Idol is a strange word in our culture. Either it conjures up weird, diabolical looking statues like those in Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom or it brings to mind Ryan Secrest. On second thought, maybe those are the same thing.
Either way, it takes some work for us to relate to and apply biblical passages that deal with idols and idolatry, particularly the most famous Bible story on idolatry - the golden calf.
But what if the Israelites were doing exactly what we do with God? What if the only difference was they just acknowledged their attitudes with a metal statue?
Exodus 32 describes the story for us. Moses had went up on the mountain, when the people refused, to meet with God and receive His commands. While their leader was occupied, the people go to his brother Aaron and ask for something to connect them with God.
They had relied exclusively on Moses to communicate with God on their behalf, even when God offered to speak with them all. Now that Moses had been missing (talking with God) for some time, they needed something else to serve as the mediator between them and God. Enter the golden calf.
Notice that Aaron says that this is the God who brought them out of Egypt and tells the people that they are going to have a festival to the Lord. Aaron isn't attempting to make a new god of gold. He is crafting an image to represent an attribute of God Himself.
This would be why God was at that moment giving Moses the Ten Commandments, which would forbid making any "graven images" - any attempts at physical representations of spiritual God. It is impossible to create an image that portrays all that God is, so you end up with an idol that highlights only part of who God is.
Aaron was trying to show the strength of God. The one who could bring them out of Egypt with a mighty hand and defeat Pharaoh's army. When Renaissance painters attempted to paint God, as Michelangelo did in the Sistine Chapel, how did they portray Him? As an older man, in a attempt to highlight God's wisdom, in an age where wisdom was valued above all else.
But these portrayals make a multifaceted Person become a one-dimensional caricature. They cause mental associations that are not true. When painters were showing God as a gray-haired man, that connoted wisdom. The idea of God as an old man continued beyond their work and later took on the idea of God as grandfather looking to dote on his grandchildren. The image of an elderly man brought more baggage than the painters intended.
But they took the time to craft a physical representation of the characteristic of God they most valued to the detriment of the others. It may be the case that we do the same thing, just not strength or wisdom. What character trait of God does our culture stress? Love.
People emphasize the love of God to the point where it becomes an idol like the strength or wisdom of God had become one earlier. God is love - so that means that he won't punish my sins. God is love - that's why we don't have to worry about people going to Hell. God is love - he just wants to make me happy.
God most certainly is love, but He is not only love. He is just, holy, righteous, powerful, jealous and a host of other attributes that exist in Him perfectly, just as love does. To maximize love the way we do, is to minimize the other traits of God and is, therefore, the creation of a new god, crafted according to our preferences.
If our culture was like ancient Israel, we would hand over our gold earrings to our religious leaders and they would craft them into a giant golden heart. We are no better than them, just perhaps more subtle.
How can we work to maintain a proper balance in the way we view God, not over-emphasizing one characteristic over the others? Do you agree that our culture slants toward a "God is love" idol or would you see another trait as the one most likely to produce God-like idols in our heart?
Either way, it takes some work for us to relate to and apply biblical passages that deal with idols and idolatry, particularly the most famous Bible story on idolatry - the golden calf.
But what if the Israelites were doing exactly what we do with God? What if the only difference was they just acknowledged their attitudes with a metal statue?
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| Photo from Sxc.hu by Helmut Gevert |
They had relied exclusively on Moses to communicate with God on their behalf, even when God offered to speak with them all. Now that Moses had been missing (talking with God) for some time, they needed something else to serve as the mediator between them and God. Enter the golden calf.
Notice that Aaron says that this is the God who brought them out of Egypt and tells the people that they are going to have a festival to the Lord. Aaron isn't attempting to make a new god of gold. He is crafting an image to represent an attribute of God Himself.
This would be why God was at that moment giving Moses the Ten Commandments, which would forbid making any "graven images" - any attempts at physical representations of spiritual God. It is impossible to create an image that portrays all that God is, so you end up with an idol that highlights only part of who God is.
Aaron was trying to show the strength of God. The one who could bring them out of Egypt with a mighty hand and defeat Pharaoh's army. When Renaissance painters attempted to paint God, as Michelangelo did in the Sistine Chapel, how did they portray Him? As an older man, in a attempt to highlight God's wisdom, in an age where wisdom was valued above all else.
But these portrayals make a multifaceted Person become a one-dimensional caricature. They cause mental associations that are not true. When painters were showing God as a gray-haired man, that connoted wisdom. The idea of God as an old man continued beyond their work and later took on the idea of God as grandfather looking to dote on his grandchildren. The image of an elderly man brought more baggage than the painters intended.
But they took the time to craft a physical representation of the characteristic of God they most valued to the detriment of the others. It may be the case that we do the same thing, just not strength or wisdom. What character trait of God does our culture stress? Love.
People emphasize the love of God to the point where it becomes an idol like the strength or wisdom of God had become one earlier. God is love - so that means that he won't punish my sins. God is love - that's why we don't have to worry about people going to Hell. God is love - he just wants to make me happy.
God most certainly is love, but He is not only love. He is just, holy, righteous, powerful, jealous and a host of other attributes that exist in Him perfectly, just as love does. To maximize love the way we do, is to minimize the other traits of God and is, therefore, the creation of a new god, crafted according to our preferences.
If our culture was like ancient Israel, we would hand over our gold earrings to our religious leaders and they would craft them into a giant golden heart. We are no better than them, just perhaps more subtle.
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