Christian Living

The Danger of Idolatry.

The main cause of most of the problems in our world and in our individual lives is that we have replaced the almighty God (in various ways and in varying degrees) with worthless substitutes - idolatry.
Many have one form of idol or another in their private lives, families, work and relationships and most are totally unaware that they do.

The primary and greatest obstacle to a full access to God is idolatry. Idolatry distorts true worship and is a strong interference with our channel of communication and relationship with God.

God commanded us in Exodus 20:3 KJV

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

This is a very simple and concise instruction but for the avoidance of confusion, misunderstanding and misinterpretation God further elaborated with clarifications in verses 4 and 5.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

This is pretty straightforward and easily comprehensible but to further understand the scope of idolatry and what constitutes it, let's see how the dictionary defines it.

"extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone" and it lists some of its synonyms as idolization, idolizing, fetishization, worship, worshipping, adulation, adoration, adoring, reverence, glorification, lionizing, lionization, love, admiration, loving, admiring, hero-worshipping.

By now it should be easier to comprehend the many and different faces and forms of Idolatry.

Idolatry in any form is a clear disobedience to God's commandment and is a type of devil worship.

Let me outline some major forms of Idolatry.

RELIGION.
It might come as a surprise to many that religion is classified as idolatry but indeed it is.
Most religions of the world practice and promote the worship of different deities(gods) in different forms (statues, symbols, images, natural features like trees mountains and seas, their founders) as intermediaries between them and God. This form of Idolatry is the one most people easily identify and some avoid. If you are engaging in any activities that involve any deities as a means of accessing or relating with God, you are practising idolatry.

Christianity in its real and pure form isn't a type of man made religion but is a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. However men have 'religionised' it and have made it what it now has become.

Jesus said in John 4:24 and 14:6 KJV

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

That defines what true Christianity is all about. It's not another of man's invented religion, it is a relationship with God. Anyone who sincerely desires a true relationship with God would have to practice Christianity not as a religion but as a way of life.

IDOLATRY IN 'CHRISTIANITY'.
In man's version of Christianity Idolatry abounds.

A lot of christian churches engage in the use of symbols and images, canonisation and sainthood of dead men, and the modern trend of hero-worship or the idolization of so-called 'Man/Woman of God'.They also engage in the objectification of God in the form of 'anointed' oil and water and other 'sacred' emblems.(The bible recommends anointing a person with oil for prayers but never suggested that the anointing(and not anointed) oil becomes an embodiment of the Holy Spirit.).This is heresy and it has crept into churches and is spreading fast. People now have more faith in the oil than in God.

If you practice 'christianity' using any form of symbols,images and 'sacred' emblems to which you bow or hold in reverence, you are engaging in Idolatry knowingly or not.

Hero-worship and idolization of human beings.

The current trend sweeping through 'Christianity' is the edification and reverence of persons. People now hold their pastors or church leaders in very high esteem and treat them as idols. They treat them as untouchable(even when these leaders act in contrast to the Word of God) always citing "touch not my anointed" as a reason not to challenge a wrong deed. When you rever man more than the Word of God,what are you doing? We should revere the call and anointing of God on a person but not the person. If an older sibling is clearly insulting and degrading your parent, would you respect his age and allow him/her to continue the sacrilege or would you call him/her to order regardless of his/her seniority over you?

Another trend is the advertising and promotion of man. People meander from place to place in pursuit of a 'powerful Man/Woman of God' for solutions to their life problems. Claims like "your life will never be the same again", "once he/she prays for you whatever it is you want will happen", "if 'papa' says it's done just believe it", "I sat on his chair and got my breakthrough", "the god of so and so will answer my case",etc. Clearly from these examples it wouldn't require a genius to see that the faith here is in man and not in God. This in fact isn't any different to praying to God through Mary,mother of Jesus or any of the disciples or even trying to access God through a medium. If you have substituted faith and confidence in God with a trust in a human's abilities, that too is idolatry.

The are various other instances of idolatry within christianity as a religion but simply put is that if you treat a person or thing the way only God should be treated then you have made yourself an idol.

PERSONAL IDOLS.

Anything that commands your admiration, devotion, reverence, love and affection beyond normal reason and to the point of obsession or addiction is a type of god to you. Be it a habit, lifestyle, self or another person or a thing, if it has a controlling grip over you whether forcefully or by your willful cooperation, it is an idol to you.

Remember we are reflecting on the dangers of Idolatry and how it hinders a true relationship with God and consequently leading to an unfulfilled, unsuccessful and an unhappy life. Now take a very close scrutiny of your activities(spiritual and secular) and decide if somewhere somehow you are unwittingly in disobedience to God through Idolatry.

If you are in Idolatry it is very important that you disengage immediately because without God fully on your side life would be miserable and very difficult.

You cannot walk with God while linking hands with the devil. Say No to all forms of Idolatry and get rid of every personal idols if you want the fulness of God in your life.

Jesus said John 15:5 KJV
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: FOR WITHOUT ME YE CAN DO NOTHING.