The Idol of Comfort

Let’s turn in our Bibles this morning to Gen. 25. We are going to be continuing our series on the “Idols of the Heart.” So far we have looked at the idols of control, respect, and appreciation. The idol of control is when I am unwilling to let go of my agenda and let God do His work. We have to remember that God is always at work, causing all things to work together for the good of those who love God. The idol of respect is when I demand or long for acknowledgement for what I have accomplished or become. Whatever I have accomplished in life, or whatever I have become as a person, I have accomplished or become only by the grace of God, which means He should get the credit, not me. And the idol of appreciation is when I function for any reason other than to bring glory to God. As followers of Christ, we have a sole motivation in life, and that is to bring glory to God. We do what we do, not because we want people to recognize it, or appreciate us, but because we want God to be glorified in what we do.

This brings us up to where we are this morning, and today we are going to be considering the idol of comfort. As far as a definition goes, the idol of comfort is when I indulge fleshly desires beyond biblical limits. In order for us to really understand this definition, let me clarify two things. First of all, what do I mean by “fleshly desires?” Fleshly desires, as I am using it, is not to be understood in the sense of 1 John 2:16 where John says, “For everything in the world [the anti-God system ruled by Satan]--the cravings of sinful man [lust of the flesh], the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world.” That is not what I’m talking about here. The “fleshly desire” of our definition is a legitimate physical appetite. What are some of them? Food. Sleep. Sexual gratification. Relaxation. Beauty and serenity. Community. Each of these are legitimate desires, placed in the human by God, and have a physiological effect on the human body.

For instance, food is fuel, and to deprive the body of food leads to serious consequences. But it is much more than fuel, because when we eat our body releases chemicals into our bloodstream that cause a sensation of comfort. Sleep is necessary, and if you don’t sleep, you will suffer negative health consequences. What about something like beauty and serenity, do humans have an appetite for these things? Is a desire for beauty and stillness something God has created in us? Absolutely. How do we know that? Because God appreciates beauty, and we are created in His image. How do we know God appreciates beauty? Because when He gave instructions to Moses on how to build the tabernacle, there was an emphasis on esthetic appeal. The colors were not dull and drab, they were vibrant – crimson, purple, blue, and violet. And the building materials were gold and silver and brass and iron and bronze and fine twisted linen and exotic hardwood. On top of this, only highly skilled craftsmen were allowed to do the work. They were real artisans, and none of this was coincidental – God’s appreciation of beauty was reflected in what the tabernacle looked like.

We are created in the image of God, which means that we appreciate beauty; and when the human being is deprived of beauty (just like when he is deprived of food or sleep), there are negative physical consequences – primarily sociological consequences. This is why civilizations that do not have art do not flourish. On a smaller scale, why are prisons incubators for all kinds of sociological ills? It is because when you take a human and remove him from all sources of beauty, his soul withers.

So the point I want us to appreciate is that as people created in the image of God, we have inclinations / desires / appetites that are physical (as opposed to spiritual / emotional / mental) in nature, and they were given to us by God. As such, they are holy and beautiful and wonderful.

The second item of clarification for this definition is that not only has God placed these desires in us, He has also placed limits on them! For instance, what do we call the unlimited desire for the legitimate need of food? Gluttony. What is the unlimited desire for sleep or relaxation? Sloth. What is the unlimited desire for sexual gratification? Fornication. God has placed two limits on our desire for sexual gratification - marriage, and your spouse. What about beauty? Has God placed any limits on our appreciation of beauty, or is that something we don’t have to worry about? Absolutely not! Lust is a mental activity that is beauty oriented. I have had multiple guys tell me over the years that they really enjoy looking at beautiful women. They just like to look at them and appreciate their beauty. I get nervous every time I hear that statement because lust is a mental activity that is beauty driven – we don’t lust after hideous people, do we? I believe there is a reason Job said in Job 31 that he had made a covenant with his eyes. And then he asks the question, “How then can I think about a young girl?” There is a connection between the eyes, beauty, and lust. If you are a man and you appreciate beauty, in particular, female beauty, the Song of Solomon outlines a beauty appreciation program in chapter four. In those verses Solomon describes in explicit detail the beauty of his wife, starting with her face and working his way South. What that tells us men is that our appreciation for beauty has a limit, and that limit is our wife.

And even though we didn’t talk about the idea of community, the human desire for community has limits on it. God has created us as social creatures (which is also reflective of the Godhead) who thrive in community and wither in isolation, but community has God imposed limits. We see this in the command of God that when a husband takes a wife and they become one flesh, what is that man supposed to do? Leave his mother and father. What was the impetus behind God confusing the languages at Babel? Violating the limitations on community.

So with this explanation of the idol of comfort, and understanding how God has placed limits on each of man’s basic physical appetites, let’s look at a biblical example of this idol in action. In Gen. 25 we have the story of Esau trading his birthright for a bowl of stew. In the first half of this chapter, we read the background to the story. Isaac gets married to Rebecca, and she conceives and has twin sons. The firstborn, Esau, was an outdoorsman, and the second born, Jacob, was more of indoorsman. We’ll pick the story up in verse 27.

27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!" (That is why he was also called Edom.) 31 Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright." 32 "Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?" 33 But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.

How many of you see the idol of comfort here? It’s actually somewhat tricky, isn’t it? I think the reason we may be inclined to waver a little bit about labeling this as the idol of comfort is because his hunger was legitimate. The Bible says he was famished (“to be exhausted, or faint”) because of his trip. And how can the desire for something to eat when you haven’t eaten for a while be understood as indulging a fleshly desire beyond it’s biblical limits? Esau’s thinking is what shows us the idol. Remember the Biblical principle – “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Let’s analyze his thinking.

Why was he willing to give up his inheritance? Why was the inheritance meaningless to him? He thought he was about to die, which made the inheritance superfluous. When you are dead, the family farm doesn’t do you much good. Well, guess how long it takes you to die from starvation? A long, long time! It is highly unlikely that Esau was really about to die! But in addition to this, if I am about to die from starvation, but a meal will save my life, then the inheritance will be of some value to me after all, won’t it? Do you see how Esau’s thinking was all messed up here. Does it sound familiar when I say that idols distort our perception of reality?

What we see in Esau’s thinking is the typical rationale of an addict. When an addict is in the throes of craving to feed his addiction, he thinks he will die if he doesn’t get what he wants. But reality is that he may be in withdrawal if he doesn’t get it, or he may be in agony if he doesn’t get it, or he may be impossible to live with if he doesn’t get what he wants, but he isn’t on the brink of death like he feels he is. In addition to this, the addict doesn’t care what he has to give up to satisfy his craving. This is why drug addicts will prostitute their young daughters for drugs. They don’t care what they have to give up. They don’t care who they lie to or who they steal from - they don’t think beyond themselves and their immediate craving.

Idols, and in this scenario the idol of comfort, which is the basic idol associated with all addictions, distort our perception of reality. So what we see in Esau’s thought process is classic idolatrous thinking, even though it may not technically be worshipping the idol of comfort since he was legitimately hungry.

So with this example of the idol of comfort, let’s think a little while about what is at stake in the idol of comfort. In other words, why is this wrong? What biblical principle is being violated each time we indulge the flesh beyond biblical limits? The answer is found in Eph. 5:18. So let’s turn there and think about the principle of Spirit control.

In Eph. 5:18, we read, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but [rather] be filled with the Spirit.” Is it a sin to drink wine? I don’t believe it is. Where does the sin lie when it comes to drinking alcohol? When the alcohol exerts its influence on me to the extent that I am no longer under control. A drunk person is controlled by the alcohol. His tongue doesn’t articulate his words very well because there is something else controlling the muscles of his tongue. His legs are not steady because there is something else controlling his motor skills. His bladder does not hold its contents because there is something else in his system overriding his normal ability to hold his bladder.

The sin of drunkenness is that there is a foreign object controlling the drinker – which is a direct violation of what Paul teaches in Eph. 5:18. We are to be “filled” with the Spirit of God, and to help us understand what that looks like, Paul uses the drunkenness analogy. For the follower of Christ, God’s Spirit is to fill us, just like alcohol fills the drunk person. And in the same way that alcohol controls the drunk person, God’s Spirit is to control the follower of Christ. And it is this principle that sets the pattern for the idol of comfort. Every time we allow a fleshly desire to exert control over us, we are being controlled by something other than the Spirit of God. Our desires for food, or sleep, or sexual gratification, or relaxation, or community, or beauty – while they are given to us by God, they are not to be participated in without restraint. Our physical appetites have to be under the control of God’s Spirit, and when they aren’t, we are worshipping the idol of comfort.

As we have done with each of the other idols, let’s see if we can come up with some illustrations of what this idol looks like in everyday life. Who has an example for us?

 Not going to church on Sunday morning because you were up late on Saturday night? As humans, we need sleep, right? That is choosing the comfortable over the critical.

 Missing a significant church activity because your favorite football team has a televised game during that time? Relaxation is legitimate, right?

 Exploding at your wife for crunching the back fender of the car, and now that $500.00 you had set aside for a new rifle will have to be used as the deductible to fix the car?

 Being irritable and short-tempered every day when you get home from work - until you get a nap and have supper?

 Refusing to get a full time job because it will jeopardize your state funded insurance benefits?

 Buying a new pair of Nike shoes every time you don’t have a date on Friday night?

 Being irritable and short-tempered every morning when you wake up – until you have had your first cup of coffee?

 Refusing to challenge your teenager’s sinful behavior because of the conflict you know it will cause in the family? Cf. 1 Sam. 2 and 4

To say that the idol of comfort is prevalent in Christian circles is quite an understatement, and it manifests itself in myriad ways. Addictions, obesity, sexual promiscuity, laziness, our preoccupation with sports and entertainment and hobbies and amusement all are illustrations of our propensity toward comfort. What a difference it makes to be a follower of Christ who is under the control of the Spirit of God. When we make choices based on what we believe God would have us to do instead of what our flesh would have us to do, it makes a huge difference in how we live.

As we come before this Communion Table, aren’t you glad Jesus said “no” to His fleshly desire to escape the rigors of the cross? It is a little bit of an understatement, but the cross was not a comfortable place to be. Which is why Jesus said at one point during the night, “Father, if it is at all possible, let this cup pass from me.” But then, it’s as if He catches himself and says, “Nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done.” Can you appreciate this morning that our eternity is secure in heaven because Jesus chose the critical over the comfortable?