For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater …
Summary: What is an idolater, and what does it matter? These are the questions that Paul prompts us to ask today.
To be an “idolater” is to worship someone or something other than God. In its most literal form, an idol is a statue made from metal, stone, or wood. Someone who worshipped such a thing is considered to be an idol worshipper or an idolater.
The definition of idolater, however, is not limited to worshipping manmade gods. There is another kind of false god called “mammon.” Mammon is a devotion to material wealth or things of value. Putting such things before God is also called idolatry. This explains why being a “greedy person” qualifies as idolatry. In the same way, the immoral and impure commit idolatry by putting what they value before God.
Perhaps this doesn’t sound so bad. After all, who gets hurt if we have a fetish for the immoral or impure? Isn’t that what they call a “victimless crime?”
One of the things that is hard for us to wrap our heads around is the fact that God makes the rules.
If God doesn’t exist, then his ideas about immoral, impure, and greedy people don’t matter. But God does exist. (Just ask him!) When people put other things on a pedestal in place of God, it is like pushing God out of the picture.
Imagine for a moment that you are a parent who has six children. As the parent of these children, you provide for them. You give them a place to live and provide for their needs. You give them food and buy them clothing. When school time comes around you make sure they have all the school supplies they need. If they get sick, you pay for the doctor visits and the medicine they need.
Now imagine that one day, all six kids decide that something other than you is their parent. One decides his mom and dad are blowfishes. Another decides he belongs to the fire department. The third child ignores her parents and runs to the school teacher instead.
If this happened for a day it would be upsetting, But if it was a permanent condition, if the children refused to acknowledge or honor their parents, something bad could happen. The parents might get angry. If things didn’t improve, they might stop giving things to the children that they need.
Our Heavenly Father is no different. When we turn our backs on him, it is irritating. If we do it often enough, it goes beyond irritating. At some point, God says, “Enough!”
Application: Live your life in a way that honors God every day.
Food for Thought: When we idolize something, what happens to our relationship with God?
The Bible tells us God feels emotions, including jealousy, and we shall not have anything before him. (Exodus 34:14). I believe when we idolize anything above Him, it interferes with our relationship and the closeness we have with Him. As Matthew 6:24 states, we cannot serve two masters because one will always be held closer to a person’s heart over the other one (at least that’s how I interpret the verse).
Idolizing is dangerous territory whether it is food, binge watching TV, addiction, shopping, etc because it can consume a person thereby interfering with the closeness one might feel with Him. When I have put other things above Him, I have found I don’t quite hear Him as well. He feels distant and I find it more difficult to seek His wisdom or wait on Him patiently. My prayer time or just sitting with Him becomes non-existent and even my church attendance and fellowship suffers because after all, He will still be there tomorrow! Additionally, whatever my idol might be at that moment usually provides an instant rather than the wait that comes with God.
As I am writing my comments, I am reminded of an old bumper sticker I used to see. It said something along the lines of, “Go ahead and laugh at my car, my real treasure is in Heaven.”
It is easy to get distracted with everything we have available to us here in the USA. I am just as guilty of this. However, we should remember the wise words we see in red in Matthew and remember where our treasure lies. (Matthew 6:19-21)
Darla,
It is great to hear from you again! Thank you for joining in today!!
Your words flesh out the picture of today’s passage extremely well. The passage about “treasure in heaven” is spot on, too. If we live that passage, if we truly connect with the treasure(s) our Father has for us, the things of this world fade in importance and we find ourselves walking in the light of God’s love.
When we idolize something, what happens to our relationship with God?
I think Darla articulated what I believe as well. Putting something else first over God means that is where your heart is.
People usually turn to idols or mammon to fill a need. Not so much a physical need as an emotional one. Putting God first means He will fill that need, in a way that brings peace instead of fear. Putting “other things” first means floundering, fear, and not allowing God to give us the peace we are looking for.
Matthew 6:33 ESV But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Chris,
Thank you! “Floundering” is a good word and it describes well the ways of the world. People without God seed but do not find, they flounder. It is a lost, hopeless place to be. Thank God for God and for his Son, Jesus Christ. The willingness of God to forgive is life changing, but more than that, it is world-changing and history-changing!
Isaiah 44: 12 – 20 describes a people that God had chosen who bowed down to a block of wood. In so doing they exchanged God for a lie (verse 20). Romans 1: 18 – 32 also describe a people who exchange the truth of God for a lie. In doing so, we minimize or even deny the true God for something that He created. We worship and serve the creation instead of the Creator. This leads to great pain and despair. Not only does it hurt our relationship with God, it brings on a natural self inflicted punishment that is spiritually debilitating and affects many others.
Rich,
Isaiah’s description of an idol as a “block of wood” is spot on and makes me laugh, too. Really, except for some decorative touches, that is all it is.
Your point about denying God leading to spiritual debilitation is a powerful one because it is very true.
Thank you!
08-08-2023, When we idolize something, what happens to our relationship with God?
Webster Definition:
idolize; idolized; idolizing: to worship as a god
broadly : to love or admire to excess
There can be no relationship with God while a person idolizes or worships any other thing as god. Our relationship with God id through His Son Jesus Christ. To even think we can have our relation in our own power, or the power of someone is to reject Gos and His perfect plan.
John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
John 3:36, Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
Romans 8:7, For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ron,
Thank you! To reject God’s plan is to reject God. Never a good idea!!
When we idolize something, what happens to our relationship with God?
Wen we put things before God we put God on a back shelf and say to ourselves we will give God praise later.
I will DO it LATER. I DO LATER. IDOLATER. ( not sure what I do lizard is. I don’t listen to lizards)