Skip to main content

The Flexibility of Idolatry

Exodus 20: 3 

“You shall have no other gods before me.” 

Idolatry is one of those things that are very rarely talked about in today’s society. The only thing that we may say is “that’s my idol”. This phrase may sound harmless, I have definitely said it, but as I have gotten older all that phrase really means is “that’s my God”. Our closest association with Idolatry is within the Old Testament, and I think the assumption is that because it happened then, it doesn’t happen now. However, Idolatry isn’t merely worshipping statues or golden calf's, it’s a heart posture.  

In simplicity, Idolatry is anything that replaces God. But, in order to know what replaces God in our lives, I think it’s important to understand the role God should already have. Without an understanding of God, how can we ever understand what replaces Him? 

The most basic understanding of God is that He is the creator of all things, including you. No one knows a thing best, then the person who created that very thing. The same premise is for God. If God created you, then He knows you best: He knows who you are, what you’ve gone through and what you need. God is a reliable outlet to go to, because He knows what you need even before you ask for it.  

Looking more closely at the verse, we see that rejecting idolatry isn’t a suggestion, it’s a requirement. When God requires us to do something, it’s not because He doesn’t want us to have freedom, He simply loves us so much that He wants to protect us. When giving this requirement, God knew something that we didn’t: He knew that idols aren’t a sufficient means of healing. Idols are a temporary solution to a long-lasting problem.  

There is a flexibility that is associated with Idolatry. Although God is speaking to the Israelites in this verse, He is also speaking to us now. Whether it’s that show we always go to when we are sad, or that person we confide in constantly, or even that snack we always run towards when things go wrong. All of these things aren’t inherently bad, and if you do any of these things you shouldn’t feel shame, however God should be our first direction we run towards.  

If we look at the verse from a grammatical lens, we see there is a subtle but key difference between “God” and “gods”, though they may look similar. Of course, one is plural and the other is not, which shows that God is singular and self-sufficient, however there is also a difference in the capital letters. One has a capital “G” and the other has a lower case “g”: things are only capitalised to show importance. And I think that can speak to our lives, the things that we replace God with may look like a solution to our issue, they may appear to be self-sufficient like God, but it will always be inferior.  

There is only one singular and superior God that should not only be capitalised grammatically but also in our lives.  

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Equipping ourselves

Ephesians 6:13   “ Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand”   Recently I had a conversation with one of my friends. Before our interaction, I didn’t set any expectation other than simply just seeing how they were doing. To my surprise, my friend asked me a question: and what was just a simple question, felt like an opportunity for me to express my faith. If I had not already had a foundation of God’s word, it would have been a missed opportunity. We are all presented with opportunities, some we may not be aware of, others we may not feel comftable in expressing, but all of them we need to be equipped for.    Our faith and belief are counter-cultural: it doesn’t agree with the views of today and goes against the perspectives and viewpoints of the society we live in.  As long as you claim to be a Christian, there will be people that dis...
Post a Comment
Read more

God is proud of you

Mark 1:11 “And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” A couple months ago, I had a friend say to me “God is proud of you” and I nearly broke down in tears. How could five words impact me so much? Never hearing or honestly believing it, my perspective changed on a lot of things. We all are our worst critic, and with that comes being very hard on ourselves. Living lives aiming to be perfect, yet sometimes we miss how detrimental that can be: associating our value in our pursuit. I think at times we treat God as a form of teacher or boss: in the sense that if we provide something, whether it’s a high grade or a substantial amount of work, we are deserving of validation. In our lives, this may look like praying a certain number of times, maybe it’s fasting for a couple more hours, or even reading an extra chapter of the bible. Whatever it is, I think we are all guilty of thinking that if we do more, that somehow God’s love for us will be cor...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pressure doesn’t make diamonds it points to it

Psalm 118: 5-6   “ Out of my distress I called on the  Lord ; the  Lord  answered me and set me free. The  Lord  is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”   I never understood the phrase ‘pressure makes diamonds’: obviously I understood the context, however I could never relate to it. The phrase suggests that press ure is something to be embraced or celebrated because something good was going to come out of it, but in my life, it was never the case. Every form of pressure that approached me seemed to lead to disappointment. With every exam I put pre ssure on myself for, were the ones I did the worst on. With every basketball game I put pressure on myself for, were the ones I played the worst. It was an unescapable loop .     I’m not saying every pressure leads to disappointment, but pressure that is relied on your strength will eventually catch up to you. Our pressure doesn’t make diamonds, it points to our diamond: our tre...
Post a Comment
Read more