Beware of Idols: Honoring God in a Celebrity-Obsessed Culture
“Do not turn to idols or make metal gods for yourselves. I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:4, New International Version (NIV).
In our celebrity obsessed culture, many of us have cavalierly said concerning celebrities who may be rich, famous, or talented, “I really admire him/her. He/she is my idol.” For most of us, the statement is an innocent one. However, as servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, we must be careful. When we say a person is our “idol” what most of us mean to say is, “I truly admire this person and aspire to be like him or her.” We do not intend to worship or deify the celebrity. This is important because the Word of God, instructs believers to not have any idols man made or otherwise that we place on equal footing with the Creator God or the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Exodus 34:14 NIV, God declares to His people, “Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” To the human mind, the phrase “jealous God” may incorrectly imply that God is prone to insecurity and is therefore envious because He wants to monopolize our attention. To the contrary, remember, God cannot sin and so the jealousy that is being referenced is not human jealousy. The word jealous in this context, means that God is so loving in His relationship with His children, that He does not want the relationship compromised with any inordinate attention placed on other people, jobs, things or money that could potentially distract or take away from our relationship with God. Remember, any thing that we position in our lives that we place more attention and affection on can become an idol. Webster’s defines “idol” as an object of extreme devotion. There can be nothing in our lives that we are more devoted to than God. This includes, spouses, houses, personal property, boyfriends, girlfriends and even our children. Remember, God promises that if we love Him first, He will give us the desires of our heart. This includes all of the afore-mentioned things as long as they do not become idols for us. Thank God for His wonderful gifts to us, but always remember to love the giver (God) more than the gift.
Dear ones, joyfully know, “For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.” (Psalm 96:4-5). Amen.
