Tearing Down Idols with Truth

Dannah Gresh: What lies are you believing about your womanhood? Here’s Mary Kassian.

Mary Kassian: Feminism hasn't just whispered an alternative. It has enthroned an idol, casting a shadow across every thought and choice, demanding our loyalty and bidding us to bow. It's time to rise up like Josiah, and tear it down. 

Dannah: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free, for November 11, 2025. I’m Dannah Gresh.

Nancy: Were going to be hearing more from Mary today. But let me just start by saying that today is Mary's birthday. Happy birthday Mary; we love you, we honor you. You're a precioius friend and fellow servant of the Lord. You've had such a huge impact on my life and the ministry of Revive Our Hearts. We love you so much and thank the Lord for you!

Dannah: Yes, happy birthday, Mary!

We’ll hear part two of Mary’s message in a moment. But firs, we asked Mary to reflect on what God did at True Woman '25. I asked her how God used the message she had prepared in her own heart, before she gave it to others. Let’s listen to what she had to say.

Mary: As I was preparing, I was just noticing the various things in Josiah's life that I wanted to highlight in the message. The one in particular was his response to Scripture. When he finally heard the Word of God, how did he respond? 

Now, he had a successor that didn't interact with Scripture the same way that when when he heard Scripture. He actually scoffed at it, and he took a knife and cut it into pieces and threw it in the fire and then ordered that the prophet be executed. So, Josiah's response was so different.

He tore his garments which was just this enormous emotional response of grief and repentance and just an awareness of, "Oh my, how far am I, how far is the nation from following God's way." So it really was a time of contrition and a time of confession and that was what really launched the reformation in his time.

So when I saw that, it really cut me to the core. I was thinking, Is that the way I respond when I rediscover something that I haven't seen for a while or something new in the Word of God? Does it cut me? Do I have that depth of a response? Or is it just nah, whatever. Or is it like, "Oh Lord, here's my heart. Work in me"?

Nancy: So yesterday we heard part one of Mary's powerful message from True Woman '25.  It was all about how moving God’s Word from the corner to the center dismantled the lies of King Josiah's day in the Old Testament and sparked revival in the kingdom of Judah. Today, we’ll hear more about that story, and Mary will apply its principles to the idolatry and lies of our day. Let’s listen. 

Mary: Picture this: it's your girlfriend's birthday. You've been invited along with the group of girls to hit the town, and you're excited. You've got a cute new outfit hanging in the closet. You got the perfect pair of stilettos to go with it. Everyone's pitching in for a limo, and one of the girls has arranged an exotic male dancer, not a big deal, all in good fun. Now, you might carry a vague conviction from your general religious background that it's not a good idea, that it's not wise to get drunk or hook up.

But what if on the very day that that party was happening, you moved your Bible from the corner to the center and this was the passage you happened to read?

Now the works of the flesh are obvious, sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitious, decessions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I'm warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal. 5:19–21)

Uh-oh. Now comes the question. Are you going to let the Word dictate your convictions? Does this belief, this one, spelled out so clearly here in black and white, hold you in its grip? And if this is what you believe, what are you gonna do about that party tonight?

• Now, a conviction informed by Scripture will be strong, steadfast, and sure. 
• A conviction uninformed by Scripture will be weak and watered down or willfully wrong. 
• In the end, your actions display what your convictions are. You may have a conviction that you love the Word of God, but your actions display whether or not you really do.

In a Josiah moment, conviction blossoms into courage, giving you the resolve and the backbone to do what is right. Now, it took courage for Josiah to embark on his spiritual cleanup project. Pagan worship had been Judah's norm for more than fifty years. It was mainstream.

In a single day, a woman in Jerusalem might pass a handful of Baal altars, dozens of road shrines, and countless Asherah poles. Beyond the city was Molech's altar where she might hear chants and drums and shrill instruments. That big cacophony that was meant to drown out the screams of a child laid on the glowing bronze arms and swallowed by fire.

The sights and sounds of idolatry were everywhere. The smells of it were everywhere. Incense thickened the streets. Chants and pagan songs echoed in the marketplace. Holidays, festivals, and even community games revolved around rituals to foreign gods. Meals began with offerings to the household idols. Children played with clay Baals and Asherahs. Parents prayed to adult versions for fertility, luck, and protection. From cradle to grave, idolatry shaped every milestone. Paganism was not just tolerated. It was celebrated, normalized, ordinary.

It demanded allegiance like a rainbow-colored banner stretched across the busy street, loud, proud, and unashamed. And worst of all, it had invaded the most sacred space, the temple of the Lord Himself.

Now don't be fooled into thinking that idolatry is a relic of some primitive past. Today our culture parades its idols just as boldly: 

• Sex, sass, self-definition 
• Prestige, power, push for position 
• Fame, fortune, hero fixation 
• Glitz, glamour, gratification 
• Selfies, snaps, online sensation 

From the first cell phone ping to the last like of the day, these modern gods incessantly demand our worship.

And when Josiah began tearing down idols, he wasn't just tweaking religion, he was dismantling the cultural fabric of his nation, overturning what generations had accepted as normal. And it came with enormous risks. 

Politically, Judah was under a serious shadow and rejecting their gods could look like rebellion.

Socially, people had household idols. They cherished traditions, they didn't want to surrender. Even amongst the priests in the royal court, powerful figures were invested in keeping idol worship alive.

Josiah risked resistance, revolt, even assassination. And that's what makes his reform so remarkable. His convictions weren't hidden in his heart. They were lived out publicly, boldly at great risk. He chose to stand against tradition, against culture, and even against the expectations of empires because he was gripped by the truth written in the scroll. Convictions demand courage in the kind that is counter-cultural often, and often it comes at great cost.

 

Now this is a True Woman conference, and I would be remiss not to highlight that one of our major goals at True Woman conferences is to expose the popular ideas of womanhood that we so often cling to as false gods, and to call the church to reclaim the goodness of God's design for male and female.

And this heartbeat drives True Woman conferences, True Woman books, True Woman Bible study, True Woman podcasts. Our aim is to challenge you to move the Bible from the corner to the center when it comes down to your very identity of who you are as a woman.

Because in our culture, feminism hasn't just whispered an alternative. It has enthroned an idol, towering like an Asherah pole in every woman's courtyard, looming over our hearts, casting a shadow across every thought and choice, demanding our loyalty and bidding us to bow. It's time to rise up like Josiah and tear it down.

Why? Because what you believe about who you are as a woman touches everything:

• Your identity 
• Your attitude toward men 
• Your view of masculinity and femininity 
• Your capacity to build and sustain relationships 
• The choices you make 
• The goals you pursue 
• Your understanding of gender, sexuality, and morality 
• Your perspective on singleness, marriage, and family 
• How you interact with your husband 
• How you raise your children 
• How we engage with culture 

Your convictions about womanhood have consequences that extend far beyond your own story.

Now, in Scripture we learn that God's good design for the two sexes, His reason for creating male and female is inseparably tied to the story of Jesus—the Bridegroom who loved His Bride, the Church, and gave His life for her.

Now for these past seventeen years of True Woman conferences, our mission has been to tear down cultural idols that blind us to the beauty of the gospel story. And because God has so closely linked His design with the redeeming love of Christ, we believe that revival will break out in hearts and homes when those idols finally fall.

When that happens, others will be drawn to the beauty of a life that puts the gospel story on display—a life so joyful, so radiant, and so contagious that it cannot help but attract.

Stirrings of revival are exactly what we've witnessed in the Dominican Republic across Latin America, Germany, Vietnam, and among Hispanic communities in Europe. Earlier this year I was in Brazil, and I was overwhelmed to witness the fire for Jesus that the True Woman message is igniting in Gen Z.

Now, a Josiah moment moves the Word from corner to the center, it sparks conviction, courage, and contagion. And the thing I love most about Josiah’s story is how contagious his zeal for God was. Josiah wasn't a gloomy, stern-faced killjoy. He was magnetic. His enthusiasm and his exuberance were infectious as part of his quest to restore covenant faithfulness to Yahweh, he decided to host the biggest, most celebratory, most extravagant Passover feast party ever. He reinstated it as a national observant after years of neglect. 

The Bible records the enormity of his generosity. Josiah donated money from his personal treasury and from his personal herds—30,000 lambs and 3,000 cattle. With an estimated 30,000 people in Jerusalem, the scale of his gift was staggering. His provisions ensured that every single resident of Jerusalem and every visitor from afar could participate in the Passover.

Spurred by his example, his officials also gave. There was abundance for all. The priests and the Levites matched their zeal. They managed the logistics. The finest musicians in the land rehearsed for the extravagant outdoor celebration. And then came the big day and 2 Chronicles 35:18 declares, 

No Passover had been observed like it in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel. None of the kings of Israel ever observed a Passover like the one that Josiah observed. 

After that Passover, King Josiah's reform became a movement of revival that swept across the city and the nation, igniting hope and devotion not seen in generations.

But sadly, that spiritual awakening came to a tragic abrupt end. King Josiah was struck by an enemy arrow, and the nation grieved deeply, grieving the sudden loss of their beloved king. His untimely death felt as though it was the nation's last hope being torn away. The judgment held back for Josiah's sake now loomed over Judah. 

And just four short years later, Babylon besieged Jerusalem, carrying off nobles and royal family members and the most promising young men. And the superpower subsequently returned to destroy the city flat in the temple and exiled most of the population.

Was Josiah's reform for nothing? No. Many returned to the Lord. His courage and his faith left a lasting mark on the next generation. Boys and teens growing up under his reign witnessed his bold devotion to God firsthand. Josiah was a brief light in a darkening nation, but his example fortified the resolve of those who came after him—like Daniel in the lion's den, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and the furnace, all refusing to bow to a foreign God, because that's what they had seen in their king, Josiah.

Even in his short reign, Josiah pointed beyond himself. The reign of Judah's last good king foreshadowed the reign of the holy and eternal king. Josiah's lavish Passover with its abundant sacrifices pointed to the coming Lamb of God, Jesus, whose blood would cover the sins of the world. Pierced by an enemy's arrow, Scripture notes that Josiah became a shadow of him who would also be pierced and bleed out for His people.

King Josiah died at age thirty-nine, and his national reform movement came to an end.

Movements rise and fall. Rulers rise and fall. Politicians rise and fall. Nations rise and fall. Empires rise and fall. But Josiah moments—hearts awakened, courage sparked, revival kindled—blaze as beacons throughout history, shining the spotlight on King Jesus who conquered sin and death and whose kingdom will never fall.

Amy was an ordinary teacher in Belfast, Ireland until at sixteen she made a life-changing discovery in Scripture—1 Corinthians 3:12–15. She was thinking about that. That passage warns that only what is built on Christ will endure.

And while her friends dreamed of comfort and romance, Amy felt a pull to live differently and to pour her life into what was eternal. Her conviction leapt into action one icy morning when she saw a shivering mill girl on the street, mocked as a “shawly” for her ragged shawl. The girl was the kind that society and even churches dismissed.

Most would have walked on, but not Amy. The teenager gathered “shawlys” by the dozens and then hundreds and found them seats in churches and even bought them bonnets so that they could sit unashamed.

Bold and disruptive and socially shocking, Amy was discovering a courage that springs from a Scripture-based conviction. That courage carried her across the continents to India where she found young girls trapped in temple prostitution. And while others looked away, Amy stepped in. She rescued them, welcomed them as daughters, and built a sanctuary for hundreds of children that continues to this day. Her courage proved contagious.

And through her life example in nearly forty books, Amy Carmichael inspired thousands to live with holiness, boldness, and costly compassion. Her life became a blaze of conviction, courage, and contagious faith, which was an echo of Josiah's own moment of rediscovery. Sparking renewal not only in her soul, but in countless lives around the world.

Conviction. Courage. Contagion.

Each domino in a Josiah moment triggers the next. But to develop a godly conviction, you must rediscover God's Word and place it at the center of your life. And there's a second crucial prerequisite. When Josiah heard the Word, he tore his garments in raw anguish.

That was the part that really struck my heart when I was studying this passage, that when he read the Word, he was just overcome with contrition and confession.

His conviction didn't ignite, his courage couldn't take root, contagion would not sweep until he had responded with contrition and confession. A humble and teachable heart was the catalyst that set the entire sequence in motion.

It was a challenge to me because as I was reading, I was going, “Is that the way I respond?” Do I have a heart that when I see something in God's Word I go, “Oh God, I fall so short. Oh God, I'm sorry. Oh God, teach me.”

I want to invite you to step into this Josiah moment because we've heard the Word that leads us to Jesus, that points to Him from beginning to end, that points us to our Savior.

Nancy: Amen. That’s my dear friend Mary Kassian, reminding us of the importance of God’s Word back to the center of your life. What a powerful and needed message for us today.

If you were at True Woman '25 last month, you know we kicked off our six-year Wonder of the Word initiative with an invitation. An invitation to read through the whole Bible in 2026—not alone, but with thousands of sisters in Christ from all over the world. So if your Bible was left in the corner a lot over this past year, it’s time to bring it back to your nightstand, to your kitchen table, to your car—anywhere you can read it each day.

So if you'd like to get more information and join the women who are saying, “Yes, with God’s help, I want to read through the Bible next year,” visit ReviveOurHearts.com/Bible2026. 

Now speaking of January, I want to remind you about the beautiful new 2026 calendar our team has created for you. It’s filled with beautiful artwork and hand lettering. I’m also so excited that it includes a daily Bible reading plan so you can follow along with the 2026 Bible reading challenge. This month, we’re making the Revive Our Hearts calendar available to you for a gift of any amount. To donate and request your calendar, visit us at ReviveOurHearts.com, or call us at 1-800-569-5959. 

Well, I hope you’ll plan on tuning in again tomorrow as we listen to a panel discussion from True Woman '25. This was such a special feature at the closing morning of the conference. It was all about beholding God’s Word in every season, and so many of the speakers and Bible teachers you love shared during that time. I feel confident that you’ll be more excited to open your Bible after listening to these women.

Please be back for Revive Our Hearts.

This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

All Scripture is taken from the CSB.

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