One of the most important subjects that Jesus addresses in the scriptures is idol worship.<\/p>\n
One of the Ten Commandments of God says: \u201cI am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me.\u201d (Exodus 20:2-3).<\/p>\n
Atheism does not exist. Man is a worshiper. Everybody worships. The critical question is who or what we worship. We either worship the one true God or we worship idol gods. Says John Calvin: \u201cThe heart of man is an idol factory.\u201d Left to himself, without divine revelation, man will worship almost anything. We worship what we highly esteem. For this reason, Jesus says: \u201cWhat is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.\u201d (Luke 16:15).<\/p>\n
Jesus himself faced the challenge of idol worship at the very inception of his ministry: \u201cThe devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, \u2018All these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship me.\u2019 Then Jesus said to him, \u2018Away with you, Satan! For it is written, \u2018You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only you shall serve.\u2019\u201d (Matthew 4:8-10).<\/p>\n
Many people, including those who call themselves Christians, have accepted the devil\u2019s offer. We worship the devil and his \u201cthings\u201d, instead of the one true God. Thus, Jesus counsels: \u201cStore up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.\u201d (Matthew 6:20-21).<\/p>\n
It goes without saying that God is the only real treasure we have. Every other so-called treasure is ephemeral. God is: \u201cthe Desire of All Nations.\u201d (Haggai 2:7).<\/p>\n
Accordingly, John warns all believers: \u201cDo not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.\u201d (1 John 2:15-16).<\/p>\n
Idols of the Heart<\/strong><\/p>\n Jesus told a Samaritan woman: You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.\u201d (John 4:22).<\/p>\n The same conundrum applies today. Many presume salvation is of the Italians or the Romans, but it is not. Salvation is of the Jews. For this reason, Roman Catholicism is full of idol worship. God says: \u201cYou shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.\u201d (Exodus 20:4-5).<\/p>\n But Roman Catholics have deliberately removed this injunction from their own non-scriptural version of the Ten Commandments, so that the people would be unaware that they are contradicting it. As a result, the making of idols is very big business in Rome, and the worship of idols is standard fare in Catholicism.<\/p>\n However, the problem is not limited to Roman Catholics. It is a general predicament among all Christians. The problem with idol worship is that many who worship idols are unaware that they are worshiping idols. Many worship God, while also worshiping idols. But when we worship God and other gods simultaneously, we become idol worshipers. Thus it is said of the people of Samaria: \u201cThey feared the LORD, yet served their own gods \u2013 according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away.\u201d (2 Kings 17:33).<\/p>\n Even more fundamental is the fact that many of the idols worshiped today are not physical idols: they are idols of the heart. God identifies this tendency to Ezekiel: \u201cSon of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces.\u201d (Ezekiel 14:3).<\/p>\n These idols are strongholds set up in our hearts and minds that prevent us from growing in the knowledge of God, and from seeing the glory of God in our lives. Thus, Paul says we should cast down: \u201cimaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.\u201d (2 Corinthians: 10:5).<\/p>\n Worship of Money<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the idol that Christians have been seduced into worshiping is mammon \u2013 the god of money. Paradoxically, this worship even takes place during church services. Today, everything is upside down. People go to church to pray for money, to invest money and to learn about how to make money. God has become second-place \u2013 simply an instrument for the acquisition of money.<\/p>\n Mercenary pastors now claim the gospel gives us the power to get wealth. In his book, The $elling of Je$u$, Victor Bryditzki observes cryptically that: \u201cJe$u$ is a multi-billion dollar industry, expanding into places where angels (and sober Christians) fear to tread.\u201d<\/p>\n But the word of Jesus remains sure, having this seal|: \u201cNo servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.\u201d (Luke 16:13).<\/p>\n Christians Are Idol Worshippers (2)<\/strong><\/p>\n Whenever there is a cautionary word of prophecy, it is customary for supercilious Christians to automatically exclude themselves. Thus, some Christians object to the assertion that Christians are idol worshipers on the grounds that it does not leave room for possible exceptions. But the prophetic word does not give room for self-exclusion. It is tautological, creating the need for general self-introspection.<\/p>\n Christians who feel they should be excluded from prophetic rebukes fall into a trap. They are like Jesus\u2019 proverbial Pharisee who comes to the prayer altar flaunting his credentials. But Jesus says: \u201cI have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.\u201d (Luke 5:32).<\/p>\n Self-worship<\/strong><\/p>\n One critical attribute of idol worship is the glorification of self. We are warned in the scriptures: \u201cDo not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment.\u201d (Romans 12:3).<\/p>\n However, many Christians worship at the altar of the self. We are proud; devoted primarily to ourselves. We see everything through the prism of \u201cme, myself and I.\u201d Our principal yardstick for determining the appropriateness of anything is: \u201cWhat is in it for me?\u201d We are lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Our agenda for action says: \u201cIf it benefits me and feels good, do it.\u201d<\/p>\n This tendency is forewarned in the scriptures: \u201cIn the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves.\u201d (2 Timothy 3:3). Lovers of self-worship themselves and not God. For this reason they cannot be disciples of Christ. Jesus says: \u201cIf anyone would come after me, he must deny himself.\u201d (Matthew 16:24).<\/p>\n Jesus alone is the saviour of true God worshipers. Jesus says: \u201cWhoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.\u201d (Matthew 16:25). However, self-worshipers are inclined to save their lives by their own devices; while true worshipers no longer live for themselves but for Christ. The latter also comply with Christ\u2019s injunction to give their lives as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45).<\/p>\n Holy Days and Holidays<\/strong><\/p>\n Jesus says God is looking for those who will worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:23-24). But Christians are idol worshipers because we celebrate pagan festivals refurbished into Christianity by Roman Catholics.<\/p>\n In the scriptures, God institutes holy days such as the Passover, the Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles. (Leviticus 23). However, the Church of Rome replaced these with heathen holidays camouflaged as Christian, in the bid to make it easier for pagans to become Christians; while largely ignoring the divinely ordained holy days that Jesus and his disciples observed.<\/p>\n Jesus berated the Jews saying: \u201cthey worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.\u201d (Matthew 15:9). He said to them: \u201cYou leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.\u201d (Mark 7:6-8). Nevertheless, Christians remain either ignorant or unconcerned that quite a number of so-called Christian practices have nothing to do with God or biblical Israel, but belong instead to the traditions of pagan Rome.<\/p>\n God specifically warns the Israelites about the idolatrous practices of their neighbours: \u201cYou must be especially careful not to ask, \u2018How did those nations worship their gods? Shouldn\u2019t we worship the LORD in the same way?\u2019 No, you should not! The LORD hates the disgusting way those nations worship their gods.\u201d (Deuteronomy 12:29-31). However, Christians have adamantly refused to heed this warning.<\/p>\n Worship of Tammuz<\/strong><\/p>\n Emperor Aurelian of Rome proclaimed the sun god Tammuz as principal patron of the Roman Empire on December 25, 274 (AD). The date corresponds with the winter solstice when pagans celebrate the renewed power of the sun. It was also the day of the Roman Saturnalia; a festival dedicated to Saturn, the god of agriculture, after whom Saturday was named.<\/p>\n This date was then morphed into \u201cChristmas;\u201d a fictional celebration of the birthday of Jesus, for which there is no precedence in the Acts of the Apostles.<\/p>\n When Tammuz was allegedly killed by a wild boar, Ashtoreth instituted an annual ritual of 40 days of mourning for Baal worshipers, when no meat was to be eaten. This pagan tradition of \u201cweeping for Tammuz\u201d is specifically proscribed in the scriptures.<\/p>\n God said to Ezekiel: \u201cTurn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.\u201d So he brought me to the door of the north gate of the LORD\u2019S house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.\u201d (Ezekiel 8:13-14). Nevertheless, Christians weep for Tammuz by the institution of Lent; a 40-day period of fasting and prayer observed as a prelude to Easter.<\/p>
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