Idolatry

My beloved, flee from idolatry (1 Cor 10:14).

What is this thing called idolatry? Well, we know what it is. It's that crazy things pagans do when they make a statue of some sort and then bow down to it. Nuts! We know better. Idolatry is dead.

Well, one might think. And then you read this:

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry (Col 3:5).

Wait, wait ... covetousness (greed) is idolatry? So how does "a statue you make and bow down to" fit in with "covetousness"? And, of course, the answer is, "It doesn't." The problem is we've failed to properly define "idolatry".

The Greek word used in both instances is eidololatreia. (Sound it out. You almost end up with "idolatry".) It is a two part word with eidolon meaning "image" and "latreia meaning "worship". "Okay, now," you (and I) say, "isn't that where we started? It means to make an image and worship it! Come on!" So where did we go wrong? Our error was in limiting the "image" that we worship to "statue". "Image" is simply "anything that represents reality" ... but is not that reality. To say, "He's the image of his father" is to say that he greatly resembles his father, but even the "spittin' image" is not his father. An image, then, is a representative of something without being that something. Idolatry, therefore, is the worship of an image in place of the real God. I would suggest that the most common "image" that we worship is the creature made in the image of God.

We know false images. We know that a statue is an image, but it is not "God". We know that money can be worshiped as that which will sustain us ("greed"), but it is not "God". But if "image" is not the actual thing, then it can be a lot more subtle -- and a lot more prevalent. We can form an image of God that is false. If God, for instance, is sovereign, and the "God" you worship is at the mercy of His creation, then your "God" is a false image of the real thing. If we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him, and you experience things that you are certain do not work together for good, your "God" is a false image of the real thing. It is, in fact, the easiest, most natural thing for us to do -- drop God down a peg closer to our level. But when we do, we end up with a false image -- an idol.

We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, guard yourselves from idols (1 John 5:20-21).

Or, "Beloved children, we know the true God through His Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore, avoid false images."