day no. 15,223: four common idols: comfort, approval, control and power

I was reading, Gospel Eldership: Equipping a New Generation of Servant Leaders by Bob Thune and he used a chart in it that he pulled from Darrin Patrick's Church Planter.



The chart is meant to highlight four common sources of idolatry and how they manifest themselves. It highlights signs to look for or can be used to reverse engineer to find root issues.

For example, if you often feel cowardly and wish you had said something different than what you did or didn't say, it may stem from an idol of approval. If you find yourself often worried about the future perhaps it stems from an idolatry of control. If people often feel used by you, it may be because you worship, in some fashion, power. Or if you flee from anything that whiffs of stress, you may be bowing at the altar of comfort. 

I found this chart helpful in both directions. Both in beginning with the idolatry and watching how it bleeds into all areas of life and beginning with the data points and working backwards to see what might be driving them.