THE DANGER IN IDOLS

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Your name, Lord, endures forever, Your renown, Lord, through all generations. For the Lord will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants.

The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.

All you Israelites, praise the Lord; house of Aaron, praise the Lord; house of Levi, praise the Lord; you who fear him, praise the Lord. Praise be to the Lord from Zion, to Him who dwells in Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord.

Psalm 135:13-21

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Do you worship idols in your life?

Think carefully about the question before you answer it because we often think of an idol worship as praying to and revering a god represented by some material item, a figure fashioned out of some wood or rock for example. But idol worship is far more than that today for the world offers any number of things we can become so attached to that we idolize and worship them, ever drawing us away from the God who we should worship.

Let’s consider a few examples of what could be consider modern day idol worshiping:

1. Money.

There’s a reason Jesus preached on this matter during His Sermon on the Mount. He knew how much money did and does entice people away from the Lord. In fact, Jesus went as far as to say, “No one can serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24).

Essentially, Jesus cuts right to the point. We have a choice to make. We can’t be enslaved to money and still enslaved to God. It’s one way or another and we need to decide who we will allow to be our master. Will we pursue and give our devotion to the temporal riches of the world or will we go after inheriting the eternal treasures of heaven?

2. Sex.

Look everywhere around you in society and you’ll find sex being urged and promoted. We can’t seem to get away from the onslaught of sensuality which leads many into lust more than love. Sexuality becomes worshiped as people can’t seem to get enough of the pleasure it offers. With this, it’s little wonder why pornography has gained such a solid foothold in our world today as sex is promoted and placed on display in its many erotic forms.

We’ve made a mockery of the special nature of love that God intended for a husband and wife to share by commercializing and marketing sex until it is just another vice we can fall into and worship.

3. Substance Abuse.

Whether it’s alcohol or drugs, many seek to deal with their life’s circumstances by turning to substances they hope will help them cope with their circumstances. They do so at the expense of a God who is always there for them and ready to work all things for their good. The substances they abuse become their life focus and they can get to a point where they would do anything to get what they need, even if it means committing a crime. Such is the pull alcohol and drugs can have on a person.  

4. Other people.

We tend to hold other people in higher esteem than God in our lives. I don’t know how many times I have heard someone say that this person or that person was “their idol”. We tend to worship and be in awe of people who have skills, talents, and gifts that amaze us. Whether we’re talking about music, movies, or sports, there are people placed up on a pedestal and adulated by thousands and sometimes millions of people. We even have a television show titled “American Idol.”

I could go on but you get the point. This world brings a multitude of things to us that seek to compete with the worship and attention that God demands and deserves, things we will idolize if we’re not careful.

Perhaps in the end translation, we should always remember the following words of God from the commandments He passed down to His chosen people Israel during their exodus from Egypt to Canaan:

“You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.”  Exodus 20:3-6

Two things are pretty clear:

1. God refuses to compete with anyone. He demands that we worship and bow down to Him and Him alone.

2. He will not hesitate to pass judgment for the sins of His people, whether idolatry or otherwise, onto future generations. In other words, it’s more than just about us.

Friends, God’s word gives us a strong warning, particularly in these words from the 135th Psalm:

The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.

In other words, we will become like the things we worship and idolize. That is the danger found in idols and why we need to worship God and God alone, the One whose name endures forever, His renown through all generations, now and forever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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