Adding to those thoughts should be recognition that we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Therefore, the bible admonition that we work out our salvation with fear and trembling comes front and center. It will not be my parents, siblings, friends, church members, or leaders who get to answer for me. I have to answer for me. I can blame no one else. That is a burden that is mine alone.
The Council of Jerusalem also spoke to the issue of behavior when they adjoined us to avoid idol worship (idol feasts), sexual immorality, cruelty (drinking blood), and unhealthy lifestyles (strangled dead food).
Those who consider the veneration of or the bowing down to statues,engravings or likenesses to be a form of idolatry must have their day in court. It is an observation that is ancient, and many have considered it to be a fair interpretation of scripture to condemn such practices.
Others have said that such a practice is simply a way of fondly remembering the Spirit of Christ at work in the lives of the ancients. Perhaps, but there is nothing in such an explanation that shows the other side to be wrong. At best, those who venerate icons and the like should be kindly toward those who disagree with their practice for there is plenty of room to be gracious, given that their argument is not insurmountable.
[Saint Paul, John, Peter or Bartholamew; Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth; Christ's Brothers nor Sisters; Lazarus, none of the Popes; nor Mother Theresa; nor Augustine; nor any angels; nor any rituals; nor any statues; nor any icons; nor any string of beads no matter how long; nor any plastic dashboard talismans; nor any crucifixes nor crosses; nor any wine nor wafers; nor any holy waters; nor any flagellations; nor any indulgences; nor any services/rituals performed/said in one's behalf;]
or leaders who get to answer for me. I have to answer for me. I can blame no one else. That is a burden that is mine alone.