It starts out innocent but turns out devastating. This is always the outcome of idolatry. I have recently read a little book with a huge punch by Timothy Keller, titled Counterfeit Gods. In our culture when it comes to idolatry most of us have an archaic and mythological imagination thinking of Greek gods or statues. Bowing down to statues or praying to graven images does not seem all that popular these days, but that does not mean we don’t have a problem with idolatry.
Our society has made things like beauty, money, power, and achievement the idols of our day. As Keller writes, “we may not physically kneel before the statue of Aphrodite, but many young women today are driven into depression and eating disorders by an obsessive concern over their body image. We may not actually burn incense to Artemis, but when money and career are raised to cosmic proportions, we perform a kind of child sacrifice, neglecting family and community to achieve a higher place in business and gain more wealth and prestige”.
We are only fooling ourselves if we do not think we can quickly bow before these modern day idols. We must understand that our heart and mind are idol factories. We humans can make anything into an idol. It can be career, relationships, family or material possessions. As soon as we set our heart on the good things of this life and turn them into the ultimate things, we have shifted our worship from God to things. Only God can give lasting satisfaction, God is the ultimate. Things on the other hand can only promise satisfaction but never deliver.
“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.” Exodus 20:4-5
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