Anything can be an idol. In Psalm 95, the psalmist tells us that The Lord is a "great God, and a great King above all gods." What he's trying to say is there are other gods that we often treat as kings - as one who has authority over our lives. Dr. Tim Keller has done a remarkable job of explaining what an idol is in today's postmodern culture. He writes:
Sin isn’t only doing bad things, it is more fundamentally making good things into ultimate things. Sin is building your life and meaning on anything, even a very good thing, more than on God. Whatever we build our life on will drive us and enslave us. Sin is primarily idolatry.
Richard Gaffin, in The Pattern of Sound Doctrine, put it this way:
Because we are, each of us, the image of God, we will worship, in fact we must worship, someone or something, either our original, as we should, or, with the illusion that we are the original or our own ultimate point of reference, ourselves. If the latter, we will give ourselves over, with the full, still efficient resources of our imaging capacities, to some figment, some distorted image, focused on ourselves or on some aspect of the world, ultimately seen as an extension of ourselves. What [John] Calvin observed long ago is no less true today: the human heart, our image-bearing and image-fashioning nature, is an idol factory.
Your idol could be your relationships; family; sex; food; a sports team; an experience; career; status; money; possessions, etc.. It's really anything you treasure above God. Even religion can be an idol. If you attend church that doesn't mean you're immune to falling into the trap of idolatry. Keller writes elsewhere:
Truth can be made an idol. Are you resting in the rightness of your doctrine rather than the work of Jesus? If so, the Bible calls you a fool. In Proverbs, "the scoffer" is a person like this. The scoffer is always sure he is right, and always disrespectful, disdainful, and mocking toward his opponents. The internet breeds scoffers, because if you're a scoffer you get more traffic to your blog.
Gifts can be an idol. You can mistake spiritual gifts for spiritual fruit. Especially if you are successful in ministry, you can begin believing in justification by ministry: "I know I'm in God's will because my ministry is going well." Many of us in the Reformed world make an idol out of being a great preacher: "If I could just be a great preacher, then my life would have significance."
Morality can be a religious idol. Holiness is good, but Christians can feel like God loves them and will bless them because of their moral record.
Idolatry is essentially distorted worship (Romans 1:25) - Taking things that are good (friends, food, sex, etc. ) and making them ultimate things. It's saying, "I cannot live without _______." And the result is: We live for them, not for God. Idolatry is really about your identity - what you rest your hope upon. Listen to what Pastor Mark Driscoll says (he sums it up very well, including what happens when you fall into idolatry):
Let me give you a few resources that will help you. I think you've hit on something most people don't think enough about. BUT they need to. Why? Because it ultimately affects your entire life's trajectory. So thanks for your question.
1. Read Tim Keller's Counterfeit Gods. Be sure to watch his introduction video on the website first!
2. Get a copy of Greg Beale's We Become What We Worship. This is a lengthy read, but it will really help you.
3. Watch this video by Pastor Mark about "American Idolatry."
4. Pray against idolatry. Pray hard. This is something that will destroy your life if you don't put it to death. Rest your hope, joy and satisfaction on Jesus.
[Answered by Pastor HM]
