The Surprising Truth about Idols

We find the second commandment in Exodus 20:4–5, which says, "You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in Heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them."

The idea of worshiping an idol may seem alien to us today. But it shouldn’t. We can make idols out of people whom we admire. Have you ever heard of a sports hero? How about American Idol? We may use the phrase somewhat jokingly: "That person is a sports god" or "I idolize that person. He’s a guitar god." But the way some people look at certain individuals, it could be they have made a person their god.

You may say, "Well, I’m not that way."

But we can make idols out of people in the church too. We can make an idol out of a man or woman of God, someone whom the Lord has used to bless us. Maybe you admire them so much. Maybe you think they are so wonderful. Newsflash: They are human like you. Everyone will fail you or disappoint you in some way, shape, or form.

Here is the problem: people become like the gods they worship. Psalm 115 warns, "Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. . . . Those who make them are like them; so is everyone who trusts in them" (verses 4, 8).

We don’t need idols. Let’s not make idols out of things. And let’s not make idols out of people, either.