Live Free with Josh Howerton - Are You Addicted to Approval? | Ep. 104 | Thursday June 29, 2023

Episode Date: June 29, 2023

As we continue to think about our identity in reference to what we do, we have to consider if we have a worship problem. We will worship one of two ways. We will either worship God or man-made images. In worshiping God, we see ourselves in light of who He is, rather than what we do. In worshipping man-made images, we endlessly strive to perform, keep up, or impress. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.com. dot church slash daily drive. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, welcome to the podcast. My name is Mike and so grateful for you

and honor that you would include this is something that is maybe helping you on your journey. As I've said it before, we're all a different mile markers on the path of walking with God. Some have been doing a long time. Others of us are just starting out. Some of us took a detour and now we're back. So wherever you find yourself, just know

that God is walking with you. and I'm super grateful that you're trying to walk with him. Hey, we've been talking about identity theft this summer, not the kind that hacks into bank accounts and social security numbers or social media profiles and such. The kind we're talking about is much more sinister than that. The kind we're talking about hacks into our soul. It does all kinds of damage.

And the method is lies. The kind of lies that try to get us to believe, I am what I feel, I am what people say about me, I am what I've done. And in recent days, we've been tackling this lie that says, life is all about performance. In fact, I am what I do, and how well I do it. And if you live that lie, it leads to unhealthy comparison and competition, it breeds envy and discontentment, it can turn you into a workaholic when at all cost type of person, it gets you chasing

things that don't really matter, it turns you into the kind of person that likes to see other people fail because it always makes you look better. I can remember sitting on the bench during basketball games. I spent a lot of time there. But I was hoping that the guy that went in from me would turn the ball over or make a mistake so that the coach would obviously put the better player in. It was just a sick, insecure kind of driven to success that found its roots and a lack of acceptance. You know, we live in a culture that puts up this image of success that many chase and embrace. In fact, we can all play the image management game, can't we? And I think that's maybe why guys start at the Ten Commandment list by saying this. Okay.

I want you to get first things first. Do not worship any other gods besides me. Do not make any idols, images of any kind, whether it's in the shape of birds or animals or fish, you must never worship or bow down to an image. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not share your affection with any other little G God. Now listen to me, God is not on the ego trip when he says that. He's just jealous for you. He's jealous for me.

He wants us to experience what Jesus. describes as life to the full, and he knows that if we don't look to him to complete us, if we don't look to him for purpose and worth and truth and unfailing love, it's going to get our priorities way out of whack and really going to screw up our life. Here's how I think it works. It's kind of a, I call it an identity theft cycle. I hope this makes sense to you. I wish I could draw it on a whiteboard for you to see, but just track with me in your mind.

When we buy the lie of I am what I do, we start this whole cycle by putting image at the top. of the circle. The world says, here's the picture. Here's the image of what a successful life looks like. So we buy in, right clothes, right car, right home, in the right neighborhood, get the right job, reach the right position, hang with the right group, that we can get you in the right places. So we spend our lives chasing this man-made image of success. And as we run after it, we find that it's consuming our life. And pretty soon, all of our energies, all of our time, our affections, our attention, our resources, our thoughts are set on that image. And what God may want for our life isn't given a second thought

because honestly, all of our worship and devotion and affection is spent bowing down to the image. Have you been there? Man, I have. And the Bible has a word for that. So I got an arrow on this circle pointing to the right side now. Scrolls down to the word idolatry. Idolatry. The idolatry is a worship of anything other than God.

Now, we wouldn't call it that, but that's what it is, bowing before another image other than God. And the really sad thing is, now moving counterclockwise up my circle that I've drawn in your mind, hopefully, it begins to mess with our identity. Now our identity is a worshipper of the image. And we're so wrapped up in what we have, what we wear, what we look like, who we're seen with,

and what they're saying about us on social media that can turn us into these envious, competitive, self-absorbed, stressed out, ungrateful, insecure approval addicts. And when it all comes crashing down this cycle, and it will, you have no idea who you really are. Because you never really got to know who God is. If anything, he's just been a guy you've been asking to help you achieve the image that you've been worshiping.

It is such a crazy and frustrating cycle. Does this make sense to you? And it's not in our next time together, we're going to meet a guy. who was caught up in that cycle of image, idolatry, and identity. You'll find this story in Luke chapter 18, if you want to read that ahead of time, so come on back. But today, let's just decide that we're not going to have any other gods today, that we're not going to bow down to any other image,

and we will rest in the truth that we have been made in his image. And we'll just let that be enough. Man, I hope you have a great day, and we'll catch you next time. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you,

would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out? For more information about all digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lake point. comte. Church slash daily drive.