Tearing Down Our Idols

I'll be the first to confess that I don't know a whole lot about pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. I've never met him, never listened to a full sermon of his, or even read one of his books. But this I do know: much like pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, he is becoming a major voice in the evangelical church of America. But the demographic he represents is not the same as Warren. Warren is a middle-aged man who largely attracts the boomer generation. Driscoll's biggest impact is on the younger generations like mine.

I just watched a Nightline report on the topic of idolatry and Driscoll was interviewed exclusively. We all have idols whether you believe in God or not, he said on the news report, because we all have an innate desire to worship something. And if not God, we will fill that desire with other things. Some idols our culture promotes are celebrities, sports and sex. Driscoll's right on.

This is the third Nightline report I've seen in recent years on something Driscoll and Mars Hill are doing to make an impact on American popular culture. He last tackled the issue of the sanctity of sex. Now he is urging that a new mindset is needed to survive as godly people in a culture that seeks to replace God with stuff.

Terry Moran, the ABC reporter behind the story, asked Driscoll about the impact of celebrity. Driscoll said that any idol we set up in place of God will always disappoint us and we will suffer as a result. He pointed to the death of Michael Jackson last June. Some people went into a deep depression after Jackson's death, others played his music for hours on end, and some wept over their memorabilia collections. Those who were affected the deepest by his death had set up Jackson as an idol in their hearts, Driscoll said. And any idol will disappoint.

The celebrities are destroyed by the attention, too, he said, because they can never live up to the hope, the hype, or the expectations. They are set up to fail.

I have been extremely impressed by Mars Hill Church and pastor Mark every time I see what they're doing. I don't know about their theology or what their worship is like, I just know that they are actively trying to be salt and light in this world and among my generation. And that impresses me. The fact that Nightline has come calling three times in the past few years says a lot, too. The media is paying attention. And the message is reaching a bigger audience, surprisingly without distortion.

I'll confess that I've had various idols in my life at various points of my life. And each time I set one up it failed to satisfy and I felt empty inside. For only God can satisfy the longings of our hearts. He will not fail. Only He is worthy of our worship.

If I find the ABC Nightline video from tonight, I'll be sure to post it. Here's a link to Mark Driscoll's thoughts on his interview: http://blog.marshillchurch.org/2009/10/05/pastor-mark-driscoll-on-abcs-nightline-tonight/.

Be God's!

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