What is Idolatry?

A friend of mine recently went to Taiwan. One of the things that stood out to him was the amount of idolatry he saw. People had little statues and shrines that they worshipped, gave gifts to and feared. I remember seeing the same sort of thing when I went to Bali. In rich, intellectual Australia we can look down on people like that for their idolatry. But is idolatry a problem we face in Australia? Most of us face two problems. Firstly we don't look at what idolatry is from the Bible, so we have a wrong idea about what it is. The second problem is that we are unaware of what our idols actually are and how much they affect us. So let's take a look at what idolatry really is.

What is an Idol?

What is an idol and what is idolatry? Idolatry was worshipping a man made statue or image as your god. Worship is about giving something worth, it is acknowledging that thing as greater than yourself. Worship is making yourself a servant of the thing you are worshipping. But it is important that we remember that most times the Bible talks about idolatry it is talking about people making statues and carvings that they treat as god. They may claim that the idols do the same things the real God does. They may even claim that the idol is a representation of the real God. These images and carvings are at the heart of what idolatry is. But the Bible uses this practice of literal idols as a metaphor to paint a bigger picture of idolatry. Essentially idolatry is worshipping anything that isn't God as God. This is why the Bible can call greed idolatry (Ephesians 5:5, Colossians 3:5). Greed is the worship of money instead of God. It is treating a created thing with the importance that belongs to the creator.

Another way we can think about idolatry is as Isaiah does. He talks about a man who chops down a tree for fire wood, who then uses the rest of the wood to make an idol (Isaiah 44:12-20). He looks to this idol to save him, even though it can do nothing. Now there are things God provides to save us. Firemen, policemen, ambulance drivers, medication and much more. But these good things are things God created and provided. We should thank him first and foremost for them. An idol is anything that we think or use to save us, disconnected from God and his will. We can rely or long for beauty or sport or school or friends in a way that only belongs to God. We think these things will save us. These things become ends in themselves rather than gifts from our God. We think these will things can make our lives meaningful and happy. 

The first idolatry happened at the garden of Eden where Adam and Eve thought that they could be like God and have his power. They thought disobeying God would give them the good life. They thought the best life was life where they took the place of God. What they failed to see was that trusting God and relationship with God is what the good life is all about. Since that time all of us have engaged in idolatry. Whether it is thinking something is more important than God, whether it is thinking something other than God and his plan, will save and help us, or whether it is by worshipping statues, all humanity are idolaters.  

Why does God get so jealous?
The first command in the Bible to not commit idolatry is found in the ten commandments:

 ⁴ “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:4-6)

What we see from this command is that God doesn't want people to worship things other than him. The reason is because God is jealous. We can read this and think God sounds moody and a bit up himself but God has a good reason for this. God is jealous of what we worship because worshipping him is the best thing for us. John Piper is great on this. He often talks about how we get our greatest joy when we give God the glory. The purpose of life is to glorify God by enjoying him forever. Other things don't give us the same amount of joy, pleasure and hope that God can give us. Other things can't give us the meaning and the satisfaction forever like God can give us. Our idols are always less satisfying and enjoyable than God is.

Now I know what you are thinking. How can God be more fun than a game of soccer? Or how can God be more enjoyable than hanging out with friends? All these things are fun. But what we get from a relationship with God is a deeper kind of joy and satisfaction. It is hard to describe, and any time I do, I don't do it justice. The experience is better than my description. The other problem is that often people try having a relationship with the Lord Jesus but go about it the wrong way. So when I say a relationship with Jesus is the best thing I want you to have the genuine article and not a poor imitation. Life with Jesus is something that makes all of life better. It makes a soccer game better. It makes seeing friends better. Life with Jesus transforms all life so that our relationships are better because we learn to love others like Jesus did. It also helps us understand ourselves and how we fit in better. But most importantly life with Jesus gives us a relationship with the God of the universe. We can pray to him as Father knowing he will listen to us and give us what we need, better than we can. We can know we are his loved and forgiven people because Jesus died for us. We know we are being transformed now into something better with a certain hope that we will be perfect when we die because of Jesus' resurrection.   Life with Jesus is a life with certain security and meaningful hope. Even in the worst suffering it is life at its best. Jesus protects and provides for me, where as I need to protect and provide for an idol. What is best for me is to know, enjoy and glorify the Lord Jesus. This is something an idol can never provide.

Questions for reflection
1. What are your idols? (Look at the things you spend your money, time and energy on)

2. Why are you tempted to think they more important or more helpful than Jesus?

3. How confident are you that your idolatry is forgiven?

4. How will you flee idolatry? Why is it important to do so? (Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-24)