Idol Worship In Modern Times

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Come Now; Let Us Reason Together

The Blessing In Criticism

I recall, a few years ago, being asked what was I going to preach about the following Sunday. Ordinarily, I don't talk to anyone about what I believe the Lord is preparing me to preach about, but this time I decided to test my thesis. I responded to the question by given him the working title "Idol Worship in Modern Times" and then asked him what he thought I meant by the title. His response was, "You are going to talk about how people make material things such as cars, house, television, and even people as idol gods; right?" I responded "No. He then asked, "What do you mean by the title?" I said, you'll find out next Sunday.

His response strengthens my thesis. His viewpoint about idols is common of people I have questioned. However, I think that idol worship in modern times is more subtle and more prevalent then we may think.

First, let's establish the biblical prohibition of idol worship. The Bible records the second of the Ten Commandments to be "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God" (Exodus 20: 4-6)

Secondly, let's look at one of the most notable accounts of idol worship, recorded in the book of Exodus. "So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he [Aaron] received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!"" (Exodus 32:3-4).

Today we are more sophisticated. The idol gods that are created and worshiped in modern times, are not carved images of gold, silver, wood, or stone, but are subjective image fashioned by our mind. Maybe this can help explain it better. The following words are taken from the diary of a man just hours before his death.

"In the name of God, the most merciful, the most compassionate. In the name of God, of myself and my family. I pray to you God to forgive me from all my sins, to allow me to glorify you in every possible way. God, I trust in you. God, I lay myself in your hands I ask with the light of your faith that has lit the whole world and lightened all darkness on the earth, to guide me until you approve of me. And once you do, that is my ultimate goal.

A few hours after writing these words in his diary, this man, and some friends, boarded a commercial plane, high jacked it, and flew it into New York's World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. His name was Mohamed Atta. Mohamed Atta worshiped his god with a deep love, and gave his life in the service to his god.

Although his actions were deplorable and horrendous, as he took the life of thousands of people, we must recognize he did this based on his concept (image) of god and saw his actions as a form of worship to his god. Although most people will never perform such an act as Mohamed Atta did, I submit to you, the world is full of idol worshippers, and you may be one of them. Everyone has the tendency to create an idol god to serve and worship. John Calvin, the French reformer and theologian said it bluntly. "The human heart is a factory of idols." Every one of us is, from his mother's womb, expert in inventing idols.

There are three general methods, by which we create idol gods in modern times.

First, the non-Christian, yet spiritual person creates their idol god by using the "God-is-to-me" approach. You'll hear them say things like "God is like a mighty Oak tree or great mountain, or God is like the roar of the waves in the ocean." These "New Age" people correlate God as that which gives them a sense of the sublime.

Secondly, there are those who call themselves atheist or agnostic if you are an intellectual. They don't believe there is such a being as God or that we could prove that, there is such a being. However, if the general meaning of the concept of god is a being used as an object of worship, then we find the atheist/agnostic is guilty of idol worship as well. They to have created a god they hold as an object of worship; namely themselves. They believe their personal beliefs are supreme and have ultimate authority to them. Therefore, they are their own god.

Finally, there are those who place themselves under the banner of Christian, of which I am one. This is the group on which I will focus my attention. Christians create idol gods using the "buffet-style approach". Just as if we were standing before a food buffet, we take the Holy Bible and select those things about God we like and pass by those things we don't like. When we reach the end of the buffet, we have a unique plate, so much of that, so much of this, and none of that. We accept the biblical attribute that God is love, but reject that He is also a God of wrath and judgment. We accept that God grants people eternal life in heaven, but reject that He would cast others into an external hell.

There is a common motive of each of these groups. Each group desires to shape their god into the image and likeness of themselves. Every idol god is a desire for man to worship himself. To the Christian, if you pick and choose only those biblical attributes of God that you like and then call it god, then, technically, you have become the creator, and you are then worshipping yourself.

This is what the Israelites did in the earlier passage. After making a golden calf and calling it god. The scriptural narrative continues as "they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play" (vs. 6) to their new god images. The god they created, out of their own lust, allowed them to "eat, drink, and play anyway they desired. Moses, who is in the presence of the Lord while this was occurring, is told by the Lord to return to his people because they have "corrupted themselves" (vs. 7).

So then, how does the Christian determine the true character of God so that they may worship Him in spirit and in truth? The answer to that question requires more space then is allotted to me. However, the answer begins with and ends with at a thorough examination and correct understanding of the Lord Christ Jesus as revealed to us in Holy Scripture. The Apostle John, in his first epistle to the early church writes, "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" (1st John 5 20-21).