Years ago, I had a roommate who loved Hallmark movies. I never watch TV; I don’t even own one. I’d never heard of the Hallmark channel before, so I was intrigued. Were these merely televised versions of Harlequin romances? Were they as sappy as they sounded? I sat down to watch a few of them with her and quickly lost interest with most of them. Yep, they were sappy.
I wasn’t jealous or angry or bitter—they just didn’t portray much reality. They always portray young, good-looking men and women who get themselves into all sorts of predicaments and eventually fall in love with each other. I’m not criticizing Hallmark movies; they’re simply not realistic.
If you have time to waste, I suppose, they’re fun to watch, even though the story lines are pretty predictable. The idiot box—and now the Internet—are still good for numbing the brain for hours at a time. For some, though, Hallmark & Harlequin pour a diluted salve into a bottomless hole that can only be filled with God.
Many women live vicariously through such movies.
No romance in my life? I’ll get all the feels by watching this movie.
No boyfriend? I can fantasize that the leading man in this movie is who I’m going to kiss tonight.
Did I break up with some guy earlier this year? I will be able to forget about my stinging heart for a few hours watching this stuff. I sure wish life and love were like these movies.
For the guys, it’s not the Hallmark Channel, it’s pornography.
No love life? I can watch porn and still relieve my body’s physical needs.
No girlfriend? I can fantasize about that porn queen and obsess on how sex with her would be like.
Did I break up with some girl earlier this year? Forget about her. Replace her as soon as I can, first with porn, till I get a real girl that I can screw.
Attempts to fill a God-shaped void without God are doomed to failure. Click To TweetSee, it makes no difference who you are. Everyone who is not walking with God will have holes in their hearts that are shaped like God. Attempts to fill a God-shaped void without God are doomed to failure. Without God filling the hole which appeared when Adam sinned against God, we are prone to look to idols to fill those holes. When you’re single, and it’s Christmas, those holes sure look bigger!
But at that previous time, when you had not come to be acquainted with and understand and know the true God, you [Gentiles] were in bondage to gods who by their very nature could not be gods at all [gods that really did not exist]. Galatians 4:8 AMPC
Of course, the idols of Hallmark, Harlequin, and Porn will always comply. The line of least resistance usually leads to the couch with a pizza and a remote or a device. As sons and daughters of the Living God, however, we have to be aware of the implications and results of indulging in these time-killers.
John didn’t tell us to “keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21) because he wanted to hear himself talk. He knew the power idols have to control us and distract us from truth and purpose. The enemy will use everything in his limited power to draw you away from God’s words and intention for you. Anything he can use to distract and destroy you is most likely an idol.
Many of us in western cultures don’t think of things, relationships, philosophies, and accomplishments as idols. When we hear the word idol, we conjure up an image of ancient statues in a temple or jungle somewhere. Yet, idolatry is a very common, albeit destructive, human enterprise. It behooves us singles to examine the qualities of an idol/idolatry so that we can recognize and remove it from our lives.
What are the characteristics of an idol? Here are a few basics:
- Idols are manmade. Our fertile imaginations will make up anything to attribute worth and power to instead of God. Revelation 9:20
- Idols are lifeless. Because they are manmade, they have no intrinsic life. They have no ability to give us life; instead, they always take from us. Habakkuk 2:18–20
- Idols are impotent to save or help us. If they cannot sustain themselves, they cannot help us. Isaiah 44:9–11
- Idols resemble our flesh and are totally the opposite of God. Idols personify access to our needs and the desires of our flesh. Galatians 5:19–21
- Idols are fronts for demons. Spiritual beings inspire us to worship something they hide behind. Didn’t the devil “just want to be like the most high”? Deuteronomy 32:16–17; Isaiah 14:12–14
Do any of your relationships, possessions, accomplishments, desires, or ideologies resemble any of these five basic qualities? Then you’re a regular human harboring idols.
We humans are prone to create and worship idols. It’s easy to turn anything and everything into idols, especially during the Christmas season: holiday parties, desires for romance, gifts and gift-giving, alcohol and food, family and friends.
Be careful, my single friends, that the desires and blessings in your lives don’t become idols.
The Lord has promised good to those who love and honor Him above any and all other gods, Deuteronomy 30:15–19. Let us put away those idols—like filthy, worn, and torn old undergarments—and put on the garments of praise made only to worship the true and living God.
When your life is not like a Hallmark movie—or a porn flick—look up to Christ, who alone can continually fulfill and sustain us. Remember what He went through for you and for me, and let’s reserve our sincere worship for the one who was born to die for us.
