Idolatry
“The idolatrous heart assumes that God is other than He is—in itself a monstrous sin—and substitutes for the true God one made after its own likeness…Let us beware lest we in our pride accept the erroneous notion that idolatry consists only in kneeling before visible objects of adoration, and that civilized peoples are therefore free from it. The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him.”
-A. W. Tozer The Knowledge of the Holy
At least since college, I have recognized that idolatry is more than just bowing down to a carved image. I remember teaching a bible study or two on the idols of our present lives. However, this thought has never really occurred to me, that my image of God, in and of itself, can be its own false idol. I think every Christian has his own idea of who God is. In a way, that can be a good thing. The good from that is shown in how many different areas Christians can minister. Even in college, I saw clear ministry patterns of friends that would never be my own. Some who would build relationships with social outcasts, some who would spend most of their time with children, some who would minister to their sports team, and some who would go to the parties and minister to their sorority or fraternity. Yet, there is a bad that comes from having a different perception of God. That bad is what Tozer is referring to: that when we create a God in our likeness, instead of molding ourselves in His likeness, we are, indeed idolaters.
Paul said, “When they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
Especially now as I am not around a group of believers that I really hang out with…yet, I need to be very careful that I am not, in my head, molding my God into the image I want him to be. I am the clay. He is the potter.
-A. W. Tozer The Knowledge of the Holy
At least since college, I have recognized that idolatry is more than just bowing down to a carved image. I remember teaching a bible study or two on the idols of our present lives. However, this thought has never really occurred to me, that my image of God, in and of itself, can be its own false idol. I think every Christian has his own idea of who God is. In a way, that can be a good thing. The good from that is shown in how many different areas Christians can minister. Even in college, I saw clear ministry patterns of friends that would never be my own. Some who would build relationships with social outcasts, some who would spend most of their time with children, some who would minister to their sports team, and some who would go to the parties and minister to their sorority or fraternity. Yet, there is a bad that comes from having a different perception of God. That bad is what Tozer is referring to: that when we create a God in our likeness, instead of molding ourselves in His likeness, we are, indeed idolaters.
Paul said, “When they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
Especially now as I am not around a group of believers that I really hang out with…yet, I need to be very careful that I am not, in my head, molding my God into the image I want him to be. I am the clay. He is the potter.
posted by go2016 at 12:03 PM
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