Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Pete Wilson is the founding and senior pastor of Cross Point Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Pete desires to see churches become radically devoted to Christ,  irrevocably committed to one another, and relentlessly dedicated to reaching those outside of God’s family. Pete and his wife, Brandi, have three boys.

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EMPTY PROMISES

Thomas Nelson

Contents

Acknowledgments...........................................................ixChapter One: Deceptively Good.............................................1Chapter Two: The Aware Life...............................................15Chapter Three: The Seduction of Achievement...............................27Chapter Four: Addicted to Approval........................................47Chapter Five: The Perils of Power.........................................67Chapter Six: Money Always Wants to Be More Than Money.....................89Chapter Seven: Religion Lies..............................................107Chapter Eight: Addicted to Beauty.........................................125Chapter Nine: Chasing a Dream.............................................141Chapter Ten: You Are What You Worship.....................................155Chapter Eleven: Living Close to Truth.....................................169Chapter Twelve: Soul Satisfaction.........................................189Notes.....................................................................207

Chapter One

I've been given an incredible gift.

In fact, I've actually been given 13,790 gifts. That's how many days of life I've been given to date.

Out of these thirteen-thousand-plus days I've been given, some have been challenging, some depressing, some adventurous. A few I wouldn't mind living over and over and over. I'm not sure I can actually pick an all-time favorite, but I sure have had some memorable ones.

There was the day I was born. That was a good day (I'm told).

The day I learned to walk was pretty good too.

The day I fell in love for the first time—who could ever forget that one?

The day I got my driver's license was definitely good for me. (I bet it was a scary day for my parents.)

The day I got married was a big one, and the days my wife, Brandi, gave birth to each of our three sons and I held them in my arms for the first time—unforgettable.

Then there are the days like one I experienced recently while on vacation with my family in Florida. Brandi and I sat on the beach with our feet in the sand, discussing our dreams for the future. With every word that came out of our mouths, we realized just how blessed we are. As we talked and dreamed together in the sun, we watched our three boys, who are now nine, six, and four, leaping over the ocean waves without a care in the world. A few hours later, we all sat on the beach together and watched that golden sun seem to drop into the ocean.

That day will be etched into my mind for a lifetime, not necessarily for what we did, but for how I felt. So many of my deep desires for purpose, worth, significance, acceptance, security, love, and beauty were met. For a brief few hours, it seemed like the perfect day.

Sadly, it didn't last.

Because right in there with those wonderful, good, blessed days, there have been plenty of days when I struggled with a nagging or even painful sense of wanting ... more. When who I am and what I have just didn't seem like enough.

Do you ever feel that way? I believe we all do at one time or another. Some things just seem to be consistent among most people I encounter on this earth.

We enjoy how it feels when the wind blows across our faces.

We root for the underdog.

We love how it feels to win, and we don't like being told what to do.

We're awestruck when we see sights like the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, or a bright red tree in the middle of autumn.

We love hearing the laughter of a small child.

We are disgusted by the contents of a chicken nugget, but we still eat them once in a while. (Well, maybe that one is just me.)

And beyond that, I believe most of us have a deep longing to feel certain things.

Twenty-one days after you were conceived, a tiny little electrical impulse stimulated your heart muscle. It was so faint it could hardly be detected, but it was in fact the very first beat of your heart. From that moment, you've been on a journey, and there are certain things your soul longs for on this journey. Whether you've realized it or not, your life is shaped by your search for them. You're designed to throw your energy and your respect toward whatever you believe can provide you with what you desire:

• purpose

• worth

• significance

• acceptance

• security

• love

• beauty

This is true for every one of us. We all long for more of something in our lives. We all treasure something or someone above our everyday experience. We all give our devotion to somebody or something. These impulses are a part of our DNAs, etched in our natures, as normal and natural as breathing. I believe they have been placed inside our souls by our Creator God.

Simply put, we are a people wired to worship. The question isn't, "Do we worship?" The question is, "Who (or what) do we worship?"

I believe the yearning for more that haunts us all exists to ultimately lead us to the person of Jesus Christ. That drive to worship is designed to impel us into proper relationship with the One who can fulfill our deepest desires.

This is showing my cards a bit early, but I'm convinced that only through Jesus will we ultimately discover our souls' contentment. Yes, we may encounter good days or even the occasional perfect day. But our longing souls will never discover true satisfaction until we turn to him. And whenever we attempt to find fulfillment elsewhere, we open ourselves up to a world of futility and frustration.

THE IDOL FACTORY

On my first trip to Kolkata, India, I visited a temple called the Kali Temple. Thousands of Hindus in Kolkata line up every day to pray to the goddess Kali. They worship her, hoping to gain power, victory, and healing in certain areas of their lives.

Some of the ways they worship astounded me. Not that many years ago, child sacrifices were common. Today, a hundred to a hundred fifty goats are sacrificed daily at the Kali Temple. A pool just outside the temple is believed to have healing powers. People pay to have their families and friends lowered into the murky, stagnant waters. There is also a tree with red ribbons hanging all over it. When I asked about the tree, I learned that women pay money to buy these red strings and then tie them to the tree, praying that Kali will allow them to have children.

I walked away with a supreme sense of sadness and darkness. How could a group of people be lured into such a ridiculous lie? How could they not see that this was just an elaborate moneymaking scheme for a handful of greedy priests?

But do you know what is equally ridiculous? You and I believing that a little more money is going to make us happy. You and I believing that moving up one more position at work is going to give us value. You and I believing that if we could just get a particular person to love us, we would have security.

Idols, in other words, aren't found just in pagan temples.

You see, I'm not really concerned that we are going to worship a tree. The real problem in our culture is not the making of physical idols—what some call external idolatry. What we have to guard against in our culture is internal idolatry. Ezekiel 14:3 describes this: "These men have set up idols in their hearts."

What is an idol? Traditionally we define it as anything that is more...