Enjoy listening to this message given by Bryce Cook.
Well as we continue to move through our “Idols and Me” series, we are going to take a look today at one of the reasons why idolatry can be one of the most difficult sins to identify and deal with in our lives, as well as one of the primary reasons why idol worship presents a daily struggle for us as humans and as Christians. But first let’s look back at the definitions of idols that we’ve talked about through the last couple of messages.
- An object of extreme devotion
- A representation or symbol of an object of worship
- A likeness of something
- A false conception
- A form or appearance visible but without substance
So, as we look at these definitions, I want to point something out that I noticed as I was reading over them. Really only one of these definitions defines idols as being negative, and I would argue that’s the definition of idols as a false conception. For each of the rest of these, I think we just view idols negatively because as Christians we are taught that idols are bad things. So, let’s place all of our preconceived notions aside for a second and try to answer a question that carries with it some major implications for our own lives. Can good things be made bad if we idolize them? Again, this question has major implications in our lives.