A Surprise about Idols

 

1 John 5: 19-21

“We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.  And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ.  He is the true God and eternal life.  Little Children, keep yourselves from idols.”

When you read the Scripture above what jumps off the page, for me it is the world is not a fun place for Christians, it’s the enemy’s territory, and a war is raging for the minds and hearts of everyone who has chosen light over darkness.  My thoughts went to what the Lord said in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  But there was something else that jumped off the page and that is John’s warning, “keep yourselves from idols.” 

It is clear that in John’s time on the planet people had house gods, and the Gentile had many such idols or false gods such as Dagon, Diana, Molech, and we also know they worshiped objects like the gold calf and heavenly bodies.  We also understand that those things still happen in some parts of the globe, but not in the United States of America.  I can say with full assurance that the Rice family has never had an idol in our house that we bowed to, we were not big on statutes or anything that looked like an idol.  So maybe John was not referring to us who live in a more enlightened time?

One of the advantages of not having a lot of education is I often look up words to make sure I understand the meaning, and hopefully to use the word correctly.  What does the dictionary tell us about idols: “An idol is an image or other material object representing a deity to which religious worship is addressed or any person or thing regarded with blind admiration, adoration, or devotion.”

After reading that, I’m not so sure the Rice’s were not idol worshippers!  As I stated above, we did not do images or other material objects representing a deity that we worshipped, but what about football players?  In my case, it may have been any of these guys; Tony Dorsett, Bob Hayes, Michael Irvin, Tom Landry, Bob Lilly, Mel Renfro, Tex Schramm, Emmitt Smith, Roger Staubach, Randy White, they all fit the definition of “any person or thing regarded with blind admiration, adoration, or devotion.” 

It is easy to have an idol, it could be your family, wife, friend, children, job, food, sports, golf, or fishing; yes, an idol is anything that takes the place of God in your actions and your thought life.  The apostle John, under the control of the Spirit, spoke a warning to us, “Little Children, keep yourselves from idols.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice