My beloved ones, avoid idolatry.
We must not be too dismissive of the warnings against idolatry. This is a live threat even in the modern world. We don't usually build and worship statues that we regard as gods in the way that the ancients did. But we can take a hint from the fact that we have shows with names like 'American Idol' that there are other ways in which this temptation can manifest. This is not to say there is anything inherently wrong with that show. But the continued use of the term can still be illustrative.
So what am I saying?
That meat sacrificed to idols is anything?
Or that an idol is anything?
In our culture idolatry can take the form of the idealized images that we desire for ourselves. Celebrities and contestants help these images to crystalize. But even without such concrete expressions we all have images of success and happiness in our minds. For some, riches, pleasure, power or some other more obvious snare is the image they worship. They pay homage to it when they see it embodied in others and try to embody it themselves. But even once we move beyond the more obvious snares it does not mean we are free. Any ideal self-image, any vision of the successful life that is not directed toward God is ultimately idolatry. If what we want the most is to be a great teacher, or athlete, or doctor, if we want to be renowned for our humanitarian efforts, our work toward peace in the world, or any other thing, no matter how good, it comes up short apart from God.
No, I mean that what they sacrifice,
they sacrifice to demons, not to God,
and I do not want you to become participants with demons.
Bob Dylan reminds us, "you're gonna have to serve somebody". Our ideals are not directions at which we simply point with no effect on us. We are made as creatures. We are created to serve God. Insofar as that does not happen there is a vacuum. We find that the ideals which were meant to serve us begin to command us. They demand of us more than we can reasonably offer. When we fail to live up to our ideals-turned-idols there is no higher authority to show us mercy and to forgive us.
God is the one who can set our lives in order. In him there is always mercy available. By loving him and serving him we become free from the snares into which we not only can but definitely will otherwise fall. When our ideals begin from a consideration of who we are in him and when they are directed to him as to their end they do become snares but viable and vital paths by which we progress toward him.
A good tree does not bear rotten fruit,
nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.
We must be planted in the good soil of the Gospel, nourished by the rain of the Holy Spirit, and then the fruit we bear can be good fruit. There is no substitution for this initial identity being rooted in God that will suffice. Only from him do we receive the store of goodness that produces good things.
I will show you what someone is like who comes to me,
listens to my words, and acts on them.
That one is like a man building a house,
who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock;
We are called to serve the Lord with single-minded focus. The double-minded man is unstable in all his ways (see James 1:8). We can't partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. We must therefore avoid segmenting our lives into secular and spiritual concerns. The secular apart from God goes astray. This was the lesson that Adam and Eve learned in the garden. But sadly, it is one we need to continue to relearn throughout history and throughout our lives.
The good news is that we have been equipped to bear good fruit by Jesus himself. In him we are rooted and grounded in love (see Ephesians 3:17). We must prefer no facsimiles to this identity. As long as we avoid this temptation we are safe.
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
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