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Writer's pictureJack Selcher

What Is Idolatry?

Updated: Nov 2


Jesus with planets in the background

The roads were unfamiliar, but I thought I knew where I was going. I’d visited a pastor at his church once before. About a year later I made an appointment to revisit and began the trip without a map, phone, or GPS.


I missed the appointment. I was embarrassed. I couldn’t find the church. I drove on the wrong roads galore but never found the right one.


Idolatry is traveling on the wrong roads focusing on people, places, or things while undervaluing God and making Him angry and jealous.

Idolatry is like ignoring huge diamonds on the ground while filling our pockets with fool’s gold.


It’s swapping an eternally priceless relationship with God for the glittering but worthless baubles of substitutes for God. It undervalues the priceless and overvalues the relatively worthless. God tolerates no rivals for our ultimate devotion.


Idolatry, like playing on the expressway, is hazardous to our well-being. It’s dangerous because God will pour His wrath on it (Colossians 3:5–6). “It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31 NLT).


God pays close attention to what we worship. He doesn’t miss anything. “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. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me” (Exodus 20:4–5 NLT). God knows our idols.


God created us to experience the greatest joy through a relationship with Him. He deserves to be treasured above all else, and we find contentment only when we do.


Covetousness is idolatry (Colossians 3:5–6). Idolatry is misdirected love toward unworthy substitutes for God. We love them more than Him, and we become their slaves. They control us. We want more of something than we already have thinking it will make us happy. But more is never enough, and contentment is elusive in idol-driven living.


What is idolatry? “They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen” (Romans 1:25 NLT).


The truth is that only our Creator is worthy of our worship, love, and service. Idolatry is the lie that someone or something else is more deserving of our service, love, and admiration than God is.


So, how do we spend our disposable money, time, and energy? What do we think and talk about when we can think and talk about anything? The answers to those questions identify God’s worship rivals. Modern Idolatry is alive and well. #freediscipleshipresources #freeevangelismresources #freechristianleadershipresources 


See free spiritual growth resources for Christians at https://www.christiangrowthresources.com


God has empowered me to write “His Power for Your Weakness—260 Steps Toward Spiritual Strength.” It’s a free evangelistic, devotional, and discipleship eBook. Pastors have used it in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia to lead more than 2,400 people to Christ and teach the basics of Christianity to 5,110 people. I invite you to check it out. https://www.christiangrowthresources.com/his-power-for-your-weakness


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