Saturated in idolatry, the city of Corinth was a challenging ministry environment. The goddess Aphrodite had no fewer than three temples. Tourists from all over the Roman world came to pay homage to her and other lesser deities. Individuals lived their lives believing that everyday events were due to various gods. From this cloth were cut the first church and the first Christians.
Recently converted pagans who abandoned their idolatry had joined the church. There they met mature Christians who were engaging in practices that seemed contradictory. Christians were eating meat that had been slaughtered in temples! This grew to be a significant controversy that focused on the issues of idolatry, tolerance, and Christian love. While these topics are essential, we must first ask a proactive question. Does idolatry exist today, and is it a problem for Christians who live in the 21st century?
First, what is an idol? An idol is an object on which someone has fixed their identity, hopes, and fears. An idol can be an experience, circumstance, person, or object. An idol can literally be anything, which means the potential for idolatry exists everywhere.
Second, what is idolatry? To keep it simple, let's use the acronym BOW. An idol is anything that we "B-elieve, O-bey, or Worship" that is contrary to God's will. God's will is that we believe, obey Him, and worship Him based on His Word. In return, He promises to provide us with a new identity, promises us His sufficiency, and gives us a new lifestyle based on worship. In short, he promises to be everything and to do everything our souls long for. God alone can provide what we need. When we look outside of His provision for us, we are in danger of creating an idol that we imagine will deliver and provide for us. It is hazardous when we make an idol out of a person. No person has ever been created to bear the weight of being worshiped except Jesus.
Why do people create idols? The first of two answers is ignorance. People are created in God's image and have an acute sense of eternity. Without Scripture, people stitch together something to make sense of the universe they live in. Second, idols are created in the fertile soil of unbelief. When people doubt that God is faithful, they turn to another source they self-identify as trustworthy. In this circumstance, the person or object they place their faith. We see that either in ignorance or unbelief, the heart has a tremendous capacity to create its own idols.
The shape and form of idolatry may look different today than it did in Roman times, but the reasons and motivations remain the same: rebellious human hearts. The reformer Martin Luther observed that the human heart is a factory of idols, indicating this proclivity we all have to worship the wrong thing. So it's important that we examine our lives to see if any part of it is trusting in someone or something other than God. A good test to see if something is an idol in your life is to ask, "Would I be whole, healthy, and happy if I lost (x)? Since you know that God will never leave or forsake you, you can trust him wholly. Every idol you've ever faced is completing for that trust by trying to convince you God is untrustworthy. That's the key to defeating idolatry in your life! Trust God, and repent from trusting any other circumstance, person, or object that tries to win you away from Him.
I've linked a helpful article for you to explore from our friends at the website called "Got Questions?" It continues the conversation about idolatry by pointing out some very common ways we modern humans still create idols. Click here to continue…