The Essence of Idolatry

“‘You thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you, and state the case in order before your eyes’” (Psalms 50:21).

Idolatry is more than worshiping some inanimate object; it is having an unworthy conception of God.

Western society, with all its culture and scientific knowledge, is in the same satanic trap that governs the life of an aborigine bowing down to a rock. We all have our gods. Many worship the god of materialism—getting more stuff is their highest pursuit. Others worship the gods of sex or entertainment. Of course, behind all of this is the worship of self.

However, the essence of idolatry is possessing thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him. It may be creating a god, but it also may be making the true God into something He isn’t, or thinking something about God that is untrue.

God said to the wicked in Psalm 50:21, “You thought that I was just like you.” That’s precisely what some have imagined about God. They have portrayed God after their own sinful mental image of Him. Careless Christians can do this also.

In The Knowledge of the Holy A. W. Tozer writes, “The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this reason, the gravest question before the church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.”

As we learn about God this month, ask Him to remove misconceptions you may have about Him. Be diligent to learn what God says about Himself and not what you or others think He is like.

Praise God that He is the only God. Pray for forgiveness if you have been more committed to any other god or if you think thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him. For Further Study

The ancient Greeks had hundreds of gods. Just for good measure the Athenians built an altar to the unknown god. Read Acts 17:16-34. How did Paul approach those who worshiped false gods? How can you use Paul’s example as you witness to unbelievers today?

Idolatry is putting something else in the place of the God of the Bible. 1st commandment: no other gods before Me.

Paul gives us a corollary: covetousness (the 10th commandment) is also idolatry, and it takes many forms. And that bookends the whole of the 10 commandments, from first to last.

That stands to reason, as we find that theologians down through the years have subsumed all sin under two rubrics: pride, and covetousness. They deduce from that the idea that original sin itself emerged from those two elements. So our sin nature includes the tendency to covetousness and pride and these lend themselves to idolatry.

I have taken note over this past year that God has taken away many of our idols, even as Macarthur here has suggested “entertainment” as a category. It may be that, since we would scarcely voluntarily take our vacations away, our ballgames, concerts, movies, travel, cruises, God has taken it upon Himself, in His sovereignty, to remove some of those in hopes that maybe we might find more of our sufficiency in Him.

And I hesitate to even mention that something that has often stood, for many of us, on somewhat equal footing with God — and that is our beloved United States of America. We don’t have America any more. We have something but it isn’t America. Just a thought.

Nevertheless, God is all-sufficient for us. May we all be drawn to Him daily.

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