How Do We Change When We Have Idols?
How Zena Hitz gives us an incredible picture of real-life idolatry
He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you,
and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel.”
Joshua 24:23
A Picture Of Real Life
What does idolatry look like in real life? Zena Hitz in her book Lost In Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life gives us an incredible picture of what this was like for her in her world of academia.
From the casual conversation of my teachers and fellow students, I learned how to navigate the byzantine social hierarchy of the academic world. I learned whom to admire, and whom to disdain. To be told who was “out” made one feel included in the “in”—but, of course, the ruthlessness and ubiquity of the practice of judgment suggested how fragile my own limited success was. Through hearing scorn pronounced on academic failure and rejection, and through pronouncing it myself, I developed a terror of being judged wanting by my teachers and my peers. Like many graduate students, I learned to obsessively scan the behavior of others for signs of increased or lost favor. Like virtually all of them, I was convinced that I alone was in danger of failure, and everyone else was sailing through with perfect confidence.1
There are a couple of themes we see in this first part:
Her worldview (which is the lens through which she viewed the world) was very much influenced by others. We are always faced with a choice in life: Will we be most informed by God’s Word or others’ words?
The worldview she heard about was one of hierarchy. Idols always implement hierarchy among its worshippers. Hierarchy involves “levels” or “tiers”. In this system, we are constantly self-absorbed with where we are at. We also develop rivalry, jealousy, and self-righteousness when we look at others.
When this idolatry of hierarchy (which can be seen in idols of respect, comfort, approval, acceptance, etc.) is embraced, you will naturally “admire” some and “disdain” others. And don’t think you only disdain people in one direction. Based on where you think you are, you can disdain people who appear to be “higher” than you and those who appear to be “lower” than you.
See how this idolatry leads to cliques and exclusive groups. Some people are “in” while others are “out”. You treat those who are “in” with admiration and favor while you treat those who are “out” with disdain and contempt.
This worldview leads one to be obsessed with one’s performance. What will happen in response is either self-righteousness or despair. If you succeed then you will be self-righteous. If you fail, you will either fall into despair or you will blame-shift. To be sure, you can fall into seasons of burn-out and depression because of your idols. You can be successful and climb the ladder and yet fall into these seasons because you are consumed with making it to the top and sustaining being at the top.
This worldview and idolatry leads one to paranoia. You are constantly worried about your performance. Others’ success crushes you. When you see others fall you can become obsessed over that fear because you think that it might inevitably happen to you too. What if you fall into disfavor with your peers? What if you’re no longer respected? What if after all your years of hard work you are no longer listened to? So, what you’ll do in response is cut others down, become a workaholic, or develop a posture of defensiveness.
In this worldview, you become a judge. You condemn and justify others based on their works. This is the exact opposite from the gospel (Gal. 2:15-17). Ironically, when you become judgmental you live in fear that you won’t live up to your own standards or others’ standards.
Did you see her language about “obsessively scan the behavior of others”? Do you see how idolatry takes your eyes off Christ? Inevitably, this turns you into being obsessed with works rather than grace. You go on a sin-hunt with others and only focus on their sins, weaknesses, and failures. You don’t want others to see someone’s improvement. You want them to ignore your sins and only see your good works while you only want them to see others sins and never see their good works.
Inevitably, you begin to grow in increasing paranoia that you’re the only “sinner” around. Everyone else is doing just fine. This means you can never be vulnerable. You have a fear of going against the flow. And this will do one of two things: It will either cause you to look away from yourself & your idol and look to Christ or it will make you want to cling tighter to your idol or find another one that might work better.
What Idolatry Results In
Hitz goes on:
The fear of failure had a flip side, of course: an intense desire to succeed at the game of prestige, to prove myself as good as some and better than others…To say we sought status and approval sounds more bloodless than it was: we wanted it at the expense of others. We observed and cultivated, for instance, the thrill of the critical academic takedown, a ritual act of humiliation that usually took place in public. A cutting book review, a devastating objection from the back of the lecture hall: these were a currency of success, not despite but because of their cruelty. We viewed such events with awe, as if to tacitly recognize their inhuman character. Our embrace of public acts of competitive humiliation mixed in a sickly way with our perception of the real loftiness of learning. The victors in these gladiatorial contests thus took on a certain grandeur that inspired fascination and idolatry. And this idolatry, elsewhere recognized as celebrity, was what we wanted for ourselves. That was simply what mattered to us—or rather, to those of us, like myself, who lacked a sufficient inner core of humanity to defend against it.2
I so much appreciate her honesty in how this worldview and idolatry affected her. And, if we’re honest with ourselves, there are many parallels we have with her. Let’s point out a few:
The fear of failure grips us. And when this fear grips us, we will either fall into laziness or despair or create an “I don’t really care” type of persona. The other option is to become obsessed with success. You’ll do anything to succeed (even if you have to cut corners, throw others under the bus, or go against biblical ethics and convictions).
Notice that amidst this fear she knew she had to prove herself. This is justification language. She had to live in such a way where she would be justified by a certain “court”. And it would not be enough if she succeeded. She had to succeed and be better than others. It is not enough to preach a good sermon, write an accepted journal entry, develop a successful business, have sufficient grades, or be a respected athlete. You have to be the best.
We stop treating others as “image bearers” simply because they disagree with us.
She gives an incredible picture of what this looks like in real life. We do this “at the expense of others”. You can desire to be a popular preacher at the expense of being critical of other preachers. You can desire to be a successful doctor by developing a reputation that you’re the only one with the right insight. You can obsess over the idea of being that church so much that you treat other churches like they’re doing nothing right (all the while proclaiming y’all are doing everything perfect). You can desire to be a prominent politician by performing smear campaigns of others (And no, just because it might be the norm doesn’t mean it is right!).
I have known preachers and authors who are so obsessed with being known and respected that they’ll do anything to shock others. They will start out by giving shocking illustrations to help us wake up. But that is not enough. They must go further. They will start to get edgy. They will subtly abandon historic truths. They’ll find something other than the gospel to emphasize to gather followers. Then they’ll outrightly attack Christ’s church (as if they’re the only pure church/author/preacher/you-name-it.
In all honesty, this cuts to the core for me. I have been like the false shepherds in Ezekiel 34 who sought only to feed myself rather than the sheep. I have been like the false teachers in 2 Timothy 4 who only wanted to scratch “itchy ears”. I have been less like Micaiah and more like Zedekiah in 2 Chronicles 18 and sought to earn man’s approval rather than rest in God’s approval. Our idols sway us. When we don’t honor God as God then we inevitably will treat something or someone else as God.
We Are No Different
In our age of celebrity, we are seeing prominent men and women cave under social pressure. Whether it is in the realm of sexuality, social justice, ethics of marriage, sanctity of life, or even the sufficiency of God’s Word. Why is this happening? The biggest answer is that we are seeing our idolatry of being approved by others.
We are no different from King Asa in 2 Chronicles 16. In the face of threat (of any kind) we can go back on any of the godly reforms (2 Chronicles 15) that we have developed and flee into the arms of man. We might see the threats of:
Shrinking church attendance
Political pressure
Social pressure
Biblical illiteracy
Rise in secularism
Sexual promiscuity
Lack of unity
Lack of interest from young people
The latest psychological theories that supplant Scripture as sufficient
Those calling for the church to bring justice to social issues
An employer demanding that you neglect your biblical convictions for the sake of growing the business
The Way Forward
Whatever the threats might be, all of us are more weak than we think. The fool thinks he will stand up under any pressure. The wise know that they are weak are call out to the LORD.
We must admit our sinful propensity towards idolatry and an un-biblical worldview. In this knowledge we must seek to confess this to the LORD and ask for mercy (1 John 1:8-10). He will surely give it!
In response to His mercy, let us come back to Scripture. Let us repent of our idolatry and hold fast to Christ and His Word. Let us fear God more than we fear men. Let us see how the “appetizer” of the Lord’s Supper is showing us the full satisfaction of the Feast we will have in Heaven. Let us remember our baptism! We have been washed by the blood of Christ. We are dead to our idols. We are risen to new life in Christ.
Our idols will always cause more destruction that deliverance. Christ brings healing and hope. Like Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 18, let us not despair when we have been foolish. Let us not become hopeless even amidst our sin. Let us call out to God to deliver us! He is merciful.
Zena Hitz, Lost In Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life (Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ 2020), p. 8.
Ibid, p. 8-9.