Yesterday we finished our series "Being a Wise Church: 7 Principles to Consider". 

But there is one lingering question that was not addressed clearly: 

How do I know when something that I enjoy and was once thankful to God for becomes an idol? How do I know when something that can be done out of worship TO God now becomes the object of my worship INSTEAD of God? 

For example, we should enjoy our food so much that it leads to thankfulness to God: “Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful omelette! Thank you for providing it for me this morning!”  But too many of us are guilty of gluttony (the idolatry of food).

How do we know when we have crossed the line? (And again, we're talking about things that are not explicitly black and white in the bible; stealing, for example, can never be done to the glory of God). Below are three “symptoms” that I think give clues as to whether something is in its proper place or has captured our hearts in an unhealthy way:  

Symptoms that Something Good May Have Become an Idol: 

1. Your peace is dependent on having it. 

There is a difference between disappointment and despair; the former is something we can manage while the latter is something that manages us. 

There is a difference between feeling stressed about something not going the way we hope, and living in a perpetually anxious state over the possible loss of control; the former is a feeling we can manage, while the latter feels like a prison. 

When my daughter's soccer team - which I coached this past Fall -  lost their last game this past Saturday, I was disappointed. I was bummed. But my peace was not stolen. It did not say anything about my worth. I was okay. 

But when my kids spilled their paint on the deck that I had just painted (3 coats’ worth), my peace was definitely stolen. How dare they not value my beautiful artistic work as much as I do? And I did not have peace until I could get my wife to agree to not let the kids set foot on the deck until they became adults. 

Half kidding. 

That was momentary idolatry. 

When my phone broke back in September, I was bummed about having to pay for replacement. But I welcomed the freedom from it for a couple days. Others, however, may have felt like the world was out of control if they did not have their phone on them. 

If you wake up in the morning to find out that you are out of coffee, it's okay to be bummed. But if you were gripped with anxiety because you won't have time to stop for coffee until your lunch break - you may have a problem. 

If you enjoy a beer with dinner at the end of the day, and are disappointed when you learn there are no more in the fridge - okay. But if you are in a bad mood for the rest of the night as a result - you may have a problem.

Making sense? '

2. Sinning against others in order to protect or attain it.

Stealing your friend's prescription medication is a pretty clear sign that there is an addiction going on (i.e. an idol has you in its grip).  

But there are other more subtle ways we sin to protect our idols. 

We may lie to our spouse to cover over our gambling. 

We may lose our temper because our 4-year old spilled juice on our precious new couch.

We may slander our co-worker because they got the promotion instead of us. 

Whether it’s stealing or lying or gossipping or grumbling -- where there is sinful behavior, there is often - if not always - an idol at the root.

3. The fear of not having it often outweighs the enjoyment of having it. 

We may not really enjoy playing high school football as much as we fear what others would think if we didn't make the team. 

We may not actually enjoy our group of friends as much as we fear losing their approval and no longer being on the "in" crowd. 

We may not actually enjoy having family over for Thanksgiving as much as we fear what they would think if we didn't host and keep the tradition going. 

We may not actually enjoy our boat as much as we fear losing the status it symbolizes to our neighbors. 

Get it? 

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This list is not exhaustive, of course, but hopefully you find it helpful. 

God is after our freedom. 

Jesus came to free our hearts to worship the only thing that can truly sustain our worship in the long run: Himself.