Idol Factory

From this we may gather that Man’s nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of Idols.  John Calvin; Institutes of Christian religion, 108

Is it true that our hearts are Idol Factories?  As we study scripture we see that time and again, God’s people were led astray by the Idolatry of the people around them.  Beginning in the garden with the Serpent’s deception of Adam and Eve through the letters to the 7 Churches in Revelation the temptation to worship the created order seemed to overwhelm many who claimed to be the people of God.  Of course we are above that now.  None of us would set up an image in our living rooms and fall prostrate before it.  We know of course that objects are simply wood or metal and have no power. Yet, we are no different than those who have come before us.  Our hearts, as theirs were, continue to be an idol factory.  The question for us in applying the scriptures is to properly define what an idol is.  Ken Sande, director of Peacemaker Ministries has defined Idolatry this way:

“An idol is not simply a statue of wood, stone, or metal; it is anything we love and pursue in place of God, and can also be referred to as a ‘false god’ or a ‘functional god.’ In biblical terms, an idol is something other than God that we set our hearts on ( Luke 12:29;1 Cor. 10:6), that motivates us (1 Cor. 4:5), that masters or rules us (Ps. 119:133), or that we serve (Matt. 6:24).”

As we consider the Church at Pergamum this week, we will necessarily have to examine our hearts.  If my heart is an Idol factory, what are the Idols I have created?  Current day idols don’t carry the names of old like Baal or Zeus.  But they are no different.  Our idols may be pleasure, wealth, comfort, power, prestige, control etc.  Paul said it this way in Colossians 3:5:

Therefore, put to death what belongs to your worldly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry.

The Gospel message is that we are forgiven and set free from the power of sin by the death of Christ. Let us not enslave ourselves again to idols which fall short of the glory of God and can never satisfy our hearts as God does. To God alone be the Glory!