Idol Worship

Well, here I am out of a job again, so I have some time to keep my blog updated. Prayerfully, the out of jobness will be short-lived. And prayerfully as well, I’ll try to keep the blog updated even when I go back to work.

There has been a lot of things going on lately, fodder for my theological ravings. The one I’d like to focus on today is the Tiger Woods incident. Yeah, I know, you’re all probably sick of hearing about it. But allow me to say just one more thing about this incident.

America is guilty of a great many sins. For starters, all of us as individuals are sinners. We do stuff wrong all the time. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But there seems to be one great sin that so many Americans participate in, Christians and non-Christians alike, and that is the sin of idol worship. We even have a television program called “American Idol”. The Bible is very clear on idol worship – we’re not to do it. The first two commandments of the Ten Commandments are: “You shall have no other gods before Me” and “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Deuteronomy 5:7-10).

Throughout the Old Testament, God continually chastises the Hebrews for idol worship. And yet, in America, a country where over 90% of the people profess to believe in God, we worship many idols. Rock stars, television stars, movie stars, and yes, professional athletes.

Tiger Woods is one of those idols worshipped on the throne of the American Dream. He’s one of those men held up to children as an example that we can accomplish anything if we just work hard at it. That anyone in America can succeed.

Looking up to others that have succeeded is not all bad. But here’s the problem. Tiger Woods is a great golfer. No doubt about that. Maybe the greatest ever. But Americans don’t want to stop there. We want to form an image of Tiger in our heads that places him on a pedestal and makes him a paragon of human virtue. We can’t simply accept him as a great golfer and admire his golf skills, but we must also assume that he’s a great person. Maybe he is and maybe he isn’t. Obviously, he’s made some dumb decisions in his personal life. But haven’t we all? Now, I’m in no way condoning anything he did. But, what I’m trying to say is that just because Tiger Woods is a great golfer does not mean he’s a man to be emulated in all facets of life. He’s not perfect. As we’ve seen. But what really floors me is the vitriol that comes out of people because he messed up. And it’s all because of idol worship.

I don’t know Tiger Woods’ spiritual state. I don’t know if he’s a follower of Jesus or not. If not, then his behavior is to be expected. Lost people act like lost people. There should be no reason to expect him to live a virtuous life without the only One who can empower us to do so. And if he is a Christian, then he has God to answer to, not us.

Movie stars, rock stars, and athletes can be admired for the talents they possess. However, we should not expect them to live lives of perfection. I think our rage at a star who falls is really a reflection of our own guilt. We know that we cannot live perfect lives and thus project onto our “heroes” the ability to do so. Therefore, when that hero fails, as they all do, we’re let down, we’re angry, we’re confused, and most of all, we’re faced with the fact that man, us included, is fallen and that makes us uncomfortable. Americans are prideful and we don’t want to accept that we need a Savior and that we’re incapable of living like we want on our own. Paul said in Romans 2:1, “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.” We expect our heroes NOT to do the same things that we do. And when they prove themselves to be human, we get angry.

There is only one hero who lived a perfect life and that was Jesus Christ. If we worship Him, we will not be let down. He will never mess up. He will never sin. He never did sin. He lived a perfect life and gave Himself up for us so that we, if we believe in Him, and submit ourselves to Him, can have assurance of eternal life. And in Heaven, there will be no sin, therefore, no one will let us down.

Worship Jesus, not the latest star of Twilight or your favorite NFL quarterback or even the next American Idol, for Jesus will never let you down.

Oh, and one more thing that I find strange with us Americans. We expect our athletes, rock stars, and movie stars to be such virtuous people and we’re angry when they let us down. But when a politician messes up, that’s just par for the course. Our priorities are completely out of whack. And I believe there’s coming a day of reckoning. God will tolerate our idol worship only so long. Go back to the beginning of this and read Deuteronomy 5:7-10 again.