# idolatry



## Larry Hughes (Jul 22, 2006)

"œBy seeking his God in creation, which itself needs what man needs, [man] does not achieve the life which he seeks, but only death. And his unbelief grows stronger. By clinging to the things of Creation without being capable of abandoning them for fear of losing them, the door through which man ought to pass in order to give to his neighbor becomes barred even more tightly, and his unkindness to his fellow beings grows stronger. By thus bowing down to what is created, as though he were subordinate to it, and making himself a slave to it, man loses the possibility of standing over Creation and 'ruling' it and 'subduing' it to himself."

--Gustaf Wingren, from Creation and Law


One of the best explanations of idolatry I've ever heard, what it is and its damaging implications to all fallen man, even Christians. To wit: an idol can be anything, good creation and even otherwise good things done in the church, it need not always be an explicitly evil thing. What makes it an idol is that one ultimately is seeking life by it and devoted more and more to it. Even if one professes outwardly otherwise. Then one is turned more and more inwardly to that very idol, sin/self, and more and more closed off increasingly from love of neighbor (to protect and keep that idol at all costs, after all it is perceived as "life giving", at least on a subconscience level), increasingly violating God's holy law. At length one will kill for this idol even if the idol is otherwise a thing good. One is increasingly barred from the real deliverance, real life, the Good News and utter free justification. AS one is increasingly barred from this, one is simultaneously increasingly opened up to the idol, for one will seek life either in truth or falsehood, the later is really death but the idol seeker doesn't believe this. Free grace frees one up instantly and says, "œYOU HAVE life already in Christ alone", now you can easily serve your neighbor for all your losses and gains in life matter none, you already HAVE life. But idolatry says, "œI don´t know if I have life, I better do XYZ, and xyz could be anything from dieting to church yard piety of ANY form". After all one is seeking life some how, and one will guard this idol to the death!

Ldh


----------

