The danger of turning religion into an idol

Trevor is a good pastor friend. While having lunch with him one day, I could tell he was overwhelmed.

When I inquired about his tired appearance, he replied, "I've been busy working for God for nearly four decades, and I'm exhausted."

Tears started welling up in the corner of Trevor's eyes. "Pete, do you ever wonder how much is enough? How good is good enough?" I just listened.

"Most of my ministry has been spent living in fear that I'm not good enough for God," he continued.

"From day to day I question whether or not He really loves me. And if I'm honest, most of my ministry has been fueled by this fear. And the harder I try, the more I feel like I'm failing."

My friend is hardly alone in his struggle. Many of us in ministry wrestle with trying to please God with our good deeds. I call this the "spiritual treadmill," a condition that causes us to work harder and harder and never feel like we're really making any progress toward pleasing God.

Make no mistake: The spiritual treadmill is a trap. It's a lifestyle that leads us into believing freedom will exist at the next level.

It causes us to think if we could do just a little more for God, then we'd know He loves and accepts us. But once we reach our goal, the spiritual bar gets raised. We end up falling short and feel the need to make up for our failures.