Say No to Idolatory

What is Idolatory? 

Idolatry is the universal human tendency to value something or someone in a way that hinders the love and trust that we owe to God. It is an act of theft from God whereby we use some part of creation in a way that steals the honor due to God. (www.luc.edu)

Idolatry is a pejorative term for the worship of an idol, a physical object such as a cult image, as a god, or practices believed to verge on worship, such as giving undue honour and regard to created forms other than God. As Christians, idolatry is strongly forbidden.

Behaviour considered idolatrous or potentially idolatrous may include the creation of any type of image of the deity, or of other figures of religious significance such as prophets, saints, and clergy, the creation of images of any person or animal at all, and the use of religious symbols, or secular ones. Man commits idolatry whenever he honours and reveres a creature in the place of God, whether they be gods or demons (for example satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money etc.

Idolatry conflicts with our putting God alone first in our lives, in what we love and trust (see Exodus 20:3-5; Deut. 5:7-9; Romans 1:21-23). In idolatry we put something or someone, usually a gift from God, in a place of value that detracts from the first place owed to God alone, the gift Giver. That thing or person is an idol.

Putting God first means loving and trusting God first, above all, and with everything we are and have (see Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27). God has given us every good thing we are and have. (Neither we nor other humans created us or our capacities to do good.) Our focus should never be on the gifts themselves in a way that demotes the gift Giver. This would be idolatry.

For young people, idolatry is the obsessive and unrealistic worship, devotion or love directed at another person, who is then termed an idol. The obsessed person is known as the idolater and invariably has a false mental perception of who or what the idol represents. The idol may be someone who the idolater knows, such as a school friend or teacher; or, as is frequently the case with teenagers, a public figure such as a pop music star, film star or sports personality.

What causes idolatry? 

For teenagers, intense emotional attachment to unattainable individuals is a normal part of adolescence. These ‘crushes’ or infatuations are a preparation for later relationships, and are usually both brief and harmless. Teenagers, especially teenage girls, are at a point in their lives when they are just beginning to develop self-confidence and self-image. To help themselves, they often fix their attention on certain identified heroes that give them a feeling or semblance of success, status, wealth, romance, fashion, power, etc.

Symptoms of Idolatry:

•                   Feelings alternating wildly between love (when they're winning) and hate (when they disappoint).

•                   Friends, family and work seem insignificant compared to the idol (they are considered as 'under-achievers').

•                   Incessant stalking, writing to or phoning the idol (including pasting life size photos of the idol on bedroom walls).

•                   Feelings of isolation and that others do not understand the situation (no one can abide such obsession)

•                   Feeling a loss of identity (having discarded it for that of the idol).

•                   Obsessively thinking about the idol (evidence of absent-mindedness).

•                   Feeling that the idol is not the same as ordinary human beings (larger than life, can do no wrong).

What are the effects of idolatry? 

While adults would go for ancestral idols or idols that promise wealth, status, good luck, etc, idolatry among teenagers is usually harmless. Teenagers may attempt to walk/dress like their idol, watch all their films or matches, paste their posters in their room walls and read up everything they can about their lives. Usually this phase passes and teenagers grow out of it when they get a little older and start to develop relationships with those within their own peer group.

But occasionally, there may be a serious attempt to turn fantasy into reality. Some teenagers may begin to act as if the 'idol' is a part of their life. They would mould the 'idol' to suit a particular profile and any deviation is not taken lightly. Such fantasies often occur in those who feel unattractive to members of the opposite sex, or who wish to be accepted enthusiastically by their peer group.

There may be attempts to make contact with the person. This could include writing letters, sending repeated emails, constantly phoning, following the idol about or visiting their house or workplace, buying exact style of clothes, talking and walking like them, etc. This obsessive love can be extremely harmful, both to the idolater and the idol. Many teenagers cannot sleep or attend to their school work or chores as a result. This affects their studies and other social interactions. They are easily incensed over any untoward remark against their 'idol'. People, including celebrities, have been stalked by idolaters. Some celebrities have even been attacked or killed because they rejected the idolater’s attentions.

What does the Bible say about idol worship? 

Deuteronomy 4:15-18, "You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below".

Habakkuk 2:18-19, "Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. Woe to him who says to wood, 'Come to life!' Or to lifeless stone, 'Wake up!' Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it".

Note that all these words refer to physical objects which are worshipped, and to their characteristics or the processes by which they were made. From the words listed, we see that the idols were of different sizes and materials; some were made of wood, some of metal and some others were of stone. The words show that the objects referred to were treated as gods in themselves, because there was nothing beyond them. Thus they were lifeless, and worthless.

There is a curse for idol worshippers - those who take the glory that should belong to God to give to another, whether man or beast or image!

·                     Jeremiah 44:8 (New International Version, ©2011), "Why arouse my anger with what your hands have made, burning incense to other gods in Egypt, where you have come to live? You will destroy yourselves and make yourselves a curse[a] and an object of reproach among all the nations on earth”.

·                     Exodus 20:4-5 (New International Version, ©2011), “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, ..."

·                     Exodus 22:20 (New International Version, ©2011), “Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the LORD must be destroyed".

No man can dare the Almighty God. Elevating His creation or the work of the hands of man to an object/objects of worship is to dare God. Heb. 10:31 puts it this way, "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (New International Version, ©2008).

When we believe that anything beside God can help us, satisfy us, give us better pleasure or when we hold something as more important to us than God, then that object of our hope, salvation, help, pleasure, etc, has become our idol. It could be our property, our jobs/business, our spouse, our children, our hobbies/addictions, whatever it is that takes from us more time and attention than God - we are committing idol worship. Unfortunately, the majority of people who believe in God commit this gross offense without even realizing it. Idol worship is a gross injustice, the violation of the first commandment in all the scriptures of God, and is an unforgivable sin if one does not repent.

Quote of the Week!

An African proverb says, "Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved".