American Idols?

Sept. 14

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American Idols?

“Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God.” (Lev. 19:4)

“You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God.” (Lev. 26:1)

“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” (1 John 5:20-21)

An “idol” is NOT simply something that you “like too much”. I can remember as a child and even as a young man being taught that “anything could be an idol”… “Oh you like football too much? That is an idol.”… “You worry about your mortgage? Maybe you have made your house your idol?” … “You want to spend time loving your family and being with your kids instead of every night of the week being gone? You have made your family your idol.”… I mean I have heard some weird things over the years. The term “idol(s)” appears over 150 times in the scriptures. An idol is much more than simply something you like, even something you like more than God at times. An idol is more than just some “trinket” that you make. When the Old Testament people of God “make” idols there is actually something deeper. Don’t get me wrong, there are silly places to put our trust and there are worthless things that capture too much of our attention. We can most definitely be distracted from the Lord. We can be shallow, materialistic, or foolish with our time; but I don’t think that is actually / completely capturing what the scriptures is talking about when it speaks of “idols”.

You see, something ACTUALLY happens when we worship an “idol” in a biblical sense. (Something also ACTUALLY happens when we worship God Most High.) Idols in the bible were material things involved / used in physical acts of worship to lesser gods. These acts of worship were designed to get the deity (god) associated with that idol to do something for you or to give you a certain ability or power. The wild thing is, it works. This is why God warns us as his people to stay away from it! God doesn’t prohibit these acts because they are powerless… he prohibits them to protect us. When we read the Old Testament or hear about these ancient people, they were not “dummies”. They were not simply worshipping rocks and sticks for no reason. They were worshipping and doing these things because it actually worked… it was just the worship of an evil, lesser, manipulative god who was in reality robbing them and bringing death… not life. In a very basic way, think of the verse: “the wages of sin is death”. (cf. Rom. 6:23) An act on behalf of a person (sin) brings about a true reality in their life (death). We might rightly say that “sin” is simply the worship of something or someone else besides God… it is doing something God did not give us permission to do! I know this sounds a little wacky, but it is true. When we “idolize” something or someone other than Christ we are actually worshipping the god behind it… and opening ourselves up to the power or change that comes from it. Our lives are lives of worship… worshipping something or someone with each breath. This is why Romans 12:1 says this: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”Often times we are not thinking about the God/gods behind our daily “acts of worship”. We also may not realize the “powers” we are dabbling with … exposing ourselves to if it is not the power of Christ.

It may be that the people of God have been deceived into thinking there is no real spiritual power to be had or bothered with in this world. This may be why we have redefined “idols” to mean something that is trite or basic… your hobby, your stuff, your daydreams. There is most definitely a god or God Most High behind all of those things in each of our lives. Which God/god is it? Who are we worshipping? When we realize this link or interplay… then we realize the very real power of worship. The good news is that it works BOTH WAYS. When we worship Jesus - the Son of God Most High - there is an ACTUAL link between us and the Lord. God truly changes us, transforms us, gives us strength and wisdom, leads us, speaks to us… real things happen. Real BAD things happen when we worship lesser gods. Real GOOD things happen when we worship Jesus Christ. This is the danger of “idols”… it is not simply that you like something else, but rather the very real fact that you can expose yourself to spiritual warfare and manipulation… especially if you are totally unaware of the reality. This is bigger than rooting fro some sports team or playing golf! Likewise, if we ignore this reality, our Christian walk becomes empty… void of the REAL and powerful relationship we have with Christ living in us. When we worship the Lord, something is actually happening… and the same is true in the other direction. There is SOMEONE behind everything / every action. All of life is worship. Are we using our worship on idols and being manipulated by lesser gods, or are we worshipping The Most High God and his Son Jesus? “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” (1 John 5:21) Love you guys. - JDP