Idolatry is the elevation of anything above our reverence for God, and can be everything that has priority in our minds over God’s precepts. The very first example of idolatry is found in Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve chose to trust Satan rather than their Creator. The insidious impact of idolatry has plagued mankind ever since by infiltrating our cultural values and core beliefs.
Sin is idolatry because people place their sins above God (Exodus 20:3). Idolatry can be any created thing. In the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil became an idol that Adam and Eve chose over God. The serpent’s lie about the tree fostered the notion that, even though God had provided everything the couple could ever need, their Creator was holding something back. Idolatry leaves one disconnected from God and blind to sin (Psalm 115:3–8).
Worship is defined as ascribing worth to something. In Hebrew, worship means to bow down. In Greek, it is equivalent to a kiss, as in kissing the hand of the king. In both cases, it signifies submission. Society today places value on wealth. Celebrities, sports stars, the rich, and the famous have become idols. Martin Luther taught that whatever your heart clings to and relies on is your God, and that trust and faith can be applied to both God and idol.
WE ARE CALLED TO TRUST GOD
We are called to trust God more than the world around us. Adam and Eve trusted the words of the serpent more than they trusted God’s instructions. Everything that we know and are taught apart from God, reflects the fallen nature of man. Satan understands this and he will do everything in his power to undermine the confidence we have in God.
Exodus 20:3–5 states, “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God…”
In the ancient world idolatry was much more overt as people bowed down to the sun, moon and stars, as well as hand crafted idols in the image of various gods. Their disregard for the true God brought condemnation that continues with their ancestors today.
In Exodus 34:14 the Lord told Moses, “Do not worship any other god, for the Lord whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” This was a warning to the Israelites not to adopt the customs of the people in the land they were going in to possess, and it is a lesson for every person living in our culture today.
The ancestors of the Israelites were idol worshippers. “Joshua said to all the people, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: “Long ago your ancestors, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshipped other gods,”’” (Joshua 24:2).
There is a very long history of idolatry documented in the Bible and it has corrupted humanity. In 1 John 5:21, the disciple says, “Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.” Modern civilization has chosen to trust in human ability above all else. Objects of worship today include celebrities, sports heroes, wealth, and human intellect. We trust in job security, business success, investments, and a pension or savings to provide comfort in life.
Peer pressure to follow cultural values is a great enemy for Christians who are often in the minority. The wide road is no place for anyone seeking their Creator. The builders of the tower of Babel were no closer to God at the top than they were at the bottom. Materialism by nature cannot fathom anything spiritual. It is beyond comprehension. Our finite minds cannot imagine something infinite. And that’s why faith is required.
Society places great trust in human intelligence. But in the same manner that human ingenuity has limitations, so does any trust in it. Mankind is still building towers, skyscrapers and exploring outer space because their faith is in their accomplishments. And now civilization is turning to artificial intelligence hoping that AI can solve the problems that exceed the limitations of the human mind.
People trust everything but God, yet when all else fails many turn to God. They reach into the closet and try to find that one thing they’ve been missing. This is true even among Christians and can be measured by the amount of time Christians spend in the word of God, which they claim to believe and follow.
The question we must ask ourselves is simple. Do we use our minds and then trust God, or do we trust God and then use our minds. This subtle shift in perspective changes the way we look at the world. When we trust the Bible as our lens to explain the universe, there is no dark matter.
TRUST IN THE LORD
People postulate but God proclaims. Proverbs 3:5–6 declares, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
Yet even Solomon, who is recognized as a man who was exceedingly wise and wrote Proverbs failed to follow his own advice. In his pursuit of power, he married women from other cultures to secure political alliances but was influenced by their pagan practices that drew him away from the source of his wisdom.
The danger in placing human ingenuity above faith in God is the same as it was when mankind attempted to build a tower at Babel (Genesis 11:1–9). Their motivation was to make a name for themselves (Genesis 11:4). This, along with profit, is the very same motivation that drives innovators to develop technology today. It is the pursuit of self and the product of pride.
Technological superiority has become a race for this generation to conquer immortality. As humanity strives to reach the heavens, the ultimate goal is control. Scientists want to subdue the weather, manipulate the climate, and exploit the moon and mars. Mankind wishes to strip away God’s sovereignty and claim it as its own, having a form of godliness but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:5). Mankind’s love of self and people’s accomplishments amounts to idolatry not flattery.
No matter how high humanity climbs, it won’t find God until it stoops low. We cannot escape the fact that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and each of us shares that common thread with Adam and Eve (Romans 5:12). In the garden of Eden, the first couple believed the lie that they could attain all knowledge and be like God (Genesis 3:4). From that point forward the pursuit of man has been to rebel against the Creator by elevating created things above God.
Paul writes in Romans, “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator,” (Romans 1:25). Secular society continues to crave the security of a good paying job, a meaningful career, a sense of purpose and the autonomy to shape itself. Self satisfaction is central to today’s cultural values, but misses out on the one thing that can consolidate happiness.
None of us can add a single day to our lives by worrying (Matthew 6:27). The pursuit of financial security and idolizing the rich motivates millions of people to worship wealth every day and it is misplaced trust. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you was well,” (Matthew 6:33).
Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters…. You cannot serve both God and Money,” (Matthew 6:24). Paul taught, “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,” (1 Timothy 6:9–10a). You cannot serve both God and materialism.
While idolatry disconnects one from God, repentance brings about unity with Him. Our forgiveness in Christ effectively crushes the serpent’s head by revealing the serpent’s lie about God, who held nothing back when He gave His one and only Son as payment for sin. In doing so, He destroyed the root of idolatry and saves us from it and its insidious impact on our lives.
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