Copycat gods Can’t Fix Broken People
I entered the world broken.
Born early, my twin sister and I spent days in a neonatal ward. I went home first and my sister grew strong enough to finally leave the hospital.
Though I barely weighed over three pounds, I wasn’t broken in the natural sense—what you’d observe on the outside or have knowledge of internal medical issues. Yet, an unseen and underlying brokenness existed.
All human flesh is born broken. It escalates each day we live until the cracks and scars become noticeable. It’s not detectable in a newborn baby, but soon makes appearances in a young child:
That’s mine!
I’m not sorry.
No one likes me.
I’m angry she died.
I want to run fast like that boy. I want _____ and _____. (There are many fill in the blanks.)
Broken in our soul. A brokenness only mended by special glue. Soul glue. The cracks supernaturally filled by the one true God of the universe.
But. We. Are. Confused. We search. We ponder. The enemy and our culture plants deception in our minds and souls of who or what is the true fixer.
Misinformed, we’ve applied substitute adhesives to patch broken places. Bargain-brand gods. Copycats. 
Oh, they may do the trick for momentary and quick fixes. Here’s the bottom line: momentary and quick never meets the demands for brokenness. It’s short-lived and eventually exposes copycat gods as mere mimics. Deep and long-lasting healing isn’t in their wheelhouse.
Dethroning 7 Copycat gods:
- Love of money. Chasing fortune piggybacks on our God-given dreams. “What you have is less important than what you do with what you have” (Andy Stanley). Soul glue: the love of God. Luke 10:27, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind….”
- Power and control. Striving to control every detail of our lives, other people, and the world around us. It makes us miserable and everyone in our lives. This copycat god isn’t plugged into the main source. We’ll tire of outages. Supreme control belongs to a supreme being. Soul glue: the all-powerful God’s in control. 2 Chronicles 20:6, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might….”
- Fame. Our souls bow to success, ride the coattails of talents, and keep the pot boiling with our drive for more. More dazzle. More glitter. More pizzazz. But we’re still empty. Soul glue: the name above every name, Jesus. Psalm 72:17, “May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun!…”
- People. Humans crawl onto our idol-pedestals and we pay them homage. The only flesh and blood to meet the God-standards? Jesus. Soul glue: the worship of God alone. Genesis 24:48, “Then I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord….”
- Me. There are times my heart desires the applause. My flesh wrestles to get all the glory. But my spirit is wrecked by His glory. The eclipse of the Son’s light changes everything. (Words I penned working on entries for a writing contest. Was my only desire to win?) Soul glue: the glory of the Most High. Isaiah 6:1, “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.”
- Religion. Practicing do’s and don’ts instead of relational obedience to the one true God. Soul glue: the communion with a Savior. Isaiah 43:11, “I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.”
- Atheism. The ultimate deceptive god on the planet. Hoodwinked about truth. A god whose premise lies in the idea that there’s no God. Soul glue: the belief in a true and known God. Isaiah 45:5, “I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God.”
Each of these gods pitch a slick-selling guise that will never fill our deepest longings. They will always fall short to fix our 
broken souls.
“I need Christ, not something that resembles Him.” C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed.
*All Scripture used is ESV from Bible Gateway.
*Images courtesy of Pixabay.
© 2016 by Karen Friday, All rights reserved
O, how I long each and everyday for the real true God. These outlines surely hit on target. How many times myself and many others struggle with copycats and gimmicks. This was good for me to read today. Thanks, Karen!
Having a relationship with a living, loving God trumps all 7 of those false gods. None of them are worth putting at the center of our lives.
I think another to add to this would be “Fun” or “Experience.” We often see pleasure, leisure, and laughs as the end all purpose of our actions. While all of things are awesome and have their place, they don’t fix brokenness. The Soul Glue could be that God gives us deep purpose – not a thin life.
Cool post!
Thanks for reading and commenting. Yes, I agree on striving after pleasure. I’ve also written in the past about addictions and how they are used to numb the pain, then the pain of reality returns and it’s a vicious cycle. They are antidotes often used as gods. I like the soul glue of God giving us deep purpose. Thanks for adding that one. Blessings!
Amen, only Jesus Christ is our “soul glue!”
Thanks for commenting, Beckie. Bargain-brand gods always fall short in mending our brokenness. We serve a God who holds the real soul glue.Blessings friend! 🙂