Idolatry - the Most Common Sin of the Church

Following a list of things we can know with absolute certainty, John could have ended this book with 1st John 5:20. It was a high water mark - a joyous verse of triumph which says: “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” Amen!

So it is surprising, then, that John continues on with this one final warning against idols in 1st John 5:21, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”

Why, we would wonder, would anyone who had this absolute knowledge of “the true God and eternal life” ever follow after idols? Who would ever follow second best, once they’ve known the best?

Most of John’s readers had known idolatry before. The Gentile church was formed out of pagan idolatry. 1st Thessalonians 1:9 shows that by saying of them, “how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” They’ve seen both, and should know the benefit, or lack of benefit, of both. No one rescued from idolatry should ever be crazy enough to think about going back.

But yet, I’m going to make a statement that may seem far-fetched to you. Idolatry is the greatest sin of the modern church and the greatest sin of most Christians. Some of you are already rejecting that without even thinking about it. You think that this warning is only historically applicable; that in modern day America, we are too sophisticated to be taken in with idols.

Oh, maybe it is a problem in the orient with their shrines and Buddhas, or in India with the multitude of Hindu gods, or in some jungle where the natives still worship the rocks and trees of nature
We don’t have any of that in our circle of friends. Oh, once in awhile, we see one of those upturned bath tubs with an idol of Mary in it. But us Protestants would never have an idol.

Oh, wouldn’t we? We so often think of idolatry only as bowing down before images, but it’s not. That is precisely why we need to spend time studying this so we can see if it’s in our lives. You need to understand the full breadth of idolatry, and how it may have even tainted you.

First, though, let’s look at the historical problem. Paul had his share of troubles from idol worshipers. You can see this in the book of Acts. Paul is in Ephesus, the home of the temple to Diana. It was the center of their culture and a mainstay of their economy. The silversmiths were making a fortune selling little miniatures of the idol. They didn’t take kindly to Paul’s preaching against them.

Acts 19:23-30 gives the account:
23 And about that time there arose a great commotion about the Way. 24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no small profit to the craftsmen. 25 He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and said: “Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. 26 Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands. 27 So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.”
28 Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” 29 So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s travel companions. 30 And when Paul wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would not allow him.

That’s classic idolatry. Paul continually taught that there was only one God, and all the rest were false. Worship of false gods (little “g”) through the use of images is in direct violation of the first and second commandments.

Exodus 20:1-6 lists these first two:
And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

That second command obviously addresses the classic understanding of an idol, but making idols is only a small part of violating that first commandment. As R.W. Torrey said, “An idol of the mind is as offensive to God as an idol of the hand.”

What modern folks don’t realize is that an idol doesn’t have to be made of wood, or stone. The first commandment says that nothing should take God’s rightful place as #1 in your life. Therefore, anything that takes the place of God in our hearts is an idol.

Paul even says something interesting in Colossians 3:5, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Obviously then, idolatry doesn’t have to involve a graven image. Covetousness, the wanting of the things of others, can be an idol.

So, you see, it’s not the image that makes an idol, but the place of that thing in the heart that is important. God must have first place in our lives. He must not be some add-on that we make a little room for on Sunday in our already crowded week.

This is re-emphasized in Deuteronomy 6:4-6:
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.”


That’s not just Old Testament drivel. Jesus declared that loud and clear in the New Testament as well.

Matthew 22:35-40 declares:
Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"
Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

In other words, #1 is still in effect. That is simply another way of saying that first commandment of Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” God demands first place in your life. Anything else is sin. Anything that rises above God in your heart is an idol and it has to go. It’s hogging up space in your life that belongs only to Jesus.

You need the attitude of Ben Davenport, who cried out to God, “Strip me clean, strip me down until there is nothing left that dares to shroud Your glory.” Nothing should be above God