The Power of Idols: My Struggle One Year On

How have you all been? First up, I apologise for my blog being inactive the past 10 months. Oh, how life happens. But anyway, welcome back! Let’s dive into today’s topic, idols. 

If you read part one of my idols blog, you’ll know my struggle this time last year. March 2023 was when I discovered these six handsome humans, a Korean boy band called ASTRO. All of them are funny, kind, and in their individual styles, have beautiful vocals. They caught my attention almost instantly, leading me to fall deep into the rabbit hole.

ASTRO in 2019

Well friends, one year on and not much has changed, I’m still in the struggle. Who else knows there is no easy path through the temptation of idolatry? But I’m happy to report, I’ve gotten a little wiser! (I think…) 

A few weeks ago, when I knew I wanted to write this blog, I felt ready. There I sat, thinking how far I’d come and therefore, ready to share all I had learnt about dealing with idols. But what became my first draft ended up being an entire update on the members’ happenings over the past year. It was suddenly clear to me that I hadn’t actually asked for God’s help on this one. I just wanted to share ASTRO’s successes and hardships. That was a scary heart check. 

But thanks to the kindness of Jesus, He understood where I was at and was able to show me the actual lessons I needed to learn. So without further ado, here are 3 things God has taught me in this battle of idolatry.

1) Whatever the person has that is making you idolise them, it has most likely come from God, our Creator.

Rocky and Moonbin in the middle of a gorgeous harmony

Boy, this one sure hit me. Imma swoon for a minute because when it comes to ASTRO, their voices are definitely one of the biggest things that got me hooked. For over a year now I’ve consistently listened to their songs, and every single time I melt into a gooey pile of sweetness. Something I’m more and more sure of the older I get, is that beautiful voices are a big weakness for me. 

Thanks to a recent game of ‘Red Flags’, this has been confirmed even more. If you’ve never played this game, basically one person in the group is the single person and everyone puts two ‘white flags’ out (these are amazing characteristics that would make the single person want to date them). Then everyone adds one red flag to the person next to them to make them less dateable. The goal is for the single person to choose your eligible bachelor. 

When it came to my turn to choose a bachelor, one characteristic stood out above them all. He has the voice of an angel. Despite his red flag being that he would constantly plot my death, apparently I will overlook that if he has the ability to sing heavenly sounds. 

Purely for the purpose of you seeing where I’m coming from, I’ve compiled a little video of my favourite vocals from the ASTRO members, from oldest to youngest. Whether it’s your style of music or not, you have to agree they are talented boys!

These voices are no doubt a gift from God. But through this experience, I’ve become aware of how easy it is to lavish love upon the voice, but not on the one who gave the gift of the voice. I love what Jackie Hill Perry said about this in one of her sermons. 

“If your idol is a real person, you have to understand that your idol is not the source of life. Everything that they have to give you is borrowed. Everything they have to offer you is most likely a gift from God’s hand.”

*A brief note.

After each of these points I mention, I’m going to lay out a couple of action points for myself to apply to my daily life. Perhaps they can help in your idolatry situation? Whatever that may be.

• Thank God for the voices of the ASTRO members, and all other voices I enjoy listening to. Pray that they would use their gifting to bring glory to God, the Creator and Provider of all good things. 

• Remember “Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” James 1:17 MSG.

2) Song lyrics can be beautiful, but that doesn’t mean they’re right.

What’s interesting about liking songs in a different language is that you have to look up the English translation to know what they’re talking about. Even when we listen to songs in English, we sometimes don’t realise what they’re singing about until we pay full attention to it. Often, it’s the beat that will hook us in the beginning.

The lyric video of ASTRO's 'Lights On'

Early on in my fascination with ASTRO, I learned that their songs were different from other kpop groups. After reading through some lyrics of other groups' songs, it’s a little terrifying. A couple of examples include:

“Hush, hush, I’ma take you down

Oh, I’m sorry, did I make you anxious?”

“I’m toxic, you’re toxic, I’m foxy

Think twice

Because I can’t pretend to be nice like other people.”

I know we shouldn’t be getting groovy to songs with messages like this. But songs like this are so ingrained in our culture, and usually, we’re used to just letting them play. Being a music lover, this is something I always need to check myself on.

But with ASTRO, they tend to choose a sweeter path. Since they have a number of songs that the members wrote themselves, I took the following lyrics as examples from those particular songs. 

“On your dark road

I will shine the bright light

I’ll hold you by my side so your heart won’t go away.”

“If I walk with you

Everything is okay

And I’ll always still love you.”

Beautiful lyrics, am I right? While they’re a lot nicer than the ones I first mentioned, I’ve been made aware of another hazard. As I listen to ASTRO sing these lyrics, I also fall into the trap of looking to them for comfort. Instead of looking to the ultimate comforter, my God. It’s so easy for something attractive to take our attention, when God is right next to us, waiting to give us something even better. If only we’d ask. 

Jackie Hill Perry said another thing that caught my attention. Honestly she’s great; I recommend listening to her! In her sermon about idols, she talked about the song ‘Dangerously in Love’, sung by Beyonce to her husband Jay-Z. Interestingly, she pointed out that this song is an entire worship song dedicated to Jay-Z! Jackie then said what I think we all need to hear.

“I’m all for a woman expressing her love for a man. I’m not for a woman putting her ultimate hope in a man.” Or anything else for that matter.

• Thank God for the gifts He has given us to share and enjoy. Pray that we never allow the people with these gifts to take the place of the One who gave them. 

• Remember “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.” 2 Corinthians 1:3 NLT.

3) Love and acceptance is a constant need and want for us all.

When it comes to looking up to idols, it actually saddens me how much we can put our ultimate hope in them. This isn’t as deep of a struggle for me as it is for others. I personally know Jesus, and I know how much He loves and cares for me. I know He can give me love much greater than any human.

As I have come to know ASTRO, I have learnt more about the role that their fans have. They named their official fan club AROHA. Maybe that’s another reason I started liking them, because aroha in Māori means love. But for the ASTRO members, they came up with this name from the phrase ‘AstRO Hearts All fans’. Which is beautiful, and really gives people the feeling that they’ll be loved and accepted by ASTRO. 

Every Kpop group has their fan club, but from comments I’ve read, ASTRO seems to be one of the few that loves their fans continuously and always gives them the credit for their successes. Their fans put them on the Kpop map, so to speak, and so ASTRO will always strive to work hard for them.

ASTRO getting emotional at their concert

In return, AROHA feels an immense amount of gratitude for ASTRO as they release songs, perform live, talk to them at fan meetings and in live streams. There are so many people that really look up to these guys, worshipping them for all that they give, and putting their ultimate hope in them.

This has become even more of a realisation for me as we passed the first anniversary of Moonbin’s death, a vocalist and dancer in ASTRO. There’s a lot of people that have experienced extreme grief due to putting so much hope in him; and it’s quite scary. Here’s what someone said in a post recently about him:

“...Why did you leave?? So much pain is beyond my endurance. I wrapped myself up. I don’t like anything anymore. Still, I love you the most and it will never change…”

Moonbin at one of his final fan concerts

To have a mindset like this, putting so much hope in another person, will only lead to destruction. We’re called to love people but if we build a foundation of love and hope with anything other than God, then when something goes wrong that foundation crumbles. God is the only one that needs nothing from us, yet gives us everything we need. 

Here’s the difference. While the relationship between ASTRO and AROHA is to meet each other’s needs for love and acceptance, God’s relationship with us doesn’t require us to work to meet His need for love. God is love. Let’s jump back into Jackie Hill Perry’s sermon on idols. She made a very good point on this.

“Because God isn’t created, He has no needs. God doesn’t need your praise, He deserves it. Because He has no needs, He has the capacity to meet everyone else’s.”

• May God help me remember who my true foundation is. Know that He is the rock that supports me, who never crumbles, and who never leaves me. Pray that God helps me to love people the way He does, and to always put my ultimate trust in Him.

• Remember that “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since He is Lord of heaven and earth, He doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve His needs - for He has no needs. He Himself gives life and breath to everything, and He satisfies every need.” Acts 17:24-25 NLT.

So whatever your idol might be…

Whether it’s a celebrity, a partner, movies, food, social media, or anything else, remember who created us and loved us first. I pray God helps us to recognise when we are giving power to other idols, and that He would shift our mindset to one of praise to Him, and only Him. 

Is this a struggle for you? Have you related to any of the points I shared today? Share your thoughts in the comments below!