Worship vs. Idolatry

Ex.20:⁴ “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. ⁵ You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…”

Augustine of Hippo defines idolatry as, “…worshiping what should be used or using what should be worshipped” God says we must not commit idolatry. When we regard The One that is meant to be worshipped as a tool that exists for our convenience and pleasure, that is idolatry. Idolatry is putting the things that we love in place of God or seeing God as a means of getting the things that we love. It is seeing God as a tool. C.S Lewis says misunderstanding the word “My” contributes to the thinking that God exists for our use and is at our beck and call.

My God and my computer are not the same, my God and my spouse are not the same and we need to get that. Therein lies the battle with worship. When we come to worship, while God is personal – He is who He is the “I AM THAT I AM”, God is not who you say He is or what you think He is. He is the great I AM! Augustine’s definition of idolatry introduces two different components that will really help us in our walk with and our worship of God.

The first component is worshipping what should be used. Taking the things to be used [my computer, my car, my career, my house, my business] and putting them in the place of The One who is to be worshipped, is idolatry. All these things are gifts from God. The battle with worship begins when the created things start to take the place of the Creator, they become idols. There is nothing wrong with the television, or being a sports fan, or your computer, or with your family. There is nothing wrong with anything God has blessed you with but do not make them gods.

The question now is, how do we dethrone the things we have made gods in different areas? It is actually very simple; to dethrone these gods you need to just ask a simple question, what is this for? What is the purpose of this? For instance, for some people their family is their God. What is your family for? What is your computer for? What is your job or career for? Myles Monroe says, “When purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable!”

Prayer: Jesus, You alone will be God in every area of my life, in Jesus Name. Amen!