It's interesting to know that people in the Bible who had fallen into idolatry were not in the worst conditions when it happened. Those who fell into idolatry and sin were those who were at their prime.
David often sinned against God when he was at the peak of his rule. The Israelites built their first idol only days after being completely liberated from Egypt. Various Kings of Judah and Israel gave in to paganism and idolatry when the kingdoms were at peace.
Idolatry can and will most often happen when we are in the best conditions and our hearts remain unguarded, and ministry is no exemption to this. When we are at the peak of our ministry, it can be easy to take God off the center stage and unknowingly replace Him with a subtle idol.
What are some idols that can arise in church, and how can we guard our hearts and our flocks from idolizing certain things?
Prosperity
It's true that God wants to bless His people and various scriptures will atest to that, but when it becomes too much about the blessing and about us and not about the faithful God who lovingly provides for and lavishes us with His grace, then we can easily lose sight and turn prosperity into an idol.
We can fight off the idolatry behind earthly prosperity by constantly reminding ourselves that God is the ultimate source and to value spiritual prosperity more than earthly wealth and success.
Grace
God's grace is unending and unlimited. All grace is "hyper grace" because God drowns us in love, but as believers, let us remember that grace is not just about being forgiven of our sins and being spared of the punishment.
When the grace of God is turned into a license to remain in sin, it becomes an idol. We must always view grace as a complete package, both pardoning us and setting us free from the bondage of committing the same sin over and over.
Position
Though this idol is not exclusive to churches, leaders in church can often get punch-drunk with position. As a result, leaders chase after titles and authority over servant leadership and humility.
Leaders can steer clear of the idol that is position by realizing that position comes as a privilege given to us by God. We don't deserve to be leaders and the likelihood of us messing things up is close to 100 percent, but by God's grace He still gives us the chance to lead.
Experience
This can be evident in people who chase after events, emotions and hype over more important things such as heart transformation and bringing honor to God. Worship experiences are good, but they can become a substitute to God's move sometimes.
In experiencing God's move, let us not look to the emotions and the hype but to giving honor to God in all that we do.
