No Idols ... Just Give Me Jesus
Please stand with me as we go over our current memory Scripture:
Psalm 1:1-2
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His Law he meditates day and night.”
And our memory Scripture “refresher” verse is:
Colossians 3:23-24 NIV
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
Today we will be reading from Exodus 20:1-6 & 20:22-23
About a week ago Pastor Josh from PCF stopped by to tell me that there was a lady with a dog making the rounds of churches in the area. It was not the typical person stopping by for help with finances or gas to get somewhere as we usually get.
This lady was interested in debating theology from her unique perspective. It was one of those scenarios where no matter what you would say, you were wrong. Josh was not condemning her or belittling her; he just wanted to let us know what to expect.
As it turns out we needed to be at an eye appointment in Orchard Park that afternoon so we did not get to speak with her.
But, according to Josh, one of her main objections about most churches was that they had crosses and in her opinion a cross is an idol and idols are condemned in the Bible.
This, of course, got me to thinking about the crosses we have in and around the church and the cross in general. Are they idols?
What does the Bible say?
Let’s take a look at Exodus 20:1-6 & 20:22-23 to see …
(Prayer for help)
Now, we have this cross that we keep on the communion table and we have the large cross that is attached to the front of the church and perhaps a couple of small crosses scattered through the various rooms and buildings. Are these crosses idols or merely symbols reminding us of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf?
Exodus 20:4 says,
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.”
Ok (holding up the cross from the communion table) does this look like anything that we see in heaven, that is in the sky or in outer space? No, it does not.
Does this look like anything that is naturally occurring on the earth or in the waters of the earth? No, it does not.
But, still it IS in the form of something that was found on the earth during the Roman times.
So, does that make it an idol?
Let’s read further on …
Exodus 20:8
“You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, (Yahweh) the Lord your God, am a jealous God …”
And in Leviticus 26:1 it says,
“Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I Am (Yahweh) your God.”
(Expound on each of these questions …)
OK. So, do we bow down to this cross?
Do we worship this cross?
Do we burn incense before this cross?
Do we offer sacrifices to this cross?
Do we pray to this cross?
Do we kiss this cross?
Does anyone in this church have a shrine in their home where they have set up a cross in order to reverence and worship the cross itself?
And the answer is NO to all of the above.
So, why DO we have this and other crosses around?
We have them because they remind us of the sacrifice Jesus made so that we could be saved.
And the cross identifies us as a Christian church.
But, this cross COULD become an idol! Why?
In the book of Judges chapter 8 we see Yahweh raising up Gideon in order to defeat the Midianites. After Yahweh defeated the vast army of Midian the Israelites took a great deal of plunder.
Just listen to this unbelievable thing that happened after the deliverance brought about by Yahweh …
Judges 8:22-27
“The Israelites said to Gideon, ‘Rule over us - you, your son and your grandson - because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.’
“But Gideon told them, ‘I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. (Yahweh) the LORD will rule over you.’ (so far, so good, right???)
And (Gideon) said, ‘I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder.’ (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.)
“They answered, ‘We will be glad to give them.’ So they spread out a garment, and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it. The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to forty-three pounds not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels’ necks. GIDEON MADE THE GOLD INTO AN EPHOD, WHICH HE PLACED IN OPHRAH, HIS TOWN. ALL ISRAEL PROSTITUTED THEMSELVES BY WORSHIPING IT THERE, AND IT BECAME A SNARE TO GIDEON AND HIS FAMILY.”
Exodus 20:23 says,
“Do not make any gods to be alongside Me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.”
So, what would an actual idol be in the sense that is being described in Exodus 20?
An idol would be a man-made image of something that occurs in nature.
In the heavens it might be an image of the sun, the moon, a star, a constellation or an angel or other spirit being. These “spirit being” may be either real or imagined.
They would be idols of things in the heavens. What about things on the earth or things in the waters of the earth?
Have you ever heard of a golden calf? What an awesome “god” that would be? Ha!
The image would not be the false god itself but it would be used as a focal point to center your thoughts and heart on that created object or created being.
And, as an idol, it would be treated as a god. A person might bow down before this idol. They might pray to this idol. They might bring incense or offerings to this idol. They might give thanks to this idol or kiss this idol out of reverence. They might even have a shrine in their home set aside for the idol.
That would be an idol. And, as Yahweh says in
Exodus 20:23
“Do not make any gods to be alongside me …”
What He is saying is, “I Am God alone. I don’t need any help!”
So, based on what we have found so far, the crosses we have in our church and in our homes are NOT idols because we do not do bow down to them, pray to them, bring incense or offerings to them, we do not give thanks to them or kiss them. They are not set up in shrines and we do not worship them or show them reverence or adoration in any way.
To us, they are merely a reminder of the reality of Jesus’ suffering and death for our salvation and so all worship belongs to Him and to Him alone! Praise His name forever!
That is what we believe from Scripture regarding images such as the cross.
But, the term “idol” is forever linked with false worship.
OK. That’s speaking of idols in a literal sense.
What about idols in a figurative sense.
Is it possible to have “invisible” idols?
We all know the two great commandments, right?
Matthew 22:37-40
“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.
“And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
And some of us might even know …
Revelation 2:1-5
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: “These are the words of Him who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lamp stands.
“I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for My name, and have not grown weary.
“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”
So, what do we see here?
These are people who are working hard in the church. They are not just working hard for a short period but are diligently keeping at the work.
These are people who know their theology will not tolerate those who teach false theology even though they may come into the church disguised as apostles.
These are people who have endured hardships and have kept on going.
That sounds exactly like the people who would make up a great church, right?
But, something is missing. What is missing?
The overwhelming love for God that they had in the beginning is no longer there.
Church has become an idol.
They are doing all the right things but with the wrong motivation.
Now, here’s the thing. Jesus wants the church in Ephesus to keep on doing what they are doing but He wants them to do what they are doing out of a love-driven passion for Him.
Let’s compare the church in Ephesus to a marriage that is 15 years old.
Husband: “Hey, I’m a good husband. I earn a good living and pay the bills. I’m faithful to my wife and get her whatever she wants. I go to the restaurants she likes and take care of her car and fix whatever needs to be fixed around the house. I’m a good husband.”
What did the husband fail to mention?
He failed to mention his love for his wife. He used to love his wife but now he just does “husband” things out of duty.
Everything he mentioned could be replaced by two things; a trust fund to provide money and the phone number of a good handy man.
That is marital existence and not a real marriage.
When the church becomes an idol it becomes performance based and not love driven.
The same thing could be said about many things in our lives.
What are we putting ahead of God?
Our job?
Our entertainment?
Our comfort?
The opinions of others?
Think about it. Is there anything in your life that you place above serving Jesus out of a love-driven obedience?
If there is, then that thing is an idol.
If we truly believe and obey the great commandments, nothing gets ahead of the Lord in our priority list. And, how does that work?
God leads, we respond.
We respond because it pleases the One we love, Jesus Christ.
Our love for the Lord increases and we are pleased that He is pleased with us.
We don’t need idols. We don’t want idols. We just want Jesus.
