Gods at War by
Kyle Idleman, in my opinion, is his best work thus far. He is known for the bestseller Not a Fan,
which was an okay book. It took too much
of a “tongue in cheek” approach; however, that is not the case with Gods at
War. This manuscript shoots straight
from the hip and hits the mark. It will
point out the “gods” in your life that you often overlook.
You can tell my thoughts from the title of the review, and
that read, heed, and reread is stated for a very specific reason. As we go through our seasons of life, we may
be struggling in one of the four “temples” that he identifies – pleasure (food,
sex, entertainment); power (success, money, achievement); and love (romance,
family, me) – but that struggle may shift into another area over time. We need to be vigilant in protecting our
hearts from the lures of these “gods.”
These “gods” act similarly to a pack of wolves: where you find one, you can know for sure
that others are close at hand.
Idleman sets up his work by discussing topics in each of the
three mentioned “temples.” Prior to
doing so, he sets the stage through his first section (comprised of four
chapters) entitled “gods at war.” The beauty of this section is his slow,
deliberate, but detailed examination of the problems in modern Christianity. He says that idolatry “isn’t just one of many
sins; rather it’s the one great sin that all others come from” (page 22). He proves his point rather easily by using
the Israelites at Mt, Sinai as an example; yet, he does not let the reader off
so easily. Quickly and adeptly, the
attention shifts to modern times as he declares that we have not learned from
the mistakes of history but are dooming ourselves by repeating them – trading “the
Creator God for a god of their own creation” (page 25).
The third chapter is one of the clearest explanations of the
phrase “jealous God” that can be found in Scripture. In hearing that term used in the sentence
with God, people will posit the following syllogism: God cannot sin but can be jealous, so either
God can sin or God cannot be jealous.
That’s a flawed understanding because we view jealousy as a negative
trait, which often is in human hands. Idleman
shows that the words jealous and zealous are nearly synonymous in Scripture
(same Hebrew term in the original). Stop
and think about that for a moment – “you can’t understand His jealousy without
some understanding of his relentless, powerful love [zealous] for you, because
they are intertwined” (page 49). Simply,
God wants all of us and will not be satisfied with just a part of us.
When you read Idleman’s Gods at War, be sure to read
this with a companion work by John Piper – Don’t Waste Your Life. While Idleman astutely points out the problem
of modern idolatry, Piper will counter by depicting what our modern lives must
become. Sir Francis Bacon is credited
with saying: “Some books are to be
tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” I believe that the above-mentioned books meet
the latter criteria in that they should be enjoyed rather than sampled. As you revisit them, allow them to drive you
to Scripture to get your life right.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I
received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book
review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The
opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with
the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of
Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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