We tend to think of idolatry as something from ancient times.
Only the dum-dums from back in the Stupid Ages would be ignorant enough to think that a carved piece of wood or stone was god. We would never fall for something like that. We would never need something like that. We know so much more about how the world works than they did. We are better educated. We understand things like science and physics. We don’t need moon gods and sun gods, gods of the seasons, gods of fertility, and gods of war. We don’t have to make up a supernatural cause to explain the things we don’t understand – because we know everything. And, even if we don’t exactly know everything, per se, we probably will soon because science and technology just keeps on advancing.
But I think idolatry is more of a problem than it has ever been.
The word idol comes from the Greek word for image. In English it means an object of worship. It is an object of strong affection or devotion. It is a false god, or something worshiped as God. Narrowly, idolatry is defined as the worship of an idol. More broadly, however, idolatry means excessive attachment or veneration of anything.
Man can make a god out of money. He can make a god out of sex. He can make a god out of drink, or drugs, or digging in his garden. Confessional Lutherans might say that anything a man fears, loves, and trusts in above all other things is his idol. Just look around you. What do men fear? What do they love? What do they trust? Is it the Triune God? They might say it is, but only when push comes to shove will we really find out what we are truly worshiping.
We might not even be aware that we have set up an idol until we are called to be a witness for Christ. Until we are called to choose between our “sincerely held religious belief” and our job. Until we steadfastly refuse to go along with the spirit of the age when it tells us to deny universal truths, or even the existence of Truth itself. Until we are called to live according to the faith in Christ we profess and suffer, or live according to our faith in our idols and live comfortably in this world.
We are idol worshipers, in the Stupid Ages sense of the term. I don’t mean that in some metaphoric way, either. Don’t think so? We all have an image set up in our homes, around which we gather for hours at a time. Most people have more than one, because they can’t bear to be out of its presence for too long. It tells us what to think. It tells us what to do. It tells us who to love and who to hate. We look to it for knowledge and comfort. We go to it when we just want to shut off our brains because we think that it is only offering us mindless entertainment. In reality, it is possessing us with the spirit of the age and reprogramming our brains.
What’s worse is that not only do we have the talking, lying image in our homes, we all carry one around with us in our pockets, myself included.
I’m not saying that St. John was necessarily prophesying about cable TV and smart phones. I’m just saying that, when he writes about a talking image that deceives the people of the earth and causes all who refuse to worship the beast to be killed, maybe we should consider our position for a moment.1 What, or whom do we fear? What, or whom do we love? What, or whom do we trust above all things?
If we do that, I think we are likely to find that the false god we all finally worship is the idol of Self. That is the god to whom all our talking images ultimately direct us.
There is one image that we are to worship – the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the image of the invisible God. He is the exact representation of God’s being. It is as though God was pressed into the mold of humanity in the womb of the Virgin Mary, with everything that it means to be the eternal God concentrated in the person of Jesus. That man, God in human flesh, died on the cross as the ransom for the sins of the world. He gives that gift to us now through His word.
Repent, and believe the Gospel. Fight against the idol of Self. Struggle against the flesh and its desires.
And turn off the TV. ###
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1 See Revelation 13:11-18
We are idol worshipers, in the Stupid Ages sense of the term. I don’t mean that in some metaphoric way, either. Don’t think so? We all have an image set up in our homes, around which we gather for hours at a time. Most people have more than one, because they can’t bear to be out of its presence for too long. It tells us what to think. It tells us what to do. It tells us who to love and who to hate. We look to it for knowledge and comfort. We go to it when we just want to shut off our brains because we think that it is only offering us mindless entertainment. In reality, it is possessing us with the spirit of the age and reprogramming our brains.
What’s worse is that not only do we have the talking, lying image in our homes, we all carry one around with us in our pockets, myself included.
I’m not saying that St. John was necessarily prophesying about cable TV and smart phones. I’m just saying that, when he writes about a talking image that deceives the people of the earth and causes all who refuse to worship the beast to be killed, maybe we should consider our position for a moment.1 What, or whom do we fear? What, or whom do we love? What, or whom do we trust above all things?
If we do that, I think we are likely to find that the false god we all finally worship is the idol of Self. That is the god to whom all our talking images ultimately direct us.
There is one image that we are to worship – the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the image of the invisible God. He is the exact representation of God’s being. It is as though God was pressed into the mold of humanity in the womb of the Virgin Mary, with everything that it means to be the eternal God concentrated in the person of Jesus. That man, God in human flesh, died on the cross as the ransom for the sins of the world. He gives that gift to us now through His word.
Repent, and believe the Gospel. Fight against the idol of Self. Struggle against the flesh and its desires.
And turn off the TV. ###
-----------------------------------------------
1 See Revelation 13:11-18
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