The Idols of Acceptance and Greed
Pastor Steve Choi
June 14, 2026
Proverbs 1:8–19 (ESV)
8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching,
9 for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.
11 If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason;
12 like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13 we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder;
14 throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse”—
15 my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths,
16 for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.
17 For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird,
18 but these men lie in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives.
19 Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.
Main Idea: Idolatry is the most frequently discussed problem in the Scriptures. We will look at two idols: acceptance and greed from this passage. We will see the false promises of these idols and how the gospel transforms the heart to find what we seek in Christ. The idols of greed and acceptance sneak up on us. These idols control our hearts and make us do dumb things. This passage gives us a diagnosis of these two heart idols. Obviously, we know what we ought to do but today we look at why we have these idols and how the gospel renovates our hearts and impacts our actions.
“People do not have needs. We have masters, lords, gods.” – David Powlison
1. The Given Identity (Proverbs 1:8-9)
2. The Idol of Acceptance (Proverbs 1:10-14)
Of all passions, the passion for the Inner Ring is most skillful in making a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things. – C. S. Lewis
3. The Idol of Greed (Proverbs 1:17-19, Mark 10:20-22)