Every summer it seemed one or more of my friends would invite me to Vacation Bible School. My mother, a devout Roman Catholic, allowed me to go despite her concerns, as the VBS programs were sponsored by Protestant churches. We spent quite a bit of time in VBS fashioning crafts, singing songs such as “Jesus Loves Me” and looking up Bible verses. We also spent a great deal of time on the Ten Commandments, learning about wicked people who made golden calves to worship, despite the First Commandment’s warning: “You shall not make for yourself an idol.” To a child’s eyes the manufacture and worship of idols seemed silly, yet the study proved relevant. The pursuit of idolatry is everywhere, permeating the workplace, the home, the media and most destructively, people’s hearts and minds.
The examples of idolatry illustrated in the Old Testament, if taken at face value, don’t seem to have much relevance these days- few of us have an affinity for making sacrifices to Baal or for making golden calves- but all of us have our idols nonetheless. Money, especially in Western culture, can become an idol, as can prestige, sex, the perfect “look” or the perfect car. Materialism, patriotism, ethnic pride and fundamentalism can all become idols if not viewed in proper context. Anytime one believes that “if I only have this thing” (anything other than a healthy relationship with the One True Creator) my life will be complete, this is idolatry- the act of creating a man-made substitute for God.
There is a popular argument among agnostics or atheists who conclude that religion is a major causative factor in war.. (John Lennon expressed this belief, as he reflected in the words of the song “Imagine.”) To a certain extent this is true, but this belief is a superficial, one-dimensional view. All three of the world’s major religions- Judaism, Christianity and Islam have been connected with war. Adherents to all three of the major religions have committed atrocities in the name of their beliefs. This idea of “holy war” does nothing to absolve or exonerate the guilty. Religion is often confused with faith in God. One can have faith without religion and religion without faith, the latter condition being a potentially destructive force. Upon further examination, the concept of religion as an antagonistic factor in “holy wars” has nothing to do with faith in God but is simply a cover for idolatry- the belief that a certain group or political faction is superior and all opponents must be eradicated or at least defeated. This is not to say that war is never justified- those who are wrongfully attacked have every right to retailiate. War is also justified to help liberate those being persecuted, such as the actions of the United States in Afghanistan, and the aims of war should be to vanquish the aggressor, to restore peace while protecting those not directly involved in combat.
The raison d’etre of religion is to provide instruction and to promote practices that strengthen one’s faith and relationship with God. But religion becomes perverted when the god it serves is really an idol, when hatred of another group becomes an idol, love of self and hedonism becomes an idol, or lust to acquire land, riches or power becomes an idol. Who are Islamic terrorists setting up as their god- what kind of instruction and practices do their “leaders” promote? We have seen perversions of religion before. Hopefully our generation is not so far removed from the study of history to remember those who set themselves up as idols and proclaimed false religion- Adolf Hitler and the lie of the Third Reich are the most notable and deadly examples in recent history- but even in America we have seen the perversion of religion with false prophets and evil doctrines. Jim Jones and David Koresh perverted Christianity to suit their idolatrous lusts for power by setting themselves up as gods. They were exposed for the false prophets and sorry substitutes they were, but only after hundreds of people suffered and died needlessly for their cause.
Christians are warned about pursuing substitutes, beginning with the First Commandment, repeatedly throughout warnings of the Old Testament prophets, and more comprehensively by Jesus Himself: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ” Matthew 7:15-16 The dangers of false prophets are in the idolatry of the religion they teach. What kinds of fruit are we seeing from certain forms of Islamic extremism? Terrorism? Genocide? Are these the fruits of true faith or the fruits of idolatry, of the substitutes known as hatred, pride and power lust?
Idolatry and creating substitutes to worship instead of God are not new, nor are they limited to forging golden calves, worshipping at the altar of excessive materialism, or indulging in racial hate and genocide. Yet if we look at most of the conflicts, the so-called “holy wars,” at the root of the turmoil we see idolatry and false religion.
There is no substitute for the One True God. Unfortunately belief in the Creator gets a bad rap from those who associate religion with false religion. I like to read bumper stickers on fellow travellers’ vehicles when I’m stuck in traffic. One memorable sticker was on a distressed Ford Escort that also had an abundance of New Age sayings plastered on it. The sticker said: Dear God, deliver me from Your followers,suggesting that this person wasn’t terribly fond of the Christians he had encountered for whatever reason. The New Age stickers also suggested he had found a substitute religion more to his liking. I noted two other stickers, this one on a Dodge Caravan full of children, one said: No Jesus, No Peace. Know Jesus, Know Peace, the other, God Wants Spiritual Fruit, Not Religious Nuts.
The conflict of faith as opposed to religion is obvious. We all know the outwardly pious who talk the talk but have problems walking the walk. At some time or another all believers will fall into that category, as we all fall short. But when the fruits of religion turn away from the ideals the Apostle Paul shared with us, namely, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23, then we can use the discernment the Creator gave us and realize that such a religion is an idolatrous and false religion.
Can we identify idolatry in our midst? Are we willing to give up our substitutes?