For those who know me, you know that I am a Passion freak. Anything related to Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Christy Nockels, Louis Giglio, Do Something Now, Atlanta, and anyone, or anything else, that is in any small away affiliated to this group, I adore. I was devastated when Chris Tomlin got married last year. I buy all the music (I listen to Passion 2010: Awakening multiple times a day [and that's a slight understatement]. It's the only album I've listened to for the past 3 months). I have all the lyrics to all the songs memorized. I go to the Passion website multiple times daily. I go to the artist's websites constantly hoping they've added a tour date close enough for me to go to. And, when I find out  someone is coming, I get excited. Way too excited.

This became evident earlier this week when I found out that Chris Tomlin, Christy Nockels, and Louis Giglio were going to be 1 hour and 38 minutes from me on March 19th and tickets were only $25. Now, you should know that I work at my school's music library and, I've been on the schedule to work Saturdays for as long as I can remember. And, it just so happens that March 19th is a Saturday, meaning I would have to ask off work. 

"Well", I thought. "That's no problem. March 19th is more than a month away. I'll most definitely be able to get off work!" I immediately told a friend, who is almost as much a Passion freak as me (if that's even possible), and we started making plans. Everything was going along perfectly. 

And, then,  that changed. 

The day after I found out about the concert, my boyfriend mentioned the Winter Jam concert that was coming to Lexington in March. He mentioned how some cousins and friends were going that wanted to hang out with me and it was pretty much going to be an awesome weekend. We'd leave Friday when I got off work and come back Sunday.

March.

I stopped what I was doing and quickly asked what day. March 12th. He continued talking, mentioning how some of his cousins and friends were driving up and wanted to hang out with me and it was going to pretty much an awesome weekend. We'd leave Friday after I get off work and come back Sunday.

As he was talking my heart was sinking farther and farther down. March 12th. 7 days, a week, the Saturday, before the 19th, the day that my all time favorite artist was coming. I obviously couldn't do both. I couldn't, ask off two Saturdays in a row. 

I was at a crossroads. I wasn't particularly interested in the Winter Jam concert. David Crowder was going to be there and obviously I'd want to see him since he is an important part of Passion. But, that was it. Of course, I'd be with my boyfriend. That should been enough. 

But, it wasn't. 

I wrestled with what to do. I talked to several people, all who gave me different answers such as, I should go to the concert I want to go to or, I should do what obviously make my boyfriend happy. I prayed about it.

In the end I realized that, yes, I was making idols out of Chris Tomlin and Louis Giglio, and the whole Passion crew. I had seen them at Passion 2010 and Passion 2011. I had seen Tomlin in concert last summer. But, it's not very often I get to spend a weekend with my boyfriend. The answer to this petty decision should have been obvious but, my own selfish, and idol-making ways got control. All along I knew the answer but, I refused to acknowledge it.

Take time to read this quite lengthy quote from John Piper's book, A Hunger For God:

"The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18–20). The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable.

Jesus said some people hear the word of God, and a desire for God is awakened in their hearts. But then, “as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life” (Luke 8:14). In another place he said, “The desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Mark 4:19). “The pleasures of this life” and “the desires for other things”—these are not evil in themselves. These are not vices. These are gifts of God. They are your basic meat and potatoes and coffee and gardening and reading and decorating and traveling and investing and TV-watching and Internet-surfing and shopping and exercising and collecting and talking. And all of them can become deadly substitutes for God."

These rather eye-opening paragraphs are full of truth. In a way, Chris Tomlin was becoming a substitute for God. Obviously, there is nothing evil about Tomlin. And, mind you, Stephen isn't God but, I knew what God wanted me to do and I didn't do it because of Tomlin.

This whole experience was rather humbling. It brought me closer to the Lord, to Stephen and, farther away from Tomlin. It reminded me that some things of this world may seem to bring us closer to God, but, they can just end up getting in the way.

What sort of things are you turning into idols? It can be anything; anything that distracts you from giving all the glory to God. It could be your books - theology, novels, textbooks. It could be the internet. It could be your favorite speaker such as John  Piper or David Platt. Arguments you're passionate about such as the whole Calvinism/Armenianism debate. 

Take time to think about your idols and how you can overcome them. And, remember: 

Soli Deo gloria. All glory to God. 

God alone deserves all the praise, worship, and adoration we can give Him.

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. ~ Philippians 1:9-11