A DEITY IS A SUPREME BEING —one with powers over the forces that control our lives and destinies. To worship a deity is to show reverence and adoration by honoring such a god with religious rites. To receive the blessing and favor of a powerful god requires sacrifices. There is an ascending scale of worth attributed to the sacrifice by such a deity. The greater the request, the greater the sacrifice must be. The ultimate requests demand the sacrifices of life. This is descriptive of commonly held religious beliefs that we see historically, and still today, in primitive cultures. It is a fact of the times in which Israel struggled, from the seed of faith begun in Abraham throughout the long history of the journey of the Israelites to the Promised Land.
Idolatry is the worship of someone or something other than God as though it were a god or the God. At Mt. Sinai, when Moses inscribes in stone the ten commandments, he is prompted to do so by the ipsissima voice of God, the Creator and Supreme Being. “God spoke these words: ‘I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me.’” (Ex. 20:1-2) In teaching the unruly Israelites, Moses is aware of their propensity for syncretism—the worship of many gods—developed in Egypt. “Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Do not make any idols.” (Ex. 34:14, 17) This attribute of supreme jealousy is only capable in its fullest capacity in God. In the N.T., James warns us, “don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?” (James 4:4-5) John tenderly cautions us, “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.” (1 John 5:19-21)
We understand the concept of the worship of false Gods. We fully realize the anathema that our God holds towards the handmade idols that reverence such adoration. We also know his opinion of these idols. The Psalmist says, “Our God is in heaven. But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.” (Psa. 115:3-8) As followers of Jesus, we shake our heads in disbelief, even as we see these historical aberrant worship practices still being carried out in various other cultural religions in today’s world.
But are we without idolatry? Many Christians live in the first-world cultures of affluence. There are vast differences between suburbia and Wall Street, between the 99 % and the 1 % . These differences can be clearly demarcated by zip codes and automobiles. What sacrifice is required to move into the 1 % ? How great is the desire to trade up from a 10-year-old Chevy to a new Lamborghini? What might we give of spirit soul and body to dwell in Long Island, or Beverly Hills, or Tuscany, or the Antigua Islands? Perhaps it is not a material thing that we dote upon. What if we had the freedom and capability to bend others to our will with impunity? Beware such a thought, for *“Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” What if our idol becomes simply a revered and seemingly innocuous castle of the mind? What if, with apparently the purest of motivation, the academic, the pastor, the theologian—or you and me—becomes more enamored with the knowledge about God than in knowing God? Is this, too, idolatry? John warns us that “everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.” (1 John 2:16)
Idolatry is the outward expression of the inner desire of the heart, and the aspirations of the heart have consequences that are worked out in real time and eternally. God, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, says: “The heart is deceitful above all things. Who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” (Jer. 17:9-10) Paul phrases it this way: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (Gal. 6:7) We find this core concept in Solomon’s proverbs: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Prov. 4:23) Jesus is also cautionary as he quotes Isaiah: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain.” (Matt. 15:8-9, Isa. 29:13)
If **“beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” then we should be very careful what we behold. We might just bow down to it.
Q. What is the desire of my heart?
*Lord Acton, “Letters to Bishop Creighton” – 1887.
** Margaret Hungerford, “Molly Bawn” – 1878.
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