Our reviewer says this short book is filled with powerful material.
It is easy to connect superficial celebrities, disgraced Wall Street brokers and Washington ideologues with paganism in our “evil” culture. However, the Bible and Christians throughout the church’s history remind us that idolatry is not a practice which exists just “out there” in a world known only to us though television and internet news feeds but resides deep within every person. John Calvin famously stated that “the human heart is a factory of idols.” New York City Pastor Tim Keller’s new book, Counterfeit Gods, briefly yet comprehensively expands Calvin’s statement.
Keller begins with the shocking statement that, “getting (your) hearts desire can be the worst possible thing that could happen to you.” He explains that the longings which drive us most will inevitably fail to live up to expectations, leave us in disillusionment, and prove to be destructive to our relationships. What’s wrong with our idols is not the objects themselves. Romantic relationships, money and political causes can all be good things. But Keller states that when these become more important than God they become idols and we become idolaters. Literally anything can become and object of worship. Counterfeit Gods shows how idolatry creeps into a person’s romantic, financial and political pursuits.
Keller shows how misplaced desire for romance sets us up for destructive and unfulfilling relationships with the opposite sex. By believing that romance is the “one thing” a person needs to make life meaningful sets up potential mates for unrealistic expectations which can have disastrous consequences. In possibly his most timely chapters, Keller describes how lures of wealth and success are contrary to the Gospel of Christ, who came in poverty and suffered. Greed is a pervasive idol that most people (especially in the west) are unaware of their own intemperance. People live in socioeconomic brackets which convince us that our income and spending is average. In reality, most of us have a standard of living like that of kings compared to the rest of the world.
Keller explains that our propensity to worship things other than God runs so deep that even “our highest ideals” become soul crushing idols. Unwarranted faith in both our religious and political ideologies (both on the right and the left) end up excluding, dominating and ultimately failing to reach expectations. All human cultures, traditional and cosmopolitan/liberal, have their idols. Western liberal society’s unchecked worship of individual freedom brings breeds materialism, sexual licentiousness and the breakdown of the family unit. While, a more traditional society makes the family and clan absolute to the point that, “honor killings, treating women as chattel and violence towards gay people” become acceptable.
Throughout the book Keller gives examples how idolatries plagues biblical figures in his retelling of their stories. He, in many ways helpfully, brings the ancient narratives to modern life. He connects Nebuchadnezzar’s power seeking and pride with the actions of Bernie Madoff, Zacchaeus the tax collector with the various “modern day robber barons” who cheat their own people for financial gain and Jonah’s ethnocentrism with the perils of modern nationalism. One could fault Keller’s interpretations, at times, for reading modern circumstances in the biblical text but any analogy between the ancient world and today will be imperfect. Overall, Keller’s imagination and pastoral sensitivity illuminates the Bible’s interpretation of current events and the human condition.
Counterfeit Gods is an insightful look at how the good things of this world become idolatrous. It deserves a reading because Keller hits an important topic, with lots of content, from many angles, in a (thankfully) quick read. It can be read in just a few sittings. Counterfeit Gods takes one both the personal and corporate nature of sin. Keller shows how deeply personal aspects of our lives such as; relational longing and professional aspirations relates to public character of idolatry, particularly as it relates to the economy and politics. As usual Keller is well read, and brings a diverse array of sources to his writing. Couterfeit Gods is peppered with insights from thinkers such as; Reinhold Niebuhr, Malcolm Gladwell, Robert Alter, Friedirch Nietzsche and Jonathan Edwards. Readers who want to go deeper in the subject matter are provided with a bibliography that features news articles, sociological studies, philosophy, theology, and Church history. This is a good thing because the book’s weakness (and in some ways its strength) is its brevity. The solution to our problem is stated plainly; everything thing we seek by toiling after our idols can only be granted through God’s free acceptance in Jesus Christ. The answer to idolatry is to replace our idol worship with worship of the one true God. Keller states this simply; it’s a simple truth to state but it is something we will all spend the rest of our lives attempting to practice.
