Thoughts I Have

Modern Idols

Modern Idols

"You shall have no other gods before me.

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. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments."

Exodus 20:3-6

These are the first and second commandments in the 10 commandments given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. How do these commandments apply to our lives today?

Why were they even given?

In the day of the Israelites, polytheism was accepted. You could believe in as many gods as you wanted. These gods were man made, and worship of them involved what was pleasurable to man.

God says we are to worship Him, and Him only. He is the One true God.

He is a jealous God. He did create us, after all. He made us in His image. He expects us to worship only Him, if we choose to worship Him.

Next, He says we must not worship  anything we make with our own hands.

That would be worshipping ourselves.

We must give glory to the Creator, the One living God. Not ourselves, not anything else besides Him.

Many people think, and not incorrectly, money and power are our idols today.

Perhaps this idea has caused Christians to overlook another, potentially more dangerous form of idolatry.

I say it is potentially more dangerous because it has the potential to mislead a greater number of Christians.

When we have some problem with God, we like to make our own god to worship. Like Aaron (Moses' brother) who made the golden calf for the Israelites when God did not follow their expectations and they found themselves unable to control God, we often create our own god, subtly and not always intentionally, who we can worship on our own terms.

This is wrong. This diverts our focus from the real, true God. He's revealed Himself to us through scripture, and any god we create and worship who is not the God revealed in scripture is not God.

To worship any god but the One true God is a sin.

The Nicene Creed

"I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father [and the Son]; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen."

This isn't in the Bible, so what is the significance of it?

It is what, for centuries, thousands of scholars have affirmed is what the Bible teaches. It is meant to remind Christians what they believe.

Many noncatholic churches choose to write the Holy Catholic Church in lowercase, to indicate they are referencing a universal church, not just the Catholic Church.

The italicized (and the Son) is debated between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. I don't know too much about that debate, not as much as I should, so I won't go into that. I do know it was not included in the creed of the original Council of Nicea, but was added later by the Catholic Church (if my memory serves me correctly). 

Only those who contradict central dogmas (or teachings) of the church contradict this creed, for example churches who say Jesus is not God's Son or that He was not born of a virgin. These mysteries may be difficult to accept, but they are not less true as a result. To change the creed (which comes from the Latin word 'credo' or 'I believe') is to change what is in the Bible, and the God to whom you have been called to glorify.

That's idolatry.