The kingdom of Israel had a golden age under Kings David and Solomon. However, when Solomon was old, he made a major excursion into idolatry (1 Kings 11:1-8). Solomon, a Jewish king, the builder of the first great temple in Jerusalem, in his backsliding erected high places for false gods! Thankfully he came to his senses, returning to God and, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writing the book of Ecclesiastes. However, the damage had been done. Both his son Rehoboam—under whom the nation split into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah—and a former officer of Solomon’s, Jeroboam, who would rule the kingdom of Israel, did not follow the Lord.
The kingdom of Judah at least had a few good kings who worshipped God, but the kingdom of Israel had no good kings at all and were taken into captivity by Assyria in 722 BC (1Kings, Chapter 17). The kingdom of Judah would suffer the same downfall at the hands of the Babylonians in 586 BC (2 Kings, Chapter 25). As more and more evil kings arose, some were so hardened in their hearts that they actually placed idols in the house of God (2 Kings 22:1-9; Ezekiel 8:1-18).Reading such passages as these naturally bring feelings of anger, sorrow, disgust, and revulsion to us. We think, “How depraved! Thank God we don’t do that!” But is that true?
Too many believers limit their definition of idolatry to the worship of false gods and goddesses. Technically, however, anything or anyone that takes a place ahead of God in our lives is an idol. God despises idolatry and deserves to have first place in our hearts always:
Exodus 20:3-6: “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”
Matthew 22:37-38: Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment…”
So we have established that whatever comes ahead of God in our lives is an idol, whether a spouse, a job, a hobby, a habit, et cetera. But what about idolatry in the house of God? Does it still happen? Yes, it does. You may wonder how this is possible. We will start with an obvious example and work out from that. First, in certain branches of Christianity, Mary and the saints are prayed to. It is believed that they will intercede with God on our behalf or, in the case of patron saints, that such saints will intercede for the places they were known to be benefactors of, as in Saint Patrick being the patron saint of Ireland, for example. Parishioners may do this with good intentions, not realizing that this is a form of idolatry. Mary and others who have gone on to be with the Lord do not intercede for us, nor is there any such thing as a patron saint. Jesus Christ alone is our Intercessor:
Hebrews 7:22-25: …by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Nowhere in the 66 canonical books of the Bible are we told to pray to Mary and the saints. Think of how a ”patron saint” is viewed, an intercessor for certain places and/or crafts, types of people, and so on. There is an implied familiarity between the saint and those for whom he or she supposedly intercedes. This actually sounds more akin to familiar spirits! And as for the Virgin Mary, well, it is obvious that she lost her virginity after she gave birth to Jesus Christ (Mark 6:1-3). She is also sometimes called the queen of heaven. “Queen of heaven” also happens to be the name of a goddess called Inanna in ancient Sumer and known later to the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians as Ishtar. Such worship may not be the intent of those who call her this, such as Roman Catholic congregants, but still, the association with that title “queen of heaven” is too strong. And then you have statues of Mary and the saints in a number of churches coupled with what has already been described. However unintentional it may be, there is an association also with the making of graven images.
Second and less obviously, including in Protestant Christianity, there is another form of idolatry in the house of God. No matter how humble the man of God in the pulpit is, it is inevitable that there are at least some believers who put their pastors on a very high pedestal. They also do the same with other leaders in the church. It is not wrong to have respect or even admiration in and of itself. The Bible speaks to this point as seen here:
1 Corinthians 11:1: Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
Hebrews 6:11-12: And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
1 Timothy 5:17: Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.
When admiration and respect reach the level of idolizing someone, then it becomes, well, idolatry. We see here, then, the elevating of someone to a place that only God should occupy. You can see it when church members gush over a pastor, a deacon, or some other church leader to a degree that is not normal. To hear them talk, the person(s) held in such high esteem can do no wrong. When such a leader leaves the church, it is not unusual for at least some of the members to stop attending, especially if the one leaving is the pastor. Whether these parishioners realize it or not, they have taken their eyes off of God and placed them on a fallible human being.
How many people do you know or imagine are content to learn of the Bible based on what their pastor or Sunday school teacher says? This can be out of sheer laziness since many Christians, at least in westernized Christianity, do not bother to read or study their Bibles. It can also be because they have idolized such a person to the point that they do not look to study the Word for themselves, content with what they have been taught by their pastor/teacher/god. Or what about the choir or band leader who leaves? Can you imagine the stress their replacements go through? They are repeatedly compared to those whom they are replacing, and the comparisons are not always favorable, especially if those who left were idolized by their congregation.
How about a longtime deacon who dies and is replaced? How often do parishioners get upset when they see that the new guy is not like the late Deacon So-and-so? Such idolizing can extend even to other church members. One person may be especially well-liked, and in the eyes of his or her idolizers he or she becomes the one that other church members are measured by instead of them being measured by the standards set for each of us in God’s Word.
If a leader is godly and mature in the faith, that person can be followed, but it must always be remembered that you are looking on a human being, thus someone who is imperfect. Sometimes the line between admiration and idolatry is a hazy one, so how can you tell if you have crossed this line? If you ever lose sight of the fact that this person is fallible and can be wrong sometimes, you have crossed over into idolatry. If you ever think you will leave your church when the pastor leaves without even considering giving the new pastor a chance, you are practicing idolatry in the house of God.
If you never bother to check what you have been taught by a pastor, a Sunday school teacher, or someone else in the church who has a lot of Bible knowledge, you have crossed the line. If, when thinking of any fellow believer you know, you usually compare him or her to a popular church member instead of thinking about what the Bible says about how a Christian should live, that fellow believer has become an idol in your life. We are Christians 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and just as God is to be first in our lives outside of the church building, so He is to be first in His houses of worship. The standards for Christian living as set forth in the Bible are what we are to be measured by.
Do some prayerful self-examination. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you if there is any idolatry in your life, including the idolizing of someone or something in church. Consider that we can make idols out of church programs and religious activities, not just people. We can even make an idol out of the Bible, as when you become more interested in learning its contents than in getting to know its Author.
If there is any such idolatry, repent and resolve to be sure that you put God first, not another person or thing. If the Lord has shown you that you have hurt or offended someone by your idolatrous attitudes and behaviors, or if you think you have, then if at all possible, make things right with that person, or persons (Matthew 5:23-24). And rejoice in the fact that we all serve such a forgiving and gracious God who is willing to give us so many chances.
