SUBTLE IDOLATRY
The way we see it, people adorn themselves primarily because they do not understand nor believe that God’s glory resides in them. They do not understand that God’s glory is internal and not external. And then, lacking that understanding, they do the best they can with material things to bring glory to themselves (i.e. make themselves look attractive) in the eyes of other people who similarly lack understanding of when and how God invests his glory in people.

The result of this misunderstanding is the common practice of using clothing and other creations of man (jewelry, words, postures, music, church buildings, ministries, etc.) to somehow represent God and his glory. It is a broken, futile system. No wonder God warned his people about making idols. He is well aware of his glory and he knows full well that man’s attempts to represent his glory will do more to turn people away from him than draw people to him.

STUDY TIP: See Religion is Idolatry for a deeper understanding of idolatry.

Unfortunately, poor translations of scriptures have left people grossly ignorant of what God had in mind when he warned about making idols. People who read the prohibition against “molten” or “graven” images or gods immediately think about gods like the golden calf and other physical idols made out of wood or metal worshiped by pagans. Deceived by these simplistic, literal definitions of idols, they think that they are sinless with respect to God’s commandments about idolatry because they would never think of making, owning or worshiping such a physical object. A closer inspection of the original scriptures reveals, however, that God had much more in mind when he warned about creation of such images.

The words “molten” and “graven” (depending on which version of the Bible you read) for example, do not refer only to metal objects. In the original Hebrew, they also include anything crafted by man. And “make” and “cast” are not words limited to working with metal or wood. The meaning is broad enough to include any tangible or intangible creation. The definition of “image” is also broad enough to include a woven covering such as a veil, which is a type of clothing. Even the concept of an “idol” is broad enough to include anything that is good for nothing or worthless.

Even in the New Testament, the definition of “idol” is broad enough to include any object, real or imaginary, that represents a likeness of some kind. Regardless of what the image is, if it is meant to represent God in any way, God finds it to be a false god and it is to be avoided.

But, we need to ask: If it is not God that people are representing, what do they represent by their external adornments? The answer is simple enough: For each religious tradition, and the culture in which it exists, clothing and behaviors are the imagined ideals of what a truly spiritual person should look like.

In other words, people create and adopt their outer adornments and behaviors  to reflect the cultural ideal of what spirituality should look like in the material world. Since people lack a visible image of what God looks like, and since they want to be recognized as Godly, they do their best to create a worldly substitute that speaks, more or less, of godliness. Not yet convinced that true spirituality has no material qualities, they do the best they can to represent spirituality with what they know best: material objects and other manifestations (i.e.clothing, jewelry, buildings, symbols, names, music, words, etc.) of the physical world.

And that is the way it must be because God is spirit and his form cannot be imagined or replicated. Lacking any hints from God about how he (God) looks, and therefore lacking any real idea of how they should look if they are created in his image, they have done what men tend to do: They create images (each according to what his imagination suggests) of what they think a godly person should look like. The result of this process is the multitude of styles and adornments that we see in the pictures included at the end of this article. More to the point, we have a multitude of idols/images created by well-meaning but ignorant people. And even more significant than that, we have people violating God’s commandments regarding the creation of images of any kind.

But many will say: “But wait! I don’t worship the clothing or the person who wears the clothing!”

To that we say: Oh really? Then why do you give honor, deference, reverence and even money to people who wear such clothing? Why do people, even people who are not otherwise religious, tend to default toward deference in their attitudes and behaviors toward clergy who wear clothing associated with a variety of religious traditions?

Maybe you don’t prostrate yourself before pastors or priests in clerical collars and black frocks, and maybe you don’t kiss the ring of a leader who has a title (Apostle, Prophet, Reverend, etc.), and maybe you don’t bow when you meet people who list their academic degrees (MDIV, Doctor, etc.) behind their name, but most people tend to at least watch their language in the presence of such people and treat them with a kind of holy deference. And most who attend church will not resist giving money when the pastor in front of the altar says it is time for the morning offering.

The way we see it, these are all examples of worship directed to living persons who have earned the status of “idol” in the eyes of some people. Such holy people may presume to be representing God, but that does not mean that they deserve this kind of honor and deference. People who receive such honor and deference apparently consider themselves to be of a higher rank than Barnabus, Paul, Peter and unnamed angels who refused to allow anyone to bow down to them. By wearing certain clothing and adornments they invite the kind of deference that equates with idolatry. And the same is also true for those who give such honorific treatment. In other words, the giving and receiving of deference that is inspired by clothing or adornments is modern day idolatry.

Perhaps the best-known examples of such deference are found in the Roman Catholic Church. Here we see religious clothing and posturing in the extreme, and here we see hyper-respectful, even idolatrous behaviors (bowing, kneeling, kissing rings, etc.) verging on worship.

But the Catholics are only one example of what is common in Christianity. Consider for example Pentecostals and Charismatics who respond to a leader (pastor, apostle, prophet, evangelist, etc.) who has given an altar call. They stand in a worshipful attitude with eyes closed and arms extended ready to receive a blessing, a prophecy, or a touch of the Holy Spirit. Or consider the common practice in liturgical denominations that administer the sacrament of communion. They also go to an altar, bow down, open their mouths, and gratefully receive bread and juice, or wine, from their spiritual leader. In all cases, people have somehow come to ascribe to their leaders unique spiritual qualities (commonly called gifts) that enable them to impart something spiritual to their followers at any time at any place. And it all happens because of external adornments of one kind or another (clothing, titles, degrees, etc.). It is all idolatry.

Exhibition of such idolatrous behavior is not limited to formal services in a church building. There is within the Christian community a thriving industry that inspires hundreds of thousands of people to travel far at great expense to hear their favorite teacher, prophet, apostle or musician. Not only will they pay for gas and a hotel, but they will often pay registration fees to be in that leader’s presence for a single event and gain a blessing of some kind (typically an emotional response that is interpreted as a spiritual touch of God) from the spiritual leader or artist. And then, after getting to the event, they will often purchase books, teaching videos and music cds that the visiting spiritual dignitary has produced. It is all big business, and it works because these spiritual leaders are idolized.

We do not deny that God does work through people to accomplish his will, but that happens only as God determines and whatever he does through people will not be observable with human eyes or ears because the results will be spiritual and in the heart. If anyone assumes that any one person will be able to exercise those spiritual qualities (typically called “gifts” by admiring followers) anytime they want, they are grossly misled about how God works. More to the point, they have been deceived into believing that the person can function with spiritual authority at will, under any circumstance.

The truth is that the ability to perform spiritual wonders for the benefit of others on demand is limited to God alone. Therefore, whenever these Godly qualities are assigned to a person (living or dead) as inherent and unchangeable, due to the inherent righteousness or goodness of the person, we have real evidence of idolatry.

The way we see it, these examples all constitute worship. It may begin benignly with external adornments, but it usually evolves to some degree of worship. And when it does, it is pure idolatry.