"Counterfeit Gods" - Chapter 4: The Seduction of Success

I. Introduction

a) Success: does anyone know how many times the word appears in Scripture???

• Twice (depending upon your version) – II Chronicles 7:11 / Joshua 1:8


• “Sakal” (Heb) – means skillful, wise, prosperous


• Key: success is not always about money, fame, or power per se

b) Prosper: appears in Scripture 21 times

• Psalms 118:25 / Daniel 3:30 / 3 John 1:2


• “Tsaleach” (Heb) – means to be good, to breakout


• “Euodoo” (Gk) – means to have a good journey, succeed in business, succeed in reaching

c) Keller starts with a quote from Madonna

• “feeling of inadequacy”


• “My struggle has never ended and it probably never will.”


• One of her better known songs “Vogue” describes current popularity of fashion and fame; how quickly those things fade???

II. When does personal success & achievement become an idol?

a) Answer: When our view of ourselves becomes distorted

• Achievements = basis of our self-worth


• Achievements = keep us safe


• Achievements = lead us to a belief in our supremacy / autonomy

b) Luther: “I have three evil dogs: ungratefulness, arrogance, and envy. When all three bite, one is badly mauled.”

• Envy – when we covet the success of others


• Key: what are we saying when we question our perceived lack of success or the coveted success of others?


• We are saying that God doesn’t know what He’s doing!


• The fallen, arrogant creature is trying to tell the Omnipotent Creator what is best?!


• Can you imagine anything so ridiculous?

III. What are the possible signs in an individual’s life which point to the fact that success is an idol?

a) Lack of confidence unless we’re at the top

• Chris Evert – “I needed the wins, the applause, in order to have an identity.”

b) Think our success can solve our problems

• Naaman (II Kings 5:1) – he is commander of the army, highly regarded among men, but he had leprosy


• Though he had success & wealth, under it all his life was falling apart


• His wife’s slave – she was an Israeli girl taken captive by Naaman’s men; she directs him to see Elisha the prophet (we’ll get back to this slave girl when we talk about solutions to our success idols)


• Naaman takes money, clothing, letter from his king – he thinks he can use his success to get healing


• Question: How do we follow Naaman’s folly?


• Name dropping?


• Putting our faith in our success instead of God


• Naaman was seeking a tame, private God who can be put into debt


• It is God who puts us in debt with His grace


• Keller: "Only if we understand Grace will we see our successes are ultimately gifts from God."


• Ironic: We want to use gifts given from God to hold God in debt – typical sinful man

IV. How can we break our heart’s fixation on doing “some great things” in order to heal ourselves?

• We must look at the Slave Girl – captured by the raiding Syrians; at the bottom of the Syrian social structure; who is responsible? Field Marshall Naaman!

a) Idolizing the top of the ladder can lead to cynicism & bitterness

• That’s not what this slave girl felt


• “If only my master would see the prophet.”


• She saw her role as glorifying God • Matt 5:44-45 – “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate , and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”


• She did not seek revenge; she trusted God to be the judge of all


• Francis Schaeffer: “The vocation of an honest merchant or housewife has as much dignity as the vocation of a king.”

b) The Idol of Success cannot be expelled – it must be replaced

• Keller: "Only when we see what Jesus, our great Suffering Servant, has done for us will we finally understand why God’s salvation does not require us to do “some great thing.”


• Matt 6:19-21 – “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.


• This is what Naaman struggled with – he took money, clothing, references from his king; that’s where his heart was – thinking his success and temporary treasures would save him.


• When we focus on Christ and his reign and use any success for His glory, then our success will be in the proper context and we will less likely to make any success or any sought after success an idol

V. Conclusion

• Naaman humbled himself in the end and did as Elisha instructed, and as a result, Naaman’s leprosy is healed!


• But Naaman still doesn’t get it – the free gift of Grace


• II Kings 5:14 – “But he (Elisha) said, ‘As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will receive nothing.’ And he (Naaman) urged him to take it, but he (Elisha) refused.”


• Elisha gets it on two fronts: 1. He wanted Naaman to know & realize grace is free! 2. Elisha himself is focused on the right thing – it’s not his success (Naaman’s healing) but God’s success


• Keller: “Jesus’ salvation is received not through strength but through the admission of weakness and need.”


• Lack of personal success can be a blessing through which God brings mercy to the lost (look at the Slave Girl)


• Keller: “God chooses the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”