Secular Idolatry

by Barry Newton

    At first, it sounds like an oxymoron. How can people who have dismissed the supernatural be idolaters?

    Although stone and wooden idols are one form of idolatry, a person does not need to bow down before them to be an idolater. Idolatry ultimately boils down to using one's belief system to live for self. When Paul identified greed as being idolatry in Colossians 3:5 and Ephesians 5:5, he pierced to the heart of idolatry.

    What causes a person to be greedy? When someone believes that created things are capable of taking care of life, greed becomes the driving value for that person's behavior.

    Greed is far more than just wanting money. There are many forms of greed. Luke 12:15. It is the drive to acquire more in order to be secure or to become somebody. Idolatrous greed can take the form of trying to get everybody to like you or trying to be the very best. With greed, the object of a person's devotion can follow an abstract path (reputation, status, social contacts) or a concrete form (money, possessions). Whichever form or combination of forms it might take, it is this devotion of self to what the created order is believed to provide which makes a person idolatrous.

    Since idolatry involves saving one's own life by pushing what are considered to be the right buttons, every time an Israelite sacrificed to Baal he was depending upon Baal to provide what he believed Baal could provide him. Every time a modern cosmopolitan sacrifices time and energy toward education, social status, possessions, etc. he is depending upon Education, Work, Social Status, Reputation to provide what he believes will take care of him. The names are the only difference between ancient and modern idolatry.

Posted: 04/11/2000
URL: http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200004/20000411_greed.html

(c) Copyright 2000, Barry Newton < http://www.sjchurchofchrist.org >. Used by permission.

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