No one will deny that many aspects of Jamaican culture have changed and are changing. Sociologists, rightly, will remind us that culture is not static and change is inevitable. Nevertheless, we cannot deny that there are some observable changes that, arguably, are eroding much of the positive aspects of local culture.

Though many wiser and more erudite minds have written, lectured, and preached on this issue within our local context, I wish to add another perspective to this discussion. Could it be that some of the unsettling cultural changes we observe can be attributed to our preoccupation with idols?

Before we begin conjuring vague images from Sunday school, let me quickly share a few lines from Timothy Keller’s book Counterfeit Gods, which hopefully will assist in developing a more robust understanding of the concept of idols. “An idol is something we cannot live without. We must have it and, therefore, it drives us to break rules we once honoured to harm others and even ourselves in order to get it. An idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts, ‘If I have that, then I’ll feel my life has meaning, then I’ll know I have value, then I’ll feel significant and secure.’ There are many ways to describe that kind of relationship to something, but perhaps the best one is worship.”

Idols are created in the heart, we hardly fail to recognise them in others and, ironically, scarcely see them in our own lives. Friedrich Nietzsche is credited with the line, “There are more idols in the world than there are realities.” And I wish to confront just a few that are common in our island home.

*Renown: We will do anything to be popular. We are addicted to fame and we will do anything to get a ‘fix’ should we ever drop out of the news cycle. Nobody wants to be a nobody.

*Wealth: Jamaica is filled with stories, ranging from the humorous to the illegal, of how we have worshipped at the altar of wealth. We should refrain from pointing fingers, too, as it has been insightfully noted that the poor man, despite his accusations, does not think less about money than the rich man.

*Comfort: We want our own peace, quiet, luxury, and decadence. We are not too bothered that our neighbours are not ‘comforted’ and are only concerned about their comfort when their discomfort threatens our safety.

*Success: We all want to share our rags to riches story — how we made it, how our children

made it, how our small company grew, or how we transformed that government ministry/department/ agency despite the fact that we may fail to genuinely mentor a subordinate as they threaten the success we so deeply desire.

*Sex: As a high school teacher I am keenly aware of how we can have a master-slave relationship with this idol. I need not say much as it is not hard to understand how sex can become an idol.

*Religiosity: This may be a strange one for some, but hopefully brief contemplation will justify its inclusion. We are often so busy gaining salvation (not just the Christian religious but also those of other faiths and even the areligious) that we exercise a rabid selfishness, disregarding the humanity of others while we travel up “the rough side of the mountain”.

*Resilience: I strongly believe that we have made resilience an idol in Jamaica. We take pride in our resilient spirit, all the while knowing that we had it in our power to create more conducive conditions for individual and communal achievement but refrained because it was not politically expedient. Many have even repressed and suppressed trauma since this sullies the image of resilience we try so desperately to portray.

None of these idols are inherently evil: money, success, and even sex are good — to borrow a line from Genesis 1, they are “very good”. I tend to agree with Elyse M Fitzpatrick in her book Idols of the Heart that these idols represent “love gone wrong”.

What are some of the practical implications of following idols?

A security guard employed to a company committed to profit above all else and pays wages significantly lower than they are able to will spend less time with his family, invariably contributing to less than desirable family structures. A young up-and-coming artiste, in order to gain millions of views on YouTube and become famous, will record songs promoting violence because that is what brings in the cash. In order to build another enormous edifice “dedicated to the Lord”, church leadership will guilt trip the membership into making bad financial decisions, jeopardising the already-meagre resources available to care for their needs.

Frighteningly, these idols are never satisfied! You hardly ever hear of a company that has made a massive profit deciding to distribute some of that wealth to their employees and the community in which they operate. I imagine the snickers as corporate business leaders state, “That’s just not how business works.” But could we tweak the model a bit so there will have a future market for your products? Thankfully there are several local companies that have adapted their operations to include greater social outreach.

Here’s my point in all this: Our desires for more and more are out of control. We attend with reverential attentiveness to the needs of our idols, hardly giving thought to the impact on others and the environment.

How then do we get rid of our idols?

Hopefully, a discussion is a starting point. We then continue by identifying them and then rejecting them. This calls for radical honesty as we all confess to our personal idols, if not communally, at least intrapersonally. Should we want to see a Jamaica that surpasses the nostalgia brought on by the black and white videos of yesteryear, we will have to admit that the gods we now serve do not serve us, and never will.

Some may think this mere naïve idealism. Again, to a comment from Tim Keller in his book Counterfeit Gods, “Is there any hope? Yes, if we begin to realise that idols cannot simply be removed. They must be replaced.” What do we replace them with? The real God Himself.

At this point I will be both apologetic (expressing regret) and apologetic (making a defence for Christian faith). I am painfully aware of the horrors that many labelled Christians have meted out (and some sadly continue to do so) to others. For this I sincerely and deeply apologise. I wish to add, too, that this behaviour is not normative but an aberration of the person at the centre of Christian faith and teaching.

At the centre of Christian faith is Jesus Christ, who took on our shame, became a curse, and died on a cross for us so that we may have His eternal blessings. The real God is amazingly personal: loving us beyond our wildest dreams and redeeming us from cosmic hopelessness. Money is a hard master, it takes away our shame through tedious work, Jesus saves us from our shame by sheer grace. Money’s value fades but what Jesus offers is irreducible.

Renown demands our service but Jesus came to serve us. The false gods are prophetic in their insufficiency. They cause our hearts to desire something greater — something real. The Christian faith believes that this greater and this real is realised in God Himself. You may ask how does this benefit me and the community?

Well, at least immediately the radical self-centredness is replaced by radical other-centredness. When asked what was at the zenith of God’s commands for man, Jesus said this, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39)

The Christian faith believes that when our loves are ordered correctly — God is loved highest and dearest — it is only then that we can truly love those in and outside our community. We also believe that the truest way to show that you love God is to love those in and outside your community.

The human heart is complex and any attempt to reorient a community of complex hearts will prove slow, painful, and fraught with trouble. But it is worthy work. If the task seems too daunting, do not be overwhelmed. I suggest that we start by heeding Gramps Morgan’s advice: “… give a little more than you take… try to fix more than you break… help a stranger in the rain… stand up for those down on their knees… lend a voice to those who cannot speak… shine a little light and give sight to the ones who’ve lost their way”.

It may just be that true cultural renewal happens and we advance the mission of creating a place for people like you.

Phillip Washington is an educator and pastor. Send comments to phillip.g.washington@gmail.com.