What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give. (xvii)

In Counterfeit Gods, Timothy Keller exposes the big three idols that attempt to subvert God’s role in our lives: Money, Sex, and Power.

This is the second book I’ve read on this theme. One of Richard Foster’s earlier works was originally called, Money, Sex and Power: The Challenge of the Disciplined Life. It’s now known by its subtitle (apparently the original title was too shocking for the ears of Christians living in 1985). I have found Keller’s little book to be just as valuable as Foster’s.

Keller’s greatest strength (among many) is his pastoral insight into human nature. He doesn’t buy the lies we tell ourselves but digs down to root issues. He has counseled enough people to understand the grip that money, sex, and power have in our lives.

In each chapter you’ll find a sermon complete with interesting anecdotes, sound biblical exegesis, and the aforementioned pastoral insight. This is a book worth meditating your way through. After all, it’s only when you “pull your emotions up by the roots” that you find your idols clinging to them (170).

Keller, Timothy. Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters. Dutton, 2009.