Summary
Idolatry is not just bowing to down to statues of wood and stone, but is any time we place something above God in our lives. Therefore, it is very much not “just a thing of the past” that only superstitious ancient peoples participated in (as opposed to us modern enlightened people—or so the thought goes). On the contrary, it is a very real problem in our day as well.
Content
People nowadays might scoff at the idea of bowing down and worshiping physical animal idols of wood and stone, but we would be quite foolish to think that idolatry isn’t a problem in our time. If you wanted to be clever and make a play on words, you might point out as one example that animals still seem more important than God to some people (or more important than the human beings in God’s Church, at any rate). I might even generally agree with the idea that puppies and kittens are generally friendlier and cuddlier and more likable than some or even many human beings, but we do not have a responsibility to work towards their salvation in the same way we are called to do for our fellow man.
To be clear, there is nothing wrong with enjoying the company of and advocating for the rights of animals, just how there is nothing wrong with working hard at one’s job and advancing in one’s career, enjoying a couple beers with friends after work, or watching a sports game every now and then to relax and unwind. What is a problem is when we let anything other than God sit on the throne in our heart—or even get near it.
Next time someone you know treats idolatry as “something in the past” that only those naïve ancients engaged in, ask them how much time they spent last week reading their Bible or taking in in-depth Bible teaching vs. how much time they spent watching things on Netflix or other streaming services. Ask them whether they think their Christianity is really more important to them than social media, given that they may be on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and so on for hours every day, but fail to seriously pray daily, or even any frequency approaching daily.
And for those who think they’re in the clear even still… ask them whether they value their family and/or career more than their faith. Work is a good thing (cf. Ecclesiastes 2:24), and obviously so is family. But compared to God, they ought to be such a distant second that they are barely even noticeable. Compare Luke 14:26ff. We are not to actually “hate” our family—we are to prioritize God so much more that by comparison, it seems that way by a relative measure.
Nobody is perfect in this—not even close. The point is that we should stop lying to ourselves that idolatry is just bowing down to statues and the like. Idolatry is whenever we put anything in the world (even things that are otherwise good and proper) above God—He who not only made us, but redeemed us with the precious blood of His one and only Son, in order that we might have eternal life with Him, if we would but believe.