Doves On Distant Oaks

Golden Calves

Idols are everywhere. They're not necessarily the golden-calf kind, but everything we cling to other than our love for God and which we find difficult to let go are idols. The commercial tag line, “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend” is a perfect example, when diamonds are treated as treasure and not pressurized carbon rocks that they truly are.

Men are far from exempt. Benjamin Franklin once quipped, “Old boys have their playthings as well as young ones; the difference is only in the price.” Men love expensive fishing tackle, high-priced golf equipment, the fastest speedboats, the most powerful truck available, and so on. I find that if I’m unable to easily give up any one of these kinds of playthings, it’s probably an idol.

Idols also don’t go by price. The most costly thing is not necessarily an idol, while the cheapest can be. For example, if someone asked me to give up my 4-wheel truck that I’ve been using to drive handicap people to church through the snow, that’s not necessarily an idol. But if I’m unwilling to give the hat of my favorite sports team to someone standing in the rain because I love it so much, that’s an idol. When my love of an earthly treasure replaces my love of God, I’m guilty of practicing idolatry.

We sometimes measure ourselves by the money we make, the promotions we get, the size of our house, and the number of vehicles we own. Yet we also measure ourselves by our standing in church and community. At times, we tend to be more interested in showing how devoted we are to fellow Christians rather than just loving God.

I came across a new word the other day, iZealotry. It's idolatry with an internet twist. It has to do with zeal, or rather being overzealous. Zeal can be good, when used appropriately, but someone with too much zeal is probably being idolatrous. You see it all over the internet in flaming e-mails and posts. Believe it or not, many of these are from Christians. None are meant to gain converts, but to show how righteous they think they are. It's as if the Pharisees have returned.

Then there is our zeal for country, which we’ve somehow married to Christianity. Our love for country can, at times, be more vocal than our love for God. In the movie, A Few Good Men, the Marine on trial named Dawson quoted a code they lived by: "Unit, Corps, God, Country." This is not necessarily the actual Marine code, just Hollywood's version of it, so let's be careful. But notice where God fits in, which is symptomatic of the way many think. Too often we place our love of country above our love of God. How expensive to our soul is that particular plaything? Indeed, idols come in a variety of gilded, golden calves.

We must remember that along with any object or ideal we've been blessed with for a season, comes the ability to give it away. The dust of idols rubs off and lingers in the heart, which soils the soul.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

–Matthew 6:19-21

Keywords: Idols, Nationalism

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