When I began my seminary studies in 2012, I started volunteering for a Houston nonprofit that helped at-risk youth. One of their major initiatives was to mentor young men in a juvenile detention facility each week. I was paired with a young man who was 15–we’ll call him Rob.

Rob had been expelled from school because of drug possession and fighting. Before being “locked up” he was considering joining a gang, or a “clique” as it was known in this part of town. To top things off, he had a troubled family life at home–a mother who was working multiple jobs, and his biological father would be in prison for several decades because of a violent crime. The goal of the mentoring program was to help these youth before they got themselves into even further trouble before becoming adults.

For about a year I met with Rob for an hour each week. We would talk, debrief the previous week, and play card games. My friendship with this young man was very impactful for many reasons–one of which I’ll share as it relates to the third commandment.

During one of our sessions, we started to talk about our use of language. Rob was starting to get serious about his faith and wanted to deepen his relationship with God. But the tough thing was that for most of his life he had been surrounded by curse words and derogatory language. Cellmates used them just down the hall at the detention center. He was accustomed to acting out in school in order to get attention. He heard people cuss all the time. His father even verbally abused him, in addition to many traumatizing years of physical abuse, too. Language had been a very damaging thing in Rob’s life.

As I listened to Rob talk about his history with cursing, he told me that he felt God’s conviction on his life about the kinds of words he used. God was putting it on his heart to possibly change the way he spoke each day…

“When I cuss, I feel like I’m not being articulate,” he told me, after a moment of revelation, “I’m just using worthless words that don’t really do much. Sure, others might use them, but I don’t think I’m supposed to.” We talked about how many times, when we use ugly words, they don’t really “add” anything to what we try to communicate. We often end up just sounding like we want to put other people down.

It was so inspiring to see this young man realize the power words have on our life.

Misusing God’s name can look like a lot of different things. Of course, using “God” or “Jesus Christ” while we are angry are pretty obvious examples. But anytime we carelessly use words, we break this important commandment. Anytime we use our speech to tear other people down, we take God’s name in vain. The only way we ought to speak of God each day must be to bring about God’s love to others.

Yesterday we explored how idolatry can be very common in our world today. Social media, personal pride, or material possessions only scratch the surface of possible idols with which we may struggle. Anything other than Jesus Christ has the potential to become an idol for us. It doesn’t matter how “good” or “normal” something might be. The danger comes when we worship created things over our creator.

This is such a difficult thing for us to wrestle with because most of the idols I mentioned during my sermon are often normal, everyday things. It is perfectly fine to own a cell phone or have a Facebook page. It is perfectly fine to maintain a bank account and properly control your personal finances. It is perfectly fine to fly the American flag. Yet idolatry comes when we fixate on that particular object or idea, rather than worshipping God alone. If we trust in phones, Facebook, bank accounts, or flags more than we do in our relationship with Christ, we commit idolatry.

If you are worried about something becoming an idol in your life, there are usually warning signs. Here is what I have noticed about our human sinfulness as it relates to idolatry. I’ve seen this in my own life, as well as the testimony of other Christians, too. You might be struggling with an idol if…

1. You spend a large amount of time obsessing over something. How much time and attention do you give this thing? If it is all-consuming, chances are that it is an idol! If it feels like it overwhelms us and demands our attention, then we often elevate that object and worship it instead of Jesus. Work, hobbies, and collectables often falls into this category. It is so important to remember to keep these things secondary and to keep Jesus #1.
2. You have unquestioning devotion for something. Idols often demand our devotion above all else. If you frequently get defensive about a particular issue in your life, chances are, that issue may be an idol. If you also notice that other, more important areas of your life potentially suffer, then that might be a sign of idolatry. We usually get defensive about insignificant things, rather than the most significant thing: our relationship with Christ. We need to keep the order right and have a sense of humility!
3. You’ve already noticed other idols in your life. Just like any other sin, if we have unrecognized idolatry in life, that often produces more idols. This cycle is clearly a problem with our obsession and worship of personal image in our world. If we devote our entire existence to maintaining a flawless facade of our personal life, then we will likely embrace other idols to support that addiction. For instance, if we want others to envy us, chances are we will use something like Facebook to promote our image and to pretend as if everything is perfect in life. Idols often lead to more troubles with other idols.
4. You are willing to compromise your morals. If you are willing to lie, cheat, steal, or do some other sin to take part in something, then chances are it is an idol for you. If we become trapped in idolatry, chances are we will rush to defend those idols no matter if it means we throw our sense of morality out the window. This is particularly clear with idols like money–people often struggle with dishonesty if it means that there will be more material possessions for them. Idols usually lead to other kinds of sin.

As I’ve emphasized all along, anything other than God can have the potential to become an idol–even “good” things! The point of the second commandment is for us to become away of these idols and realize that the only true object of our worship must be God alone.

Accounts of early church history often vary, but one well-documented challenge Christians faced during the first few centuries had to do with something called the emperor cult. Back then, people in the Roman Empire would regularly worship their leader, Caesar. They believed him to be a divine figure. Leaders also reinforced this, often claiming to be related to the gods. This presented an obvious challenge for early Christians since they instead worshipped Christ alone. To worship the Roman leader was completely counter to following Jesus Christ.

A classic example of believing Roman leaders were divine is how the they minted coins back in the day. Currency often depicted the head of a Roman ruler, as well as words like peace, security, or protection inscribed upon them. The above coin from an emperor named Caracalla has the word security on it with a reclined figure on the back. In the ancient context this arguably presented a message of something like, “You have security and comfort, all because of me.” That’s how it would have sounded to people in the ancient world.

Another example is Philip II, where on the back of the coin, the emperor is holding a globe in his right hand. This signified the belief that the Roman emperor ruled and controlled the entire world. (Thats a rather bold statement to make, Mr. Caesar!)

In addition to coins, emperor worship was often a very public practice among the Romans. A common tradition among citizens of the Empire was to enter into a local temple, burn a pinch of incense, and recite the phrase, “Caesar is lord.” This seemingly simple phrase was actually a sort of “test” to see who was loyal to the political and religious system, versus who might be a problem.

Instead of saying “Caesar is lord,” Christians had their own subversive phrase: “Jesus is Lord.” This is found throughout several passages in the New Testament, perhaps most notably in Romans 10:9–“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  As you can probably guess, Christians were often in a bit of trouble during this time, simply because they did not go along with this practice. Persecution was well-documented during this time, where following Jesus might actually cost you your life. It was a dangerous game to reject Caesar and worship Christ alone.

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We all need a reminder of this straightforward confession of the Christian faith. Jesus is Lord. Caesar isn’t the true lord.

There are actually many “caesars” in our life–this is not just limited to pagan figures in ancient history. Caesar ultimately constituted a false god, and on Sunday, we explored how these are still all around us. In my seminary studies, I read about many New Testament scholars and theologians who have explored this concept further. What are the false gods or “caesars” in our life? What is demanding our worship? What do we often forsake God for? Think about these confessions of faith for a moment. Perhaps one or a couple resonate with you…

If Jesus is Lord, then Caesar is not.

If Jesus is Lord, then all those other false gods in my life are not.

If Jesus is Lord, then my favorite sports team is not.

If Jesus is Lord, then my desire for popularity is not.

If Jesus is Lord, then Republican, Democrat, or Independent political leaders are not.

If Jesus is Lord, then my family is not.

If Jesus is Lord, then my pride and desire to always be right are not.

If Jesus is Lord, then fear is not.

If Jesus is Lord, then my money and resources are not.

If Jesus is Lord, then I am not.

Jesus is Lord. He alone must be the object of our devotion and worship.

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It is so incredibly tempting to deny Jesus’ lordship with how we live our life. While we might not “deny” Jesus as our savior with our words, often our actions prove otherwise. We serve the false gods of personality, power, and personal resources rather than God alone. Anything we worship other than God is indeed a false god. Is Jesus truly Lord for you?