In times past I’ve heard multiple sermons on the dangers of idolatry. The preachers would explain how TV or any number of things were idols in our lives. I have to admit, I honestly thought they had gone too far. The idea of worshipping and idol was so foreign to me, that when they tried to tie it to watching too much TV, their message was lost on me. Fast forward a few decades, and now I find myself being a preacher of the gospel in a small Hill Country town in Texas, trying my best to serve God and this community. Recently we were manning “The Bible Tent” at a Blanco Market Day, and a nice couple stopped in, decked out in campaign attire for their candidate of choice. The husband pulled me aside and made some very strong remarks regarding politics and even brought up some scripture along the way. I questioned how this delivery would affect others for Christ, and how many people he thought would be convinced by his methods. We then talked about goals and what God would want, and I could see that it was a big challenge for him to set aside his strong convictions for a moment and think about doing what was best for people, and to do it in service to God. This event got me to thinking about the subject of idolatry again……maybe those preachers from my childhood were on to something.
It turns out that the Old and New Testaments both are very clear about the sinful nature of idolatry and what God thought of it. There are a great number of verses on idolatry, but for brevity we’ll just examine a few. Exodus 20 records God giving the 10 Commandments to the ancient Israelites, and it is no mistake that He starts from the beginning with prohibitions of putting other gods before Him, for making idols, for worshipping or serving them. God was absolutely serious about idolatry and even commanded capital punishment for it (Deuteronomy 13:1-18). Today we live under the New Covenant, found in in the New Testament, but we find that God’s attitude hasn’t changed on the subject; He is deadly serious (Revelation 21:8). When we look up the definition of idolatry in various dictionaries, we read that it includes worshipping a physical object, god, or goddess, but also in a broader sense idolatry is putting anything ahead of service to God. We can find this plainly in scripture by observing Colossians 3:5, where it says that greed (covetousness or greedy desire) “amounts to idolatry” (NASB). I wonder what else in our lives amounts to idolatry?
What things come between humans and service to God? I think if we are honest, the list of idols could be a lot longer than we expect. Many of you who have sat through sermons on a Sunday have probably heard about the dangers of materialism, or consumerism, and putting wealth ahead of God. This can even be translated into putting work ahead of worship, ahead of service to God and our fellow man. Is wealth, money, work, or the pursuit of material things an idol in your life? When is the last time you went without your phone for even a few hours? Some of us can’t be away from our phones for even a few minutes. Has devotion to any of these things taken the place of or removed our focus from God? It’s worth at least asking the question.
What about family? Do we emphasize family to the exclusion of God, who gave us our families in the first place? Jesus laid it down clearly in Matthew 10:37, if we love family more than Him, we are not worthy of Him.
How about entertainment? Think of all the time, money, and effort we expend to entertain ourselves….from the multiple streaming services on our TVs and devices, to all the events we want to attend, places we want to see, experiences we want to have, sports, hobbies, etc. Entertainment isn’t wrong of itself, but devoting too much of ourselves to it definitely is.
Are we consumed with self? How about self-serving interests? Sports and sports activities? Maintaining a perfect schedule? Working out? A career? How about politics and winning arguments? Let us be very clear, many of these things are not inherently sinful….what makes them sinful is putting them ahead of God and interfering in our dedication to Him.
Ok, so how do I know if something is an ‘idol’ in my life? Conduct a personal evaluation and ask yourself some questions: How much time do I spend with it (be honest!)? How does the time I spend with this activity stack up against what I do for God? Can I say my life is a service to God with this in my life? Can I do without this thing (like a phone)? If so, for how long? Is it preventing me from doing what God has commanded? Does it cause me to be closer to God or further away? Does it cause me to love more, or less? You might even consider asking someone you trust to give you their honest opinion as well. Sometimes the view we have of ourselves doesn’t gel with reality.
The Bible cautions about being overconfident and thinking everything is ok when it really isn’t (1 Corinthians 10:12, Matthew 7:21-23). The Apostle Paul warned about people exchanging the creature for the Creator, for exchanging the truth of God for a lie (Romans 1: 25). Let’s heed the warnings of the Bible and take a hard look at all parts of our lives, making sure we’ve purged all those ‘idols’ so that we can work in God’s kingdom effectively.
Your questions or comments are welcome!
Jeff Mullen
Blanco Hills Church of Christ
830-554-0701
blancohillschurch.com
blachohillschurch@gmail.com