The Ten Commandments: Distinguishing LOVE from IDOLATRY

What is an idol, really? In this episode, Mark Vance and Emily Jensen continue the Ten Commandments series by looking at God’s command to have no other gods before him. Together, they unpack what idolatry means, why it’s more than statues or images, and how it shows up in the everyday loves and pursuits of our lives.

Drawing from Scripture and voices like Tim Keller, they discuss how easily good things become ultimate things, why our hearts are prone to wander, and how God calls us to a better love—a love rooted in Him alone.

Episode Highlights:

• 00:00 — Introducing the commandment against idolatry
• 04:30 — What an idol really is: taking the verbs of life away from God
• 11:10 — How good things become “god things”
• 17:45 — Insights from Tim Keller’s Counterfeit Gods on modern idolatry
• 24:20 — How God’s commands redirect our love back to Him
• 30:00 — Practical ways to identify and confront idols today

Resources:

• Cornerstone Church Sermons
• Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods
• Elyse Fitzpatrick, “Idols of the Heart”