We make excuses for our idols

Why do humans make excuses for the idols they worship? Is it to sooth something within a person? Is it to make it seem like the false god that a person worships is not real? Is it to fool ourselves into believing that we just can’t be wrong and are therefore innocent? I don’t know.

We make excuses for our idols though. That is something I do know for certain.

With the latest school massacre in Georgia, I heard plenty of people making excuses for guns – giving weapons, like the AR-15, a pass. Why are we so concerned with making these weapons seem innocent? Only God is holy, yet if you listen to some people, they make it sound like the AR-15 belongs in the holy of holies and cannot be touched. Why is that? It’s just a weapon after all. There is nothing divine about it. There is nothing special about it. It’s metal pieced together. It has a function, which is carries out very well and effective. And…it doesn’t care about anything. It doesn’t have the capacity to care because it isn’t alive. Yet, it often sounds as though some people believe that these weapons are something more than what they are. Some seem very willing to fight for these weapons, as if the weapon would somehow return the favor on its own accord. There is nothing special about weapons. They are just objects designed to do what they do.

We create idols when we make an object or person out to be more than what they are. When we place meaning and purpose on an object, we are making an idol. When we wrap our identity up in an object or person, we are making an idol. Idols are made in our own image. That contrasts with God who makes humans in God’s image and likeness.

Genesis 3 tells us about the story of the Fall. It’s the first sin. And what is that sin? Genesis 3:5 is a good summary. The serpent says to the woman, “for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” It’s about being like God, as we imagine God to be. We talk about God being all powerful and all knowing. And for humans that is equated to strength and might and the ability to impose your will on anything and anyone. But that’s not what God is about. That’s just someone being a tyrant.

There are plenty of other idols that people create and worship. Money, sex, work, sports, entertainment, intelligence, information, technology, science, etc. Just about anything can be an idol.

Pay attention when you are dealing with someone. You’ll know you hit an idol when the conversation changes – when a person gets defensive about what is being criticized. When that happens, you know you’ve hit on a nerve of something that the person finds sacred in some way. You know you hit an idol when the person makes excuses for why their idol is innocent and can’t be touched. You know you hit an idol when the person is willing to sacrifice others in defense of their idol.

Idols demand everything and yield nothing. Yet for some reason, we humans continue to sacrifice for them. Why? We’re addicted to the promise that these idols offer, but never fulfill. The promise is just too good. We hope beyond hope that someday, in some way, that the idol will fulfill its promise. We just need to give it more time. But that day will never come.

We make excuses for idols. Instead we should be dumping them and seeing them for what they are.