The first letter of three that the apostle John wrote to the church ends in what seems at first glance a very strange way. His last words are these, “Little Children, keep yourselves from idols,” 5:21. Got it. Check that box. I have done a thorough search of my home and my heart and have nothing of stone, metal or wood to which I am bowing down in worship. I am good. On to 2 John.
Idolatry would be a simple issue to resolve if it were only about bowing down to material objects that we called “gods” or we used them as iconographic ways of worshipping the “true” God. But identifying idols in our western world where we do not worry so much about animistic spirits is not so simple.
I have been pondering this issue for the last few weeks. How do we identity idols in our kind of culture? Well, I think we begin with how we identify philosophically and practically what we mean by “God” in relationship to our lives. One early twentieth century theologian defined “God” as whatever in our lives is our “ultimate concern.” To express this in practical language might be to say something like, “what we think about the most,” or what consumes our time, energy, and resources. We might could say that our “God” is what we love talking about with others even when we are not asked.
As I continued to think along those lines four areas in my life and in the lives or others I know began to be areas in which idols might appear. The first is EDUCATION. What parent does not see getting and possessing an education as a matter of ultimate concern. To live where I live is to be proud when you or your child or someone else close to you has become a “bulldog” or a “yellow jacket” or an “eagle.” Parents often can spend hours talking about the college the child is attending, what courses the child is taking, and the child making the right Deans’ List. We can often act as if getting a good education is a matter of ultimate concern. The second is VOCATION. What we do with our lives is not unimportant but it can become all-consuming. A man who becomes a pastor or a mechanic can be so committed to that vocation bringing meaning to life that the vocation becomes all-consuming. We begin to see working all the time as a virtue to be celebrated rather than a concern to be addressed.
Two more. I believe that REPUTATION is a significant candidate for a false god. Where we live. What size and shape of house we live in. What kind of cars or trucks we drive etc. By the way, we can know how much these things are idols when we lose any of them or when we think of living without them. Reputation can also include living to please people who are so important to us that we will do anything and everything to please them. And RECREATION can be and may well be in our day the most dangerous and deadly idol. Ask any travel ball parent if their missing multiple Sundays at church to follow their child around a baseball diamond or a football (soccer) field could be idolatry (I would recommend backing up when you ask the question, because a verbal volcano is about to erupt)! We do what we love. We expend energy on what we love. We give our money to what we love. And Jesus stands before us today and asks, “Do you love me more than these?” Whatever that is in my life and your life is a prime candidate for idolatry.