A Theology of Idolatry for the 21st Century — Part 3: Christ Still Silences the Idols
John Calvin described humans as perpetual idol factories. Today on Breakpoint, Michael Craven, Vice President and Dean of the Colson Fellows Program, completes his series of theological reflections on idolatry and right worship.
————————–
Now we come to the most important question of all: What is God’s answer to idolatry?
The answer is simple. Jesus Christ.
When the prophet Elijah stood atop Mount Carmel, his contest with the prophets of Baal was not merely a competition between rival religions. It was a confrontation between reality and illusion. Baal did not exist as the god his worshipers imagined him to be. He was an idol, with no life or power of his own. Though Scripture warns of real spiritual powers that exploit idolatry and draw worship away from the living God (Deut. 32:17; 1 Cor. 10:20), Baal could not answer because Baal was no god at all. The Lord answered with fire because He alone is the living God.
The prophets repeatedly made the same point. Isaiah mocked those who cut down a tree, burned half of it for firewood and fashioned the other half into a god. In Psalm 135, David laughed at idols that had mouths but could not speak and eyes but could not see. And then he said one of Scripture’s most penetrating observations: “Those who make them become like them.” That is the true danger of idolatry. We become like what we worship.
This explains far more than the decline of ancient paganism. It explains the anxiety, confusion and fragmentation of our own age. When we worship the autonomous self, we become imprisoned within ourselves. When we worship politics, every election becomes an apocalypse. When we worship success, our identity is wrapped in achievements and failures.
Even within the Church, when we begin trusting strategy more than prayer or technique more than the Holy Spirit, we subtly exchange dependence upon God for confidence in ourselves.
Contrast this with what the Apostle Paul wrote in II Corinthians: “we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” Psalm 115 says those who worship idols become like them. Paul says those who behold Christ become like Him. The Christian life calls us to worship rightly.
This also explains one of history’s greatest mysteries: Why did those ancient gods disappear? Ultimately, it wasn’t because Christians constructed superior philosophical arguments or because Constantine legalized Christianity. It was because when people encountered the true God, revealed in Jesus Christ, the counterfeit gods could no longer explain reality and sustain belief. Their worshipers had discovered the One for whom they had unknowingly been searching all along.
This is why a Christian worldview matters. The phrase has become familiar in many churches, but it’s often misunderstood. A Christian worldview is not merely a Christian opinion about current events. It’s a Christian way of approaching everything.
It tells us where the universe came from, what it means to be human, why evil exists, what gives life meaning, how redemption is possible and where history itself is headed. Above all, it proclaims that reality is neither random nor self-created but the purposeful work of the triune God who has made Himself known in Jesus Christ.
When Paul stood before the Areopagus in Athens, he didn’t simply condemn idolatry. He proclaimed the God they did not know—the Creator of heaven and earth who had entered history in Jesus Christ. He confronted false worship by announcing the truth about reality.
That remains the Church’s calling. Every age believes it has outgrown idolatry. Every age is wrong. Every age tells itself a story about reality. Our neighbors are no less religious than the Athenians. Their temples simply look different. Their liturgies are often political rather than priestly. Their idols are more sophisticated than carved stone. But they are no less incapable of saving. That’s why possessing—and proclaiming—a Christian worldview matters. Our neighbors are living according to stories that cannot bear the weight of reality.
That’s also why Christians must never reduce the Gospel to private spirituality or moral improvement. While every worldview attempts to answer existential questions, the Gospel is the announcement of reality itself. It proclaims the God who created the world, the Christ who entered history, the Cross that reconciles sinners, the empty tomb that defeated death and the Kingdom that is and one day will restore all things.
Every false worldview eventually creates false worship, and every false god eventually disappoints. But wherever men and women behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ—wherever they encounter reality as it truly is—the idols fall.
That was true in Ephesus. It was true in Athens. It remains true today.
Photo Credit: ©Unsplash
John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.
BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can't find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 – 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today's news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.
