Discussion Questions

Transcription

1 Discussion Questions

2 WELCOME TO THE ONE BOOK SERIES We are excited about the launch of our One Book series and grateful you have decided to participate. The reason for this series is a simple one, while all of Scripture points to Jesus, our hearts are naturally inclined to counterfeit gospels and substitute saviors. The pull is magnetic to trust our performance, rely on self-help techniques, and turn to a multitude of earthly comforts, all of which mask our desperate need that only God can satisfy. Our Bible reading reinforces this habit, subtly replacing Biblical truth with me-centered moralism. By read ourselves and our circumstances into the texts of Scripture we miss the grand vista of God s redemptive love. In other words, We miss Jesus as our true source of hope. The One Book series seeks to bridge this gap by providing a gospel rich source of truth that transforms individuals, couples, families, and communities. While you may read One Book on your own, we strongly encourage you to work through it with your spouse, as a family, with a few friends, or form a temporary reading group. The following discussion questions will help you engage and apply these deep gospel truths. Regardless of how your read One Book, know that we are praying for you. In His Care and Service, Curt Moore Pastor of Discipleship

3 Introduction: The Idol Factory 1. After reading the introduction to Counterfeit Gods, what is your first impression of the book? What do you hope God will reveal to you as you read this book together? 2. Tim Keller begins his book by recalling a number of suicides that occurred after the stock market dropped in 2008 and later (on pg. x), he quotes Alexis de Tocqueville s famous observation of American culture in the 1830s by saying there is a strange melancholy that haunts the inhabitants...in the midst of abundance. What was your reaction to reading about these suicides and do you think de Tocqueville s observations still apply to American culture today? 3. Before you began reading this book, how would you have answered the question, What is an idol? How would you describe it now (see pg. xvii)? How does this understanding of what makes something an idol challenge you? 4. On pages xxi-xxii, Keller says that we can locate our idols by: 1) looking at our day dreams, 2) looking at our nightmares, and 3) looking at our most unyielding emotions. As you look at these three areas in your life, what might be possible areas of idolatry that you have bought into? 5. On page xxiv, Keller says that we are in a very rare time of history where our entire society is going through a time of disenchantment. What does he mean? Have you seen this to be true in your circle of influence? And what positive outcomes might occur from a period of time such as this? 6. According to Keller, how can we move forward from repeatedly giving into our idols (pg. xxiv)?

4 CHAPTER ONE: ALL YOU VE EVER WANTED 1. Why do you think Keller says that the greatest punishment imaginable is to allow someone to achieve their fondest dreams (pg. 3)? Do you agree? Why or why not? 2. On page 6, Keller brings up the idea that it is possible for us to reduce God to a means to a more ultimate end. Do you agree, and if so, how have you seen this to be true at times in your life? 3. Keller spends an extended time talking about the story of Abraham being tested by God when he was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac on a mountaintop alter. What about this story was most impacting to you? What questions or concerns might you still have? 4. Turn to the bottom of page 14 and have someone read the last paragraph which starts with Her over control of her children... and ends on page 15...anyone God loves experiences hardship (Hebrews 12:1-8). In what ways have you been tempted to try and over control the experiences or people in your life? What purposes might God have in allowing you to experience a certain degree of suffering in your life? 5. How does God the Father s sacrifice of his only Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross prove to us his love for us? 6. On page 20, Keller states, Sometimes God seems to be killing us when he s actually saving us. Have you ever experienced this to be true in your life and why do you think God s saving actions sometimes feel like they are killing us? Close with Prayer. Read Chapter 2 for next week.

5 CHAPTER TWO: LOVE IS NOT ALL YOU NEED 1. On page 23 and 24, Keller states:...we know a good thing has become a counterfeit god when its demands on you exceed proper boundaries...an idolatrous attachment can lead you to break any promise, rationalize any indiscretion, or betray any other allegiance, in order to hold on to it. It may drive you to violate all good and proper boundaries. To practice idolatry is to be a slave. a. How have you seen potential counterfeit gods in your life seek to overstep proper boundaries? b. In what ways, does practicing idolatry make you a slave? 2. Why do you think it is so tempting to make finding a soul mate, a true love and lover, a counterfeit god in our lives? In what ways do you see our culture buying into this notion that You are nobody until someone loves you as Keller states on page 29 and why does this inevitably result in bitter disillusionment? 3. Read the second paragraph on page 31 starting with In any case... and concluding at the bottom of the page. a. Why do you think romantic love is so powerful in people s lives? b. In what ways have you seen either a fear of romantic love or being overly enamored by romantic love distort your or other people s perceptions and life? 4. In looking at the character of Leah, we see that she had a hollow in her heart every bit as much as the hollow in Jacob s heart and that she went about filling that hollow by seeking Jacob s love through traditional family values. (continued on next page)

6 5. What do you think Keller means on page 39 when he says, You are going to think you have gone to bed with Rachel, and you will get up and it will always be Leah? Which of the four responses to this realization (listed on page 39) do you find yourself turning to the most? 6. On page 44, Keller states that *God+ loves the unwanted, the weak and unloved. He is not just a king and we are the subjects; he is not just a shepherd and we are the sheep. He is a husband and we are his spouse. He is ravished with us even those of us whom no one else notices. a. How does understanding God s love for us as being like the pursuing and passionate love a husband has for his wife, impact the way we relate to and respond to God? b. (For those who are married) How does this understanding impact the way we should pursue loving our spouses? 7. Sally, the woman mentioned on page 46, got her life back after embracing the truth of Colossians 3:1-4 which says, Your life is hidden with Christ in God...and when Christ who is your life appears, you will appear with him in glory. a. How too can we allow these verses to free us from our counterfeit gods? 8. (Open the discussion up for any other topics that people wanted to discuss from chapter 2 that have not yet been covered if time allows). Close with Prayer. Read Chapters 3 for next week.

7 CHAPTER THREE: MONEY CHANGES EVERYTHING 1. Read the Nietzsche quote on page 51. What do you think about Nietzsche s words and do you agree that money in Western culture has become its main counterfeit god? 2. Why do you think that greed and avarice are especially hard to see in ourselves? 3. Why do you think it is so tempting to want to compare yourselves to those who have more than you, than to those who have less? 4. How does Jesus define greed? (pg. 56) 5. In what three ways does Jesus condemn greed as idolatry on pages 56-57? Which of these three are you most tempted to fall into? 6. What did Zacchaeus action in climbing the tree to see Jesus reveal about where his heart was? What does Jesus response to Zacchaeus and the rest of those in the crowd teach us about grace? 7. What do notice about how the Old Testament and New Testament speak of tithing/giving (pg. 62)? How should this influence the way we give today? 8. How did the salvation that came to Zaccheaus transform his attitude toward his wealth? How did he demonstrate this change?

8 9. What is the difference between a deep idol and a surface idol. Which of the deep idols power, approval, comfort, or control do you struggle with and what kinds of fears and hopes go along with those deep idols? Corinthians 8:9 says, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. a. How does this verse and Keller s comments on page 67 and 68 help us to make Christ instead of money our true treasure? 11. Why do you think Carnegie fell prey to his idolatry even though he had such an awareness of its existence and destructive power? What does this tell us about our idols? Close with Prayer. Read Chapters 4 for next week.

9 CHAPTER FOUR: THE SEDUCTION OF SUCCESS 1. On page 74, Mary Bell begins and ends her quote about achievement when she says, These days, the best people don t abuse alcohol. They abuse their lives...an Achievement addict is no different from any other kind of addict. a. What do you think of Mary s comments and how have you seen achievement become an idol that you or others are addicted to? b. Why do you think achievement is so addicting? 5 2. On page 75 and 76, Keller lists 3 signs that you have made success an idol. a. Of these three signs, which hits closest to home for you and why? 3. Thinking about your own households, how much of a culture of competition do you see being embraced pg )? What are some of the negative consequences of the family no longer being a haven in a heartless world? 4. On page 84, Keller states that the operating principle of religion is If you live a good life, then the gods or God will have to bless you and give you prosperity. a. In what ways do you find yourself buying into this notion? In what ways does your life reflect a if you scratch my back I ll scratch yours mentality when it comes to your relationship with God?

10 5. Thinking of the story of Naaman, why do you think that it is so hard to accept the idea that God s acceptance of us and his blessings in our life are not due to our success, but his grace? (see pg. 88) 6. What was so incredible about the slave girl s treatment of Naaman and what does her actions teach us about both achievement and forgiveness? 7. On page 93, Keller states, The idol of success cannot be just expelled, it must be replaced. a. Why do you think this is the case and how do we go about replacing those idols? 8. Why do you think God chooses to use the weak things of the world to shame the strong, the foolish and despised things to shame the wise, even the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are as it says in 1 Cor. 1:29-31? Close with Prayer. Read Chapter 5 for next week.

11 CHAPTER FIVE: THE POWER AND THE GLORY 1. On page 98, Keller says that we can make politics a counterfeit god...that we can look upon our political leaders as messiahs, our political policies as saving doctrine, and turn our political activism into a kind of religion. a. Do you agree with Keller? Why or why not? b. In what ways do you see these types of messianic hopes being placed upon political leaders? What is the result of doing so? 2. Keller says that two signs of politics becoming an idol are the production of fear and the demonization of people and groups. a. In what ways have you seen this to be true of the political landscape? b. Why is it so tempting to both deify and demonize political causes and ideas? 3. What might be some underlying reasons why you personally desire to have and exercise power? 4. In what ways might political or economic ideologies compete with your reliance upon God?

12 5. What are some of the results of being shortsighted to the insufficiencies of your own political ideology? (see page ) 6. On page 109 Keller says, Power, then, is often born of fear and in turn gives birth to more fear...powerful people don t like to admit how weak they really feel. a. Have you observed this phenomenon in others or in yourself? If so, why don t we like to admit the fear we so often have? 7. What does the story of James on pages illustrate about the different forms that power idols take? What different forms might be the easiest for the idol of power to take in your life? 8. Why do you think moral, therapeutic deism (pg. 115) is the dominant understanding of God amongst younger Americans and which aspects of this perspective are most tempting to believe yourself? Why?

13 9. Why do you think it is so hard to think of ourselves has not being the master of our fates and captains of our souls? 10. What aspect of king Nebuchadnezzar s story impacted you the most? What surprised you, encouraged you, and challenged you? How did Nebuchadnezzar s view of himself change throughout the story and in what ways do we see God show him grace? 11. On page Keller says that Jesus shows us another way to overcome our sense of powerlessness. a. What is that way and how does Jesus make it possible? 12. (Open the discussion up for any other topics that people wanted to discuss from chapter 5 that have not yet been covered if time allows). Close with Prayer. Read Chapter 6 for next week.

14 CHAPTER 6: THE HIDDEN IDOLS IN OUR LIVES 1. Keller discusses The God of Profit on pages a. In what ways have you seen strict cost-benefit analysis overshadow people s moral judgment? In your own workplace, would acting honestly and with integrity at the expense of profit be praised or frownedupon? 2. On pages , Keller recounts Delbanco s analysis of American Culture in which he traces out the fundamental hope of three eras of American civilization. a. What are these three fundamental hopes? b. How do you see the last of these three fundamental hopes working itself out in our culture today?

15 c. Why is a corporate or culture wide idol so treacherous? 3. One pages , Keller discusses Idols in our Religion. a. What are the 3 forms of idolatry in religion he mentions and which of these three do you think you individually and us as a local church community are most likely to fall into? b. Why are these 3 forms of idolatry so toxic? How have you seen this to be true?

16 4. In Keller s discussion of Jonah on page 136 we see that Jonah had 3 idols himself. a. What were these idols? b. What caused him to have these idols? c. What resulted from him embracing these idols in his life?

17 5. Read the quote from Richard Lovelace on page 140, which starts, Those who are not secure in Christ... a. According to Lovelace, what are some ways that those who are not secure in Christ go about trying to fill that gap in their confidence? b. Have you found yourself trying to secure your confidence in any of these ways? c. Why are these alternative means so alluring? Why are they so destructive?

18 6. Read the paragraph in the middle of page 144 starting with, Jonah so loathed... a. If we were to be brutally honest and transparent, what people or groups of people in our day might we not want God to save like Jonah did with the Assyrians? b. How is this type of perspective of others unable to coexist with the truth of the gospel?

19 7. Read Keller s synthesis of what happens when an idol gets a grip on our heart in the first paragraph on page 146. a. What does Keller mean when he says that an idol redefines reality in terms of itself? b. What are some examples of how you have seen this to be true?

20 8. Read the two full paragraphs on page 149 starting with There is legitimate guilt...and ending with+ it roils us with anger and despair. a. Reflecting on the first paragraph, is there an area in your life which you are having a hard time forgiving yourself? If so, what counterfeit god might this guilt be pointing toward? b. Reflecting on the second paragraph, which of the consequences of these three circumstances when idolatry is mapped upon your future, present, or past do you struggle with the most? Why might this be so?

21 9. Read the last paragraph on page 153. a. Why do you think the book of Jonah ends the way it does? b. In what ways does Jonah s response to God s command to get up, go and preach to the great city of Nineveh challenge us both individually and corporately?

22 10. (Open the discussion up for any other topics that people wanted to discuss from chapter 6 that have not yet been covered if time allows). Close with Prayer. Read Chapter 7 for the next week or combine with Epilogue for final.

23 CHAPTER 7: THE END OF COUNTERFEIT GODS 1. Read the first paragraph of the chapter on pages a. Which of these four idols to we tend to buy into most frequently: Our wisdom vs. Gods, our desire vs. God s will, our reputation vs. God s honor, our human relationships vs. our relationship with God? b. How do our fears, as described by Clarkson in this paragraph, betray those times when we are pursuing an idol?

24 2. On page 158 Keller states, The love and admiration of those you most love and admire is above all rewards. We are all looking for this deep admiration, looking for it from our parents, our spouse, and our peers. a. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not? b. Why do you think others love and admiration is so important to us? c. Which people in your life have/do you desire to receive love and admiration from the most?

25 3. As a group, discuss the story of Jacob wrestling with God. a. What was the basic plot of this story? b. Why was this event so significant in Jacob s life? c. What do we learn about the Lord through his treatment of Jacob in this passage? d. Why do you think the Lord blessed Jacob?

26 4. On page 164 Keller states, It often takes an experience of crippling weakness for us to finally discover [that receiving the blessing of being called a beloved child of God is the only remedy against idolatry.] That is why so many of the most God-blessed people limp as they dance for joy. a. Have you seen this statement to be true in your life? How has God allowed you to limp in order to help you discover this truth?

27 EPILOGUE: FINDING AND REPLACING YOUR IDOLS 1. Keller states on page 167 that, There is no way to challenge idols without doing cultural criticism, and there is no way to do cultural criticism without discerning and challenging idols. a. Why do you think it is important that we engage in doing cultural criticism as we seek to address and challenge the idols we see and face? b. What idols in our broader culture seemed to have become commonplace or acceptable idols within the lives of Christians today as well? 2. On page Keller gives four diagnostics for how to discern our idols. a. What are the four ways Keller offers that we can discern our idols? b. Which of these four ways of discerning idols is most revealing to you about possible idols in your life? Why?

28 c. If you had to name a specific idol in your life as a result of looking at these four diagnostics what would it be? 3. Read the quote from David Powlison on page 170. a. Which of the following in your life tends to be filled by something or someone other than Christ: your hearts functional trust, preoccupation, loyalty, service, fear or delight? b. Which of Powlison s questions most clearly identify possible areas of misplaced allegiance in your life? 4. Why do you think Colossians 3:1-5 is set forth as the way to move forward from our idolatry (see page )?

29 a. Why do you think that appreciating, rejoicing, and resting in what Jesus has done for you as well as seeing Jesus as being more beautiful to your imagination and more attractive to your heart is integral to replacing your counterfeit gods? 5. What is the difference between fear-based and joy-based repentance and what does each of these produce in the lives of the one doing the repentance (see page 172)? 6. What does it mean to rejoice in Christ and why is it so important for our relationship with Christ (see page 173)?

30 7. Keller states on page 175 that, You cannot get relief *from your idols+ simply by figuring out your idols intellectually. You have to actually get the peace that Jesus gives, and that only comes as you worship. a. What role do the spiritual disciplines play in helping us to overcome our idols? b. Which spiritual disciplines have you benefited from in the past and which spiritual disciplines might you need to (re)engage in to help replace the idols you have identified in your life as a result of this discussion? 8. (Open the discussion up for any other topics that people wanted to discuss from chapter 7 or the epilogue that have not yet been covered if time allows).