Downtown Community Church

Many of us care deeply about what others think about us. Almost all (if not all) of us seek approval from at least one person. We live in an approval-seeking culture, we just call it by the inverse: “cancel culture”. Whether it be in seeking out attention and likes on social media or in simply hating to feel like we’ve let someone down, the idol of approval has the ability to crush us. As is true with almost every idol, the idol of approval is indicative of a real need. When Jesus was baptized at the beginning of his public ministry, the Spirit of God rested on him like a dove and a voice from heaven declared, “This is my son, with whom I am well pleased”, showing the reality of the Son’s approval in the eyes of the Father.  At the basement of the idol of approval is the need to be valuable and acceptable.  However, many of us live with a core fear and insecurity that we aren’t that acceptable.  Consequently, the idol of approval trusts in people to deem us acceptable instead of God.The prophet Jeremiah draws