Chasing Idols
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesWe Americans have always admired famous people who seem to possess that indescribable something we feel is missing in us. Perhaps they are beautiful, handsome, or intelligent. Even eloquent speakers….able to sway even those don’t necessarily believe in their views.
The TV show, American Idol, has captured an audience of millions. We usually pick one with the most talent but also they must possess a distinctive personality and as well as good looks. Occasionally, we are surprised. Someone who isn’t necessarily beautiful or handsome will knock us off our feet with a gorgeous voice or personality. We love to be surprised.
In the first century, idols were easy to identify. They were statues of wood, stone or perhaps covered with gold and other precious metal. They were representative of the god’s to whom the people prayed. They possessed the personality of a human….and were just as capricious. Idols could do what most people wished they could do. They possessed great riches, could obtain beautiful women and could inflict punishment on those who opposed them. One dare not anger a god who might extract punishment. An idol was worshipped and feared.
Sorry to say, we still have idols among us….perhaps not the stone images that we see in the ancient ruins. No….however, these idols of ours often interfere with our worship. In fact any one thing that stands between you and God becomes your idol.
Jesus told his followers about idols although he didn’t call them that as such. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”(Matthew 6:19-21)
Think about this. Our fear of losing wealth…..our mindset of the material rather than the spiritual….even our obsessive love of family… our jobs… our security! Could these be our idols?
Yes, even family, the nearest and dearest to us take second place. Our Lord must come first. “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37). How can that be possible?
The Torah (instructions given to Moses), told us to “honor our fathers and our mothers, that your days may be long….. (Deuteronomy 5:16). Yes, we love them, and obey them. We care for them. However much we love our parents, our children, our husbands, nothing must come before our faithfulness to Him. The first commandment is “You shall have no other God’s before me” (Exodus 20:3).
Yes, we have our worries about job, finances, family. After all, this is our world.
They aren’t idols of course. But at the same time, if we place anything or anyone above our love for the Lord, then we are to reconsider our priorities. Examine your hearts.
Where are your treasures? Are you chasing after idols?
—Barbara Hyland, guest writer