Satan is always scheming and making efforts to tempt us, to dishearten us, and to break us with many other things that can take away our focus from God. The Scripture says, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8, NASB) and in John 10:10 (NASB), “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”
One of the ways this Satan, this adversary, this thief attacks us is by diverting our minds and hearts from God and his good works to empty, vain, and wrong things. He does it in such a clever and sneaky way that sometimes things seem more attractive to our eyes than God and we start seeking and chasing after them. This is also known as “idolatry,” and God does not take any pleasure in idol worship, then or today.
Ancient Israel and Idol Worship
Thus says the Lord in the first two commandments of the Decalogue:
“You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth.” (Exodus 20:3-4, NASB)
God knew that, as limited as we are in our imagination and understanding of God, we will be tempted to make something to worship like what we have seen or experienced.
For example, in Exodus 32, the Israelites end up making a golden calf for themselves as an idol. For us, this is foolish, and we may look down at them and ask why would someone want to worship something that cannot move or talk? But this is something the Israelites saw as being worshipped as a god in their former land of slavery (bulls were emblematic of gods in Egypt and Canaan), and what was visible to them was more desirable than a God that was invisible.
Some scholars suggest that they wanted the calf to serve as more of an intermediary between them and God, as Aaron proposed celebrating a “a feast to the LORD” the day after crafting the idol. However nuanced their intentions might have been, however, by the time Moses returned from the mountain, they were worshiping it, sacrificing to it, and saying, “This is your god” (Exodus 32:8b). Idolatry can be subtle (more on that below).
Idolatry in the Bible: “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol.”
In biblical times, idolatry was usually visible in the forms of carved images, icons, trinkets, etc. Through these physical trinkets, images, statues, etc., people believed they could interact with the gods, e.g., through prayer. In defiance of God’s law, there were places set aside within ancient Israel as pagan shrines, such as described in 2 Chronicles 14:3 (NASB): “foreign altars and high places . . . memorial stones . . the Asherim [Ashera poles].” Daniel 5 describes the Babylonian nobility drinking wine and praising “the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone” (Daniel 5:4, NASB).
The Power of Idols?
There are still parts of this world where pagan idolatry is very prevalent and easily visible in the forms of images and statues. Some people worship their ancestors, some worship animals, some worship stars and planets, and some worship special humans. The list goes on.
So, for those of us who believe in only one, true God, do we see idols as anything other than trinkets and images? Here, we can learn much from a comment the apostle Paul makes in his letter to the Corinthians, who lived in a highly pagan city. In the letter, he explains that food is food, and we can eat whatever we want, even food that has been sacrificed in a pagan ceremony. That is, it’s fine so long as we’re not making somebody stumble—such as tempting a former idolater to relapse by offering him food that had been sacrificed in an idolatrous ceremony.
And yet, although Paul doesn’t see such food as spiritually tainted, he doesn’t feel the same away about idolatry itself. Referring to idolatrous sacrifices, he writes, “The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons” (1 Corinthians 10:20, NASB). In terms of spiritual danger, idolatry is as dangerous as it gets.
“In terms of spiritual danger, idolatry is as dangerous as it gets.”
An interesting paradox about idols in the Bible is how, though they are highly dangerous to our souls, they themselves are impotent. Notice Jeremiah’s satirical take on them:
“Thus says the Lord, ‘Do not learn the way of the nations, and do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens. Although the nations are terrified by them; for the customs of the peoples are delusion; because it is wood cut from the forest, the work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool. They decorate it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers so that it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they, and they cannot speak; they must be carried, because they cannot walk! Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, nor can they do any good.’” (Jeremiah 10:2-5, NASB)
To sum up, although deceived people are inadvertently using idols to interact with demons, the idols themselves can do nothing. Keep your focus on God—who has the real power.
Idolatry Today?
When we translate the prohibition of idolatry into our current setting, we may assume that, even if we struggle with other vices, we wouldn’t be idol worshippers in any significant way, as we are sophisticated, modern people. My conviction though is that we in the present can be just as susceptible to idol worship as people in the past and people in faraway places. It’s just that in modern times the worship of idols happens differently.
Tim Keller in his book Counterfeit Gods states that an idol is “anything more than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, and anything that you seek to give what only God can do.”[1] An idol can be anything that takes God’s place as the most important focus and priority of our life. The Bible contains many examples of idolatry and exposes it beyond the worship of carved images and false gods but as a matter of the heart (Philippians 3:19) and love for possessions (Matt 6:24).
The people of God have always struggled with idolatry, and I would even say the problem of ancient Israel was not only idolatry but syncretism where they loved God but also kept other idols as their sidekicks. Some examples: Rachel stole her father’s household idols (Genesis 31), an Israelite in the time of the Judges named Micah carved a prosperity idol (Judges 17), and the majority of the kings of Judah and Israel indulged in idol worship. It was because the people continued struggling with idolatry that prophets like Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Elijah continued to warn them of God’s judgment until it came with all the devastation they promised.
Idolatry in the Bible: “The problem of ancient Israel was not only idolatry but syncretism where they loved God but also kept other idols as their sidekicks.”
The Subtlety of Idolatry
Idolatry can be sneakily subtle, even for Christians. Worshippers of physical idols are at least honest enough to recognize their idolatry, unlike many of us who lug less-obvious idols with us all of the time without ever feeling the need to repent.
Some common idols which we carry either tangibly or intangibly are—and notice how some of these are already negative while others are good things inflated into being bad—cell phones, “me time,” money, video games, TikTok, news outlets, political parties, nationalism, racism, celebrity worship, gender ideology, pets, possessions, self-righteousness, pride, anger, jealousy, relationships, fame, beauty, gluttony, comforts, etc. The top one in modern Western tends to be our own “self,” which the world around us increasingly makes into something we both create and worship. Common idols within churches today can be church numbers, inspiring feelings, trendy music, comfortable buildings, sophisticated technology, prosperity, and even ethnocentrism.
If I am honest, one of my own favorite idols is success, which still sometimes rules over my heart and compels me to be overly competitive and self-critical. Being from a third-world country and middle-class family, I once desired every possible comfort and luxury one could have. I dreamt that once I finished my Economics degree I would apply for a job at some multinational company or top bank and live an easy life. The year I graduated, 2017, I got accepted at a Bible College in Idaho, and my whole worldview shifted because I started to look closer at Jesus’ cross and what actually mattered.
Idolatry in the Bible: “Idolatry can be sneakily subtle, even for Christians.”
The more I studied the Bible, the more I fell in love with God. As the days passed, I gradually dropped personal idols I had carried for so long and they shattered. In those moments, I experienced God setting my focus on Him and calling me into obedience and faithfulness.
Where’s Our Focus?
When we lose focus on God, we become susceptible to picking back up our idols. In pursuing my bachelor’s and then my master’s degree in Bible, it was good for me to work hard-working jobs to learn servant leadership to honor and please God. We need constant reminding that whatever we do, we do it for the Lord, who came to the earth not to be served but to serve. Thanks to this transformation away from idolatry, now the more I serve God in any capacity, the more I enjoy His presence.
The disheartening thing about carrying idols is that these are barriers in our life with God that hold us back from Him. As we give more of our eyes and hearts to them, they slowly and gradually become more important to us.
Even good things can become idols when we value or prioritize them over God, and over time, they can lead to the destruction of not only our relationship with God but also with people. We become callous in taking care of others and serving them. Idols dull our spiritual hearing and harden our hearts to God’s mission and work. Praise God that He never gives up and keeps helping those who seek Him in honesty and humility.
What God Requires
We need to be actively pursuing God and allowing His Spirit to empty us of all toxins so only God can reside in the center of our hearts. But this can be a challenging process.
First, God demands full devotion and faithfulness. As with the “rich young ruler” (Mark 10:17-22), Jesus may ask you to give up what you hold most precious. The young man thought he was already being obedient to God, but his heart was centered on wealth. Are you willing to give up something you love and depend on when it comes between you and God?
Second, in Matthew 22:37-39, Jesus said, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’” He reminded us to have God be the priority. So, is God on my heart? Do I fully and wholly love him? Because if I do so, then I can’t let things pull my heart away from Him.
Third, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we may be sent to fiery places or be persecuted for now bowing before the idols of the world (see Daniel 3:15-18). Are we willing to face the fire anyway? Because like them, we know who God is and that nothing else comes close to commanding our allegiance.
“God demands full devotion and faithfulness.”
I want to recommend that you take 3-5 minutes of solitude this week and allow the Spirit to speak. What have you been holding onto that you need to give up? What distracts you from God after or even during your times of prayer and Bible reading? Be transparent to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Allow Him to show you what might be an idol in your life and how to let it go. Allow Him to fill you with God’s power and glory in such a way that it shines through you without being overshadowed by idols.
[1] Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters (New York: Penguin, 2009), xvii.
