Question 1

What is idolatry?

Accepted Answer

Exodus 20:1-5God gave the people all these instructions: “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.”Idolatry is putting something in God’s place, worshiping anything or anyone other than God himself.Exodus 32:4Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”Idolatry involves shaping God into something that we think he should be or what we want him to be. It reveals our tendency to expect God to do what we expect him to do. The flip side of that coin is our tendency to ignore what God clearly expects of us.Luke 12:34“Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”Idolatry is allowing something else to become more important than God. When we attach supreme value to something, whether it is a person, possession, money, power, or education, it becomes a god that controls our lives. When we give God the supreme value in our lives, he will occupy our thoughts and will shape our character in healthy and godly ways (Philippians 4:8).1 John 5:21Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.An idol is anything that takes God’s rightful place in our hearts.Isaiah 44:17He [the wood-carver] takes what’s left and makes his god: a carved idol! He falls down in front of it, worshiping and praying to it. “Rescue me!” he says. “You are my god!”Idolatry is trusting anything other than God for salvation.

Question 2

What kinds of idols do people worship today?

Accepted Answer

Leviticus 19:4“Do not . . . make metal images of gods for yourselves.”In some parts of the world, people still worship inanimate objects. And some make statues or other items to represent a god.Deuteronomy 4:19“When you look up into the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars—all the forces of heaven—don’t be seduced into worshiping them. The Lord your God gave them to all the peoples of the earth.”Romans 1:21, 23, 25Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. . . . And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. . . . So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself.Many people worship nature or parts of creation such as animals or natural forces rather than God himself, the Creator of it all.2 Chronicles 33:6Manasseh . . . practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and he consulted with mediums and psychics. He did much that was evil in the Lord’s sight, arousing his anger.Some people worship spiritual powers that are not from God.Acts 10:25-26As Peter entered his home, Cornelius fell at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter pulled him up and said, “Stand up! I’m a human being just like you!”Acts 14:11-15When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in their local dialect, “These men are gods in human form!” They decided that Barnabas was the Greek god Zeus and that Paul was Hermes, since he was the chief speaker. Now the temple of Zeus was located just outside the town. So the priest of the temple and the crowd brought bulls and wreaths of flowers to the town gates, and they prepared to offer sacrifices to the apostles. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening, they tore their clothing in dismay and ran out among the people, shouting, “Friends, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings—just like you! We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.”Many people worship celebrities, teachers, politicians, and other impressive figures.Colossians 2:18Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things.Some people revere themselves and their own spiritual experiences.Deuteronomy 4:15-18“Be very careful! You did not see the Lord’s form on the day he spoke to you from the heart of the fire at Mount Sinai. So do not corrupt yourselves by making an idol in any form—whether of a man or a woman, an animal on the ground, a bird in the sky, a small animal that scurries along the ground, or a fish in the deepest sea.”Even today some people worship pictures and other images, not knowing those have become idols to them.

Question 3

When I discover I am worshiping an idol, how do I turn my heart back to God?

Accepted Answer

Genesis 35:4They gave Jacob all their pagan idols and earrings, and he buried them.Anything can become an idol if we treat it as though it’s more important than God. For example, the Bible doesn’t say that wearing jewelry is wrong, nor does it say that enhancing the way we look is wrong. But we need to be careful not to let such things distract us to the point where we focus more on our external appearance than on the things of God. Sometimes we must get rid of things that might cause us to sin or keep God from being the center of our lives.Joshua 24:23-24“All right then,” Joshua said, “destroy the idols among you, and turn your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” The people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God. We will obey him alone.”The first step to turning our hearts to God is turning away from idols (anything that is more important to us than God). When these distractions consistently pull us away from God to the point where we no longer know him as we should, we need to consider how best to refocus our heart and mind. This may include completely cutting out some distractions in order to make time and space for God. Giving up something we love to do may not feel good at first, but replacing it with a relationship with God will feel better than anything we can imagine.