I have always thought I understood what an idol was.

A golden calf. A carved image. A false god. Something people in the Old Testament bowed down to instead of God.

Easy enough to recognize.

And then I started noticing something in Scripture that I couldn’t stop thinking about.

Image.

We are created in the image of God. (Genesis 1:26-27)

Jesus is called the image of the invisible God. (Colossians 1:15)

Scripture tells us that God is at work conforming His people to the image of His Son. (Romans 8:29)

And then Paul says something remarkable:

“And we all… beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”

— 2 Corinthians 3:18

Read that again.

We behold.
We are transformed.
We become increasingly like the image we are beholding.

And suddenly I had a different question about idolatry. What if an idol isn’t only something we bow down to?

What if we can recognize our idols by looking at what is forming us?

That question has challenged me.

Because I don’t have a golden calf sitting in my house. But I have things competing for my attention.

I have voices I listen to.
Groups I identify with.
Things I defend.
Things I fear losing.
Things capable of determining whether I feel secure, valuable, accepted, angry, afraid, or offended.

And Scripture says something about idols that I had somehow missed.

Psalm 115 describes idols with mouths that cannot speak, eyes that cannot see, and ears that cannot hear. Then it says:

“Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.”

— Psalm 115:8

They became like what they worshiped.

That changed the way I thought about idolatry.

Because maybe the question isn’t simply:

What do I worship?

Maybe another way of asking it is:

What am I becoming like?

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Our Idols Don’t Usually Look Like Idols

This is where I think we can miss them. We know money can become an idol. Success can become an idol. Career can become an idol.

But what about things that aren’t inherently bad at all?

Family
Leadership and Profession
Ministry
Race
Politics
Achievement
Even our own experiences and wounds

These things can legitimately describe us. Some are important parts of our stories. But there is a difference between something that describes me and something that defines me.

That distinction matters.

I can say:

I am a leader.
I am a parent.
I belong to a particular profession, nation, culture, or community.

Those statements tell you something true about me.

But none of them can carry the weight of telling me who I ultimately am. And when something created begins carrying that weight, I think we need to pay attention.

Because identity creates a lens.

And eventually we start interpreting the world through it.

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Identity Changes What We See

Think about how differently we respond when something touches an identity we’ve made ultimate.

If my deepest identity is achievement, failure doesn’t simply mean something I attempted failed.

It can begin to mean: I am a failure.

If my deepest identity is political, disagreement doesn’t simply mean:
You see this issue differently.

It can begin to mean: You are against people like me.

If my identity is built around being admired, correction doesn’t feel like information.

It feels like a threat.

And then look at what happens.

The identity begins influencing the behavior.

We defend
Attack
Hide
Perform
Compare
Divide

And sometimes we do all of it while believing we’re simply responding to what is happening around us.

But perhaps something deeper is being revealed.

Jesus said:

“For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

— Luke 6:45

What comes out of us tells us something about what is happening within us.

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Conformed or Transformed?

This made Romans 12:2 land differently for me:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…”

I’ve read that verse many times.

But notice the two words:

Conformed.
Transformed.

Both describe formation. Something is shaping us.

The question is what?

And that’s where I think we have to become willing to ask ourselves uncomfortable questions.

What gets most of my attention?
Whose approval am I afraid to lose?
What can someone criticize that immediately makes me defensive?
What group am I unwilling to question?
What do I defend before I even stop to ask whether it is true?
What do I need in order to feel valuable?
What produces disproportionate fear or anger in me?

And maybe the hardest one:

Am I becoming more like Christ?

Because if years of Christianity are making me more knowledgeable but not more loving, humble, truthful, courageous, patient, and self-controlled, I think that’s worth examining.

Something is forming me.

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And This Is Where Leadership Enters the Conversation

We usually begin leadership conversations with skills.

How do I communicate better?
How do I motivate people?
How do I cast vision?
How do I make better decisions?

Those are worthwhile questions.

But I’m beginning to think Scripture starts somewhere earlier.

Who is the person doing the leading?

James asks:

“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.”

— James 3:13

In other words:

Show me your life.

Because eventually who I am enters every room I lead.

My insecurity, pride, need for approval, and fear enter. My idols enter, too.”

But so do humility, integrity, courage, gentleness, love, and an increasing resemblance to Christ.

Maybe leadership doesn’t begin with learning how to influence other people.

Maybe it begins with paying attention to what is influencing us.

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So What Are You Beholding?

I don’t think the answer is to become terrified of everything that influences us.

I think the answer is to become aware. To examine. To test.

To return again and again to Christ.

Because Scripture gives us an extraordinary picture of God’s intention for His people:

“…to be conformed to the image of his Son.”

— Romans 8:29

There’s the image.

Not the image my culture tells me to construct. Not the image my profession rewards. Not the image my political tribe demands.

Not the image created by my accomplishments, failures, wounds, status, or other people’s expectations.

Christ.

And maybe that gives us a better way to think about leadership.

Before I ask:

Who am I influencing?

I should probably ask:

What is influencing me?

Before I ask:

How do I lead others?

I should ask:

Who am I becoming?

Because what we behold shapes what we believe.

What we believe shapes who we become.

And who we become shapes how we live and lead.

You are being formed.

The question is: into whose image?