So Full of Idols

This past July, my wife and I had the privilege of traveling to Phnom Penh, Cambodia to encourage the missionary work of Julie Broyles. It was an amazing trip. We hope we gave encouragement as much as we were encouraged. We saw some amazing sights. Angkor Wat, in Siem Reap, Cambodia, is truly a wonder of the medieval world. Eating in a restaurant where everyone sits on top of the tables has its charm. And you’ve not fully lived until you’ve ridden on the back of a motorbike, in the rain, and crossed five lanes of oncoming traffic.   

But what surprised me most about Cambodia was the pervasiveness of Buddhism. Temples were everywhere, taking up city blocks or dotting the rural landscape with their ostentatious, gilded décor and their gigantic statues of sitting Buddhas. Outside every dwelling was a spirit box, and offerings were given within these boxes, every day.  At one hotel, we noticed that a biscuit was placed in the box in front of an image of Buddha. The next day, the biscuit was still there, uneaten. Monks traversed the streets of Phnom Penh and people working in shoe stores or at restaurants would stop their work to have a monk pray over them, after which they would give a donation.  From a visitor’s vantagepoint, these people demonstrated sincere belief in their religion.

I couldn’t help thinking about Paul when he was in Athens. Paul “was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols” (Acts 17:16). Idolatry is more common in the world than we in the West typically acknowledge. Our idolatry is often subtler—usually in the form of greed (Col 3:5). It is a sin that we are cautioned against in many places, both in the Old and New Testaments (see Gal. 5:19-21, 1 John 5:21, 1 Cor. 10:14, Rev. 21:8, Rev. 22:15). Rather than look down upon other cultures for their ignorance or superstition, it would be wise for us to consider the evil of idolatry that can be at work in our own culture and in our own lives. 

Idolatry, in perhaps the simplest terms, is worship of a false god. Paul helps us understand where this impulse comes from in Romans 1:20-25:

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

Why would people exchange the true and living God for a false one, and only an image at that? Paul shows that idolatry comes from evil desires. We will exchange the truth of eternal glory for empty images and empty promises when we lose sight of God, and when lust and greed and other temptations become strong within us. 

Eve’s temptation is a good example for us. She was tempted to take the place of God (Genesis 3:5), perhaps believing, falsely, that she could determine her own destiny, make her own rules. Such were the false claims of the devil, and so he still claims today. In his epic poem, Paradise Lost, Milton shows Eve praising the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as her first act after tasting the forbidden fruit. That’s an insight into where idolatry comes from. Our pride and greed tempt us into seeking other gods—gods that we can manipulate and control into doing our bidding. However, in the end, the false gods lead only to false hope, and we become slaves to sin and death (Rom. 6:16-23)

Idolatry stems from this impulse: we want a god that will do our bidding. At a Taoist temple in China, I saw piles of money heaped up on an altar. The people giving it were doing so in the belief that their god works on the basis of quid pro quo—"I do something for you; you do something for me.” But the Bible warns us against that kind of false worship. Our God cannot be put into anyone’s debt (Rom. 4:2-5). Salvation is a free gift, not gained through works (Eph. 2:8-9). God does not give us things in return for our gifts and sacrifices to him. He has already given us his greatest gift, his Son, “while we were still sinners” (Rom. 5:8). Our works of obedience come from an overflow of a grateful heart. When we know the truth about the True and Living God (1 Thess. 1:9), we know that he is completely beyond our ability to manipulate or control. We appeal constantly to his mercy, living in grateful humility for the salvation he freely offers.  

-N.S. Boone

(Previously published in Words of Life Bulletin)