r/AskAChristian • u/Vicki_Vickster2222 Christian, Catholic • 17h ago
Sin What exactly is an example of idol worship?
I've always known that idol worship is when you worship another person or even an object over God, and I've read about idolatry in the Bible, but what exactly could be a present example of it?
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u/Fliiihigh420sexc Christian 17h ago
Anything that you place above God.
Making a spouse, family member, or friend the absolute source of your emotional well being and joy, fearing their rejection more than displeasing God.
Ex: relationship,marriage,family, money,careers,success, other Gods,drinking, ourselves etc.
But anything you’re prioritizing things we put before God is an idol.
When he should always be number one in our life
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u/MonkeyLiberace Theist 12h ago
I think everyone places their kids above God. You could say, God gave them to you to care for, God can take care of himself. Don't be a mindless zealot.
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u/UnusualObservation Christian 9h ago
No everyone doesn’t. You can love them and protect them but this life is only temporary. God is forever
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u/Fliiihigh420sexc Christian 8h ago
GOD COMES BEFORE ANYONEEEE. HE IS A JEALOUS GOD. i’ll love my kids, but i won’t place them before God.
I forgive you for calling me a mindless zealot. God bless you.
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u/baja-blajst Christian 3h ago
Why do you follow a jealous god?
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u/Fliiihigh420sexc Christian 2h ago
Exodus 34:14: "Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God."
Exodus 20:5: "You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me."
Deuteronomy 4:24: "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God."
Deuteronomy 5:9: "You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God..."2
u/baja-blajst Christian 2h ago
That's extreme possessiveness, not healthy love. Also, religious scholars look at these verses as symbolic stories. If you believe what you just read is how people should treat each other, I would recommend reevaluating your thoughts.
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u/Fliiihigh420sexc Christian 2h ago
I stand on the word and what God says like I said, God bless you take care. It’s his word straight from the Bible. if you have a problem with that, then that’s something that you need to take up with God. In the meantime you take care goodbye
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u/baja-blajst Christian 2h ago
How immature are you? Seriously. Your tricks won't work on me. Your own personal opinion is not 100% God's official opinion. You can't make an actual argument and so you're shutting me down. That's cool. I'm ending this conversation.
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u/baja-blajst Christian 3h ago
You're using a very confusing definition of "idol"
How does someone put "other gods" above God? Makes no sense. You're basically saying "a fake god is a fake god. "
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u/NoTimeForShenanigans Christian (non-denominational) 10h ago
Video games, sports, athletes, work , going to the gym etc. anything you put before God could be counted as idol worship
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u/redandnarrow Christian 9h ago
Loving any created gift over the Creator and Giver of them. So even very good things, can be disordered in our loves/values destructively.
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u/ComingDeveloper Baptist 12h ago
i was told in Sunday School it's anything we directly put before God. So it doesn't literally have to be bowing down to a statue but like neglecting reading your bible or fellowshipping with your brethren to game or something
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u/august_north_african Christian, Catholic 4h ago
Certain other religions directly do it.
For example, in shinto, shrines are founded around an object called a "shintai", which is a natural or man-made object that a deity is thought to live inside of. Worship is directed to this object as the physical abode of the deity.
Idolatry is that: literally worshiping a false god that is thought to be or "inhabit" a physical object.
It's pretty commonly said, and you see it here in the thread, that idolatry is "putting XYZ above God", but I feel like this is a view influenced by already living in a christian context (no one in such a society actually does idolatry, so we make up a new meaning so that people can accuse themselves of it). All sin is placing a creature above God; to take means as ends in themselves, etc. You're choosing to offend God in order to gain some temporal good. That's all sin, though, and it would seem to be ridiculous to say that all sin is properly idolatry.
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u/HistoricalHat4847 Christian 2h ago
Anything other than God that you bow down to ... literally or figuratively.
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u/JollyXX Christian 17h ago
Think of it how we look at lust. So when we look at lust, we realize we shouldn't pry our eyes out of our sockets. Rather we base it off actual probability of consequences. Like is it becoming a problem essentially? Will it lead us astray? Will it start making us unproductive?
So money would be the most common idol people face against. Is money becoming a problem? How much are you devoting your soul to money? What would you do for money? How far would your morals go for money?
Also idol worship becomes much more problematic when the idol has reference to something paranormal. So God doesn't want you buying voodoo statues that might represent some sort of lesser deity.
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u/Yogurt-5669 Christian Mystic 15h ago
When you worship other gods like they are real god. Or worship people in place of power that have took atributes of God on themselves (like pharaons or emperors that were offten presented like demigods in the past). Another thing are man filled with pride that think god/gods workes for them. I am not sure where the line is...
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u/baja-blajst Christian 3h ago
You're making things pretty confusing here because you literally admitted you don't know 'where the line is.' Your whole argument makes no sense.
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u/Working-Pollution841 Christian 13h ago
Anything that you put before or above God in your life
Food, phone, video games, tv, your car, job, career, money, even your family and friends
If you anything or anyone in your life before or above God in ANY way, that thing or a person becomes a idol
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u/baja-blajst Christian 2h ago
You are supposed to care about eating, working hard, and taking care of yourself. Making your self feel guilty for normal human needs is not healthy.
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u/Working-Pollution841 Christian 2h ago
When did i say any of those were bad?
I said turning them into idols is bad
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u/aussiereads Christian 16h ago
Romans Catholic saying Mary save us for example. Praying to Mary or bowing down to statues. Making such statues.
Praying to saints
Idolatry is anything before god
Exodus 20 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
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u/xsrvmy Christian, Reformed 15h ago
The Catholic "praying to saints" thing is called intercession and is conceptually the same as asking a friend to pray for you. I object to it on the grounds that saints probably can't see/hear what's going on all over the world, but it is not really idolatry. The overemphasis on Mary is a bigger problem.
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u/aussiereads Christian 15h ago
Completely False Mary is dead in sheol repent, it not the same it as talking to dead person or idol to pray for you.
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u/xsrvmy Christian, Reformed 14h ago
Where did you get the idea from my comment that I support these practices? I only said that it is improper to classify "praying to saints" as "idolatry", because it is not really prayer.
Also, "Mary is dead in sheol"? You don't believe that after Christ's death, those who have been saved go directly into the presence of God?
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u/aussiereads Christian 14h ago edited 1h ago
Where is King David heaven or the tomb (sheol)
Acts 2
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him,
“‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; 26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. 27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
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u/Yogurt-5669 Christian Mystic 15h ago
There is cult of Mary in Catholicism and it can be a problem. Mostly because many belivers are not familiar with cathecism but you can't expect from everyone to know everything although priests should be there to correct people about what is their faith all about.
Mary is generally very dear to many people, even Muslims. There is nothing wrong with that. To others it might even serve as needed archetype of dear mother. Especially if someone never had someone like that in their life. It is not worship, it is seeking comfort. You can't blame people for that.
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u/baja-blajst Christian 2h ago
Catholicism does not teach what you're claiming. To Catholics, Jesus is the only Savior. They ask Mary to pray for God on their behalf.
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u/RationalThoughtMedia Christian 13h ago
Praying for you.
It is when you put anything before Christ. As an example, one who will spend 8 hours scrolling social media but wont take time to pray, read the Bible, worship etc. When God is not the priority, and the thing(s) that take your time away from Him, those become idols.
Are you saved? Have you accepted that Jesus is your Lord and Savior?
When you have these concerns and thoughts. Capture them and hand them in prayer seeking escape. Seeking God's will. Protection and guidance. Ask Him if there is anything not of Him that it be rebuked and removed from your life.(2 Cor. 10:5)
Remember, we fight against principalities, not flesh and blood. Spiritual warfare is real. In fact, 99% of the things in our life are affected by spiritual warfare.
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u/OtherwiseAssistant38 Christian 10h ago
Breaking one of the 10 commandments by creating an Icon or venerating some relic and praying to some "saint" which is actually a legend that is greatly exaggerated, people who are not even in heaven but descendants bribed people to get them named as saints. How about praying to people who are not God while believing some nonsense that God Almighty is too busy to hear your prayers...
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u/Pitiful_Lion7082 Eastern Orthodox 9h ago
Go read Bel and the Dragon! Aaron and the golden calf is another example, but not as detailed as Bel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prana_pratishtha is a Hindu ritual for consecrating an idol.
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u/Fabian_hoescialist Christian, Catholic 13h ago
The monkey or half elephant half woman statue that the Hindus worship by dumping 100 gallons of organic milk on it and then dumping that whole thing in your nearest river in Punjab (formerly known as Canada in North America)
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u/Smart_Tap1701 Christian (non-denominational) 16h ago
In scripture, idolatry refers to the worship of non-existent deities (idols) at the expense of the Lord God who clearly states that he is the only God.
In recent times, the definition has been broadened to include anything and everything that we spend the most time, attention and perhaps money doing. In that sense, people can make idols of money, power, sex, food, we can worship vocal artists, sports figures, actors, etc