In our last newsletter, the focus was on identifying the strategies people use for self-redemption. This month we will explore what to do next. Before we help people relinquish their self-redemptive strategies, it is important that they know why it is there and how it operates. Distressing emotions can point to a particular deep idol. For example, anxiety points to the deep idol of control. People with the deep idol of control tend to struggle with symptoms of anxiety, but anxiety itself can also manifest as an expression of control. So anxiety can prevent people from interacting with others so that they would never risk rejection (Core Hurt) and feel more defective (View of Self).

The big question to ask is: How can we help clients move from self-redemptive strategies to trusting and obeying God? The process starts with exploring their strategies, which we will go through in this month's tool. Next month, we will share how to help clients address what's driving those strategies, namely, their View of Self, by internalizing the gospel through an encounter with Christ.Our approach understands that human problems are complex and idolatry is part of the complexity. So, it is important to identify the idols in people’s lives that are both surface and deep. Surface Idols are the easily identifiable things, people, pursuits, such as marriage or success, that we rely on to make us happy. Yet, what we often do not see are the unconscious desires that lie underneath that become disordered and misplaced on things other than God. We call these deep idols. For example, someone might make money an idol (Surface), but she does so to secure a sense of control (Deep Idol) over her life. She ultimately believes that having control is what will save her from pain and shame and probably seeks to have control in other ways as well. Each person's tendency toward a particular Deep Idol develops in the context of each person's unique personality, developmental history and experience of suffering.

This month’s tool will highlight the characteristics of four Deep Idols to help you begin to identify them in yourself and the people you work with. Next month, we will follow up with what you can do once you have identified them.