The Oxford English Dictionary defines an idol as an image or representation of a god used as an object of worship, or a person or thing that is greatly admired, loved, or revered.

And that is relevant because….?

…….the theme of idols has been coming a lot in my readings recently. The scriptures, especially the Old Testament, are filled with references and stories of people worshipping idols. I am fascinated by humankind’s obsession with idols throughout history. Honestly I am often shocked that people get ‘sucked into’ worshipping idols.

Andy Crouch, an American author, was talking about this recently and I found his take on it fascinating. He talked about how those of us who follow Jesus often look back at idol worship historically and think the people engaging in it must have been unintelligent. We believe they clearly weren’t smart enough to work out what they worshipped wasn’t real. But Andy argues that the people weren’t unintelligent. They wouldn’t have worshipped these idols unless at one point they worked. There must have been at least one occasion where there was an abundance of crops, a healing, pregnancy, or something favourable that people attributed to an idol. Then they would have continued their worship hoping that the same results would happen again.

This makes much more sense to me. I can see how something like that can take root. In the same way a professional athlete develops superstitions after good performances the worship of idols, or certain rituals, can easily form as well. However, this is hugely problematic.

I see the main problem with idols being two fold.

Firstly, we live in a spiritual world. The enemy desires to distract our worship of the one true God and loves that we would worship anything else. He jumps on our desire for success, peace, and provision, and partners with our idolatry meaning that before we know it our worship is directed towards him. We might feel that our idols, or superstitions, are harmless rituals but they are not – we live in a more spiritual would than most of us in the west are willing to acknowledge. Its why back in the time of Moses, God makes it clear that the people were to have no image that they worship before God.

The second issue, linked to the first, is that idols will always ask more and more of us. The call for our devotion. Because a positive result happened once we believe that if we could just do that thing again then we could recreate that result. If it doesn’t happen, which is common, we naturally feel we need to up or increase our worship in order to see what he want to see. That involves us doing things that don’t seem logical, but because we gradually arrived there we don’t realise how illogical they appear.

All of that is a long preamble to what I was reading today in the Scriptures. The prophet Isaiah was writing to the people regarding their idol worship which was rife in his time. He was trying to highlight to them how crazy it all appeared.

No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say,
“Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?” Isaiah 44:19

This is so good. it feels like a wake up call to those who have gradually slipped into these crazy practises. How can we worship something we used to heat the house or cook my dinner, he asks. It seems so ridiculous when asked in this context. The thought of a heat or cooking source being something we worship should sober the most deluded of minds. We know from reading the history of Israel and Judah that his words had less effect than he would have desired.

His words are still needed today. We still ‘touch wood’ when we are sharing good news. We wear trinkets, carry lucky objects, kiss pictures of loved ones, all in the hope that somehow it will lead to more success. As a culture we haven’t changed much from the people Isaiah was speaking to.

We could go on, but in conclusion, I think we need to ask ourselves some questions. Where are the idols we are worshipping today? What are the illogical things we are doing that seem to make sense to us? Where are we increasingly offering our devotion outside of God? How can we change this today?

Our call, if we are a Jesus follower, is to devote everything to the one true God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! We must eliminate everything in our lives that distracts us from that pursuit. Lets be people of understanding, wisdom, and reverence.