What can get in the way of Christ’s living His life in us? How can we make sure that He does live His very life in you and me? For some answers to these questions, let’s consider a few lessons from the Israelites’ brief and tragic worship of the golden calf.
Remember, the Israelites had been spared from the death of their firstborn at the Passover. They had left Egypt with a high hand, with the Eternal leading them through the wilderness. They crossed the Red Sea miraculously. At Mount Sinai, they heard God’s voice thundering down from the mountain. The Eternal spoke to them, and He ate with the 70 elders. And Moses then went up the mountain to receive the law from God. But what happened next?
The Israelites, dissatisfied at Moses’ delay in coming down from the mountain, asked Aaron to fashion replacement gods for them. Aaron molded the Israelites’ golden earrings into the image of a calf. He then built an altar before the new idol and declared a feast. The Israelites rose early the next day and in celebration sacrificed burnt offerings to the idol (Exodus 32:1–6). After doing this, the Israelites began following the example of fertility cults found in the surrounding nations. In less than a month-and-a-half, they had gone from entering into a covenant with God to dancing around a golden calf.
This angered the Eternal, and the Israelites came within a hair’s breadth of being annihilated. The One who would become Jesus Christ told Moses, “Say to the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you. Now therefore, take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do to you” (Exodus 33:5).
How tragic! Though the Word had been with them, even talking with them, they went after a false, molten, created god instead of the true God who had delivered them.
But what about us? Are we turning to any false gods—turning to idols? Are we doing things that may cause God to refrain from dwelling in our midst—things that would lead to His consuming us instead of delivering us? There are lessons we need to learn from the golden calf.
Idolatry Starts in the Heart
Some might try to dismiss the Israelites’ example, because we know we would never bow down to a big and ugly hunk of metal. But idolatry begins in the heart. Think for a moment: Where did the Israelites’ idol come from? It wasn’t something physical that they had brought with them from Egypt. It had come with them in their minds. Their idolatry started with a thought—in the mind, or the heart. So, if we are to avoid the Israelites’ mistake, we must examine our own hearts. What idols are residing in our minds?
As Christians, we understand that we are coming out of our own Egypt. We are coming out of the world. But what idols are we still carrying in our hearts? Another way to ask the question is, What is at the center of my life? What is my highest priority in life? Most of us would say that God and His ways are at the center as our highest priority. But do we sometimes drift a little bit and find ourselves off-center, treating something as a higher priority than God? Anything that takes His place is an idol, and we are idolaters when we let that happen.
Hundreds of years after the incident with the golden calf, God spoke to the prophet Ezekiel. Captivity had already come on the Israelites for their disobedience against God, and He gave them a stern warning. We read:
Now some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity…. Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols, that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols”’” (Ezekiel 14:1–5).
When we read this, we can practically picture God grabbing us by the collar and shouting, Wake up! It’s as if He is pointing right at our heart and saying, I want to live here, but there is something else taking My place! So, what are we to do about it? “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations”’” (v. 6).
We don’t get a pass just because our idols aren’t big, shining, leering hunks of metal. Idols come from the heart.
Idolatry Spreads
How seriously should we take this warning? Should we be easy on ourselves, reasoning that our idols aren’t such a big deal compared to the Israelites’? Notice something that the Apostle Paul told the Galatian brethren: “You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is” (Galatians 5:7–10).
Are we of one mind—God’s mind? Or are we allowing “a little leaven” to remain, because we think it is too hard to purge out of our lives or too small to matter? This is a lesson we should take from the Days of Unleavened Bread. Leaven spreads. Just a tiny bit in a big ball of dough will spread quickly and leaven it all. Leaven here typifies sin—and idolatry, like all sin, spreads quickly. Eventually, it will touch everything: our heart, our mind, our character. We must be vigilant to identify idolatry in our heart and stop it from spreading by eliminating it.
Notice, too, that the Israelites waited quite a while for Moses. They didn’t make and worship the golden calf right away. But they grew impatient, and worshipping their new idol eventually seemed like the right thing to do, even though it put something else in the place that should only belong to God. We are reminded of what Paul wrote to the Corinthians around the time of the Days of Unleavened Bread: “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:6–8).
We must remain unleavened spiritually—not leavened with old idolatries. But what are some of those things that we can turn into idols of the heart?
Possessions as Idols
Sinful attitudes can sneak up on us. They start with a thought and spread if we don’t eradicate them. “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them” (Colossians 3:5–7).
Yes, we can make an idol of possessions. Covetousness is idolatry. We are living in a very materialistic age—let’s not be fooled that we can’t be affected by the idolatry of possessions. We might say, I have things, and I like nice things, but I’m not overly focused on them; I’m not coveting! But it’s tricky. Idolatry sneaks up on us, and it can turn something that may not be intrinsically wrong into something that has become wrong for us.
We know intellectually that Christ was right when He gave this answer to the crowd: “Then one from the crowd said to Him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’… And He said to them, ‘Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses’” (Luke 12:13–15). Do we worry about not having enough? That may seem responsible, even wise—but it isn’t what Christ taught. He continued: “Then He said to His disciples, ‘Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing’” (vv. 22–23).
Whether we have a lot or a little, we have set the stage for idolatry if what we have becomes the center of our thoughts and plans—our highest priority in life. So, what should our attitude be? “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you” (vv. 29–31).
When we put God first, He says, I’ll take care of you. “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (vv. 32–34).
We understand that times are getting harder and will grow even harder. What will we do when there are widespread food shortages? What will we do when there’s rationing? What will we do when there’s loss of jobs on a massive scale, and lower wages for those having jobs? The stress of these concerns will only increase before Christ’s return. And He said, Put Me at the center, and I’ll take care of these things.
Pleasure as an Idol
Pleasure is not a bad word—after all, we have seen that it’s God’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. There are many things that can give us pleasure, and there’s nothing wrong with having fun, unwinding, having hobbies, and doing things that please us. But this becomes a problem when that pleasure is at our center—our highest priority.
Pleasure can also become addictive. Drinking alcohol in moderation can be pleasurable and appropriate, but we all know the disaster that comes from addiction to alcohol. Engaging in sex at the right time and in the right place, within marriage, is a blessing and a gift from God, but sexual addiction—where sex becomes the primary driving force in a person’s life, even leading to perversions—will destroy marriages and families. Pornography has been called “The Public Health Crisis of the Digital Age” (Psychology Today, April 15, 2021)—and rightly so, because it affects the brain in exactly the same way that illicit drugs do. When a person views pornographic material, the brain is overexposed to pleasure chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and epinephrine. The brain rewires itself to accommodate the extra chemicals, building up first a tolerance and then a dependency, first wanting the pleasure chemicals and then “needing” them. Pornography is a drug epidemic, and it has taken the world by silent storm. For more on this important topic, you can read Mr. Adam West’s article in this issue of the Living Church News.
Even simpler and seemingly innocent pursuits, such as checking emails, texting, or instant messaging, can be addictive. More and more reports are coming out that when people are separated from their phones, they go through withdrawal symptoms. “When a person is specifically fearful of losing access to their cellphone, the term used for this fear is ‘nomophobia’…. The precise definition of nomophobia is the ‘fear of being detached from mobile phone connectivity.’ In other words, someone with nomophobia could be holding their cell phone but still feel anxious if they can’t connect to the Internet” (“Help for Phone Separation Anxiety and Fear of Being Offline,” FHERehab.com, May 19, 2022).
I challenge you—go without the Internet for a whole day and see how you feel. If you feel lost, if you feel nervous and uncomfortable, maybe you’ve made an idol of the Internet. Of course, most of us can’t just throw away our phones, but it may be a good idea to shut them off from time to time. Maybe we don’t need to check them every time we think about them. Maybe we don’t need to answer every text right away. Maybe we can let our friends wait for an hour. They may freak out at first—but I assure you that they will survive the suspense of getting a reply text an hour later instead of a second later.
The nature of addictions is that addicts cannot control their own will or mind. Remember Paul’s powerful words: “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16). Are we slaves to our phones, or to other things that give us pleasure? We need to examine ourselves.
One vital way we examine ourselves is by looking at the examples God has given us in Scripture. Paul reminded the Corinthians that we should not consider ourselves above temptation, but also that we should understand that we can overcome any temptation we face. “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:12–14).
Idolatry usually starts off subtly. It can spring even from things that seem to be good and beneficial but that can destroy our lives when they take the place of God. So, we should ask ourselves, is the pursuit of pleasure taking on more and more of our focus? Are we thanking God for the blessings He gives us, or are we chasing after more and more “good things” instead of drawing closer to the giver of those blessings?
Spouses as Idols
We should be one together with our spouse, right? But even our closest, most intimate relationship will not work if we make the other person the center of our life—our highest priority—because only God fits there.
The world around us pushes the concept that we must look for someone we think will complete us. Some can even misunderstand what God said in Genesis 2:18, “It is not good that man should be alone,” thinking they must find someone to make up for their deficiencies. But husband and wife complement each other. And unless each has God at the center, they will come together with unrealistic and unfulfilled expectations. No human being can give us what only God can give. Husband and wife give to each other, learn from each other, and together fulfill God’s plan for their family. But without God at the center, there will inevitably be disappointment when we realize our spouse is not our savior!
Years ago, one of my instructors at college made a memorable statement. He said that only two whole, mature, complete people can form a marriage unit. He described it this way: you start with one whole, complete person—meaning that they have a solid relationship with God and are settled and at peace in life. Then you have another whole person like that. But this isn’t like addition, where two half-complete people would add up to one complete person. Instead, it’s multiplication—one times one, resulting in one complete unit. When you multiply two halves, you get one quarter—two people who are unhappy, who are lessened by putting a human being on a pedestal instead of God. Yes, idolatry can spread even to our marriages.
Family and Friends as Idols
For some parents, it is children who take the center place, the highest priority, which should belong to God. Yes, we should love our children, but if they become the centerpiece of our life, if we structure our existence around them, we will find either that we pander to their every whim or that we are constantly frustrated when they don’t live up to our expectations—or both. We live in a world where children often rule over their parents. That was prophesied. As parents, it is good and right that we set aside our own desires in order to help our children, but our children must not become a golden calf that distracts us from what God wants of us.
For others, it is friends—and even enemies—who become a source of idolatry. Why is it so important to forgive others? Because God knows that if we harbor hurts and offenses inside, they become the primary motivation of our thoughts and actions. We can find ourselves wanting justice, or revenge, or even just to be acknowledged as a victim—and when we want that more than we want God living at the center of our life as our highest priority, we have become idolaters.
The same can be said about friendships. We should have—and be—good friends. But when we seek human friendship more than God’s righteousness, we have given in to idolatry. Only God and His ways can take that central place, that highest priority in our lives.
Service as an Idol
It’s easy to understand that our occupation can become an idol—it can become the core of our identity and the focus of our lives. But what about our service in the Church? Yes, we can even put our service to God’s Church in the place where we should be putting God Himself.
Remember the account of Mary and Martha in Luke 10? The first time I read that, I thought, Wow—this is horrible! I feel sorry for Martha. Why did Jesus Christ correct Martha for working so hard? But I have come to understand it more. Christ was showing Martha that Mary understood something important—that the Son of God was right there with them, teaching and conversing with people. Christ wasn’t teaching that we shouldn’t do our chores; He was revealing that we must first and foremost be close to Him.
If we sacrifice our personal relationship with God in order to “get things done,” we have put those things at the center of our lives, as our highest priorities, instead of God. If we are “too busy” for prayer, Bible study, meditation, and occasional fasting, this is a strong sign that we have put our work, and maybe even our service to the Church, ahead of our relationship with God—which is a form of idolatry.
Watch Out for Idols
As we have seen, we can fall into idolatry even without a golden calf or physical image to receive our worship. We must watch out for idols of the heart, as even normally good things can turn us toward idolatry when they displace God at the center of our lives.
Notice something that Christ said: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). He wasn’t teaching us to hate our families; He was simply saying that nothing should be more important to us than God. He must be at the center of our lives as our highest priority. We may have all sorts of relationships and blessings and duties, but they must all revolve around Him at the center—even when keeping Him there may be difficult.
“And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (v. 27). We must bear our burdens, putting our Savior ahead of everything else—even our very lives. Why did Christ say this? He wasn’t trying to hurt or punish us—rather, as our Creator, He knows how we work. He knows that better than we do! He knows that we will be frustrated to no end if we expect anything other than Him to provide true fulfillment in our lives.
Instead, when we ask Christ to live His life in us—and we go forward and grow in that desire every year that goes by—we feel happier and our relationships work better. When we repent, accept baptism, receive God’s Spirit, and continue to grow, everything works better because we put God first. We’re not striving after the wind; we’re not grasping at things that don’t work.
No, idolatry is not just some big, leering, ugly, metal idol. It is a sin against which we all must struggle every day. And the Days of Unleavened Bread should help us gain a deeper appreciation for what Christ is willing to do for us. Through the Holy Spirit, it is only God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, who can fill that empty spot at the center of our life. And that’s a lesson of the golden calf.