodness, peace, and self-control. His love shines through us more brightly. We are blessed and everyone around us is blessed. Getting rid of idols is hard, painful, and difficult work. Is it worth it? Oh, yeah.

We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
(1 John 5:20-21 NIV)

This was originally a post on my blog.

I need to break with my idols .I break up with money idol and gave away 20% of what i had , I don't watch tv for like 6 or so years , i watch two movies since that time but still struggling with inappropriate content and laziness and somehow it does not want to go .

Mark Corbett · Aug 16, 2017

Faith Alone 1 Cor 15:1-4 said:
I need to break with my idols .I break up with money idol and gave away 20% of what i had , I don't watch tv for like 6 or so years , i watch two movies since that time but still struggling with inappropriate content and laziness and somehow it does not want to go .

Faith Alone, I thank God for your victory over tv watching and over the idol of money. Those are evidences of God's grace and power in your life.

I pray that God will help you get free from inappropriate contentography. It can be a difficult trap to get free of. I started a thread on inappropriate contentography where I gave some advice for getting free. Here's some of that advice (slightly edited):

1. God often helps us through other Christians. Share your battle with mature Christians who are ready to help you.

2. Consider attending a group like Celebrate Recovery. If they don't have this type of group where you are at (Zimbabwe), look for another small group of Christian men who are honest about their struggles and help each other get free.

3. Get Christian counseling from a pastor.

4. Focus on God through Bible reading and meditation, prayer, and Christian fellowship. As our relationship with God grows stronger, it is far easier to get free from sin of all types.

5. Don’t give up! For some, it will be a long, hard battle to get free from inappropriate content. There may be setbacks along the way. Don’t give up. Keep fighting the good fight. It’s worth it!

6. You might try to male accountability portion of this forum.

7. Know that God loves you and you CAN get free from inappropriate content.

You can read the rest of my post about inappropriate content, which includes a link to a documentary about inappropriate content (the documentary contains no inappropriate content) here:

Cardboard Butterflies and inappropriate content Addiction

Mark Corbett · Aug 16, 2017

Sometimes idols are more clearly discerned from a distance. We were blessed with the opportunity to live in Indonesia for 14 years. That nation is very poor compared to the US. This helped me to see how big an idol materialism is in the US. It's huge, like the ninety foot high gold statue which Nebuchadnezzar made (Daniel 3:1).

Mark Corbett · Aug 16, 2017

Another idol I see in American culture is personal safety. Now, being safe is good. But if being safe prevents us from doing things God wants us to do and going places He wants us to go, than safety has become an idol.

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The Most Powerful Christian Song I Had Never Heard

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