Read Romans 1:18-25
Trigger Warning: The next several posts may contain ideas that will offend some readers.
In the last post, we looked at the wrath of God and the call, since the beginning of creation, for us to honor God and give him thanks. Living this life of gratitude towards God is one part of how we can live out the calling to become “living and holy sacrifices acceptable to God” (Romans 12); and this life of grateful praise is also part of becoming transformed by the Spirit Sphere in our lives and not being conformed by the Flesh Sphere. (a description of the two spheres may be found in this post)
“Professing to be wise, they become fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.” The Roman world when Paul is writing this letter was a land overflowing with idols. Cities had temples to various Gods. Homes had idols for household gods. The Imperial government itself was beginning to take on cult-like status elevating Augustus Caesar to a posthumous divinity. Good Roman citizens were expected to pay homage to these gods to maintain the peace and stability of society.
The Old Testament is replete with idolatry. We read of the “pillars in high places” that were idols of gods foreign to Israel. The Israelites fashion a golden calf when they get tired of waiting on Moses’ return. Elijah confronts the prophets of Baal. All this in a land that was instructed (commanded even!) that “I am YHWH your God… you shall have no other god before Me. you shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness… you shall not worship them or serve them…” (Deut 5)
Many people think that idolatry is a thing of the past. They are wrong. John Calvin called people “idol making factories”. He was spot on because, then and now, we are really good at constructing things to place our faith and trust in. Paul is very clear that we are to have our faith in and our obedience directed towards Christ. So, any of these other things that we place our hope and trust in are idols.
I live in the United States. The Fall in my country is the time of year when our modern idols are on full display. Not only is it football season, but it is also election season, and thanks to Black Friday it is shopping season. I started this post with a trigger warning because when you begin calling out the idols some people will become offended.
How do you determine an idol? There are a few simple ways. One it is where we invest our time, energy, and talents. Two is where we spend our money. Three is the outcome that the idol produces. Allow me to clarify. Psalm 1 instructs us that the blessed person loves the word of God and meditates on it day and night. It follows that those things that we spend more time on than God’s word are potential idols. In Luke 16, we are told that the pharisees were great lovers of money and that we cannot serve both God and mammon because people cannot serve two masters. We will always ultimately love and serve one master more than the other. So, where we spend our money can reveal a potential idol. Finally, the word of God is truth, and its outcome is love (agape) and the promotion of unity; therefore, idols promote the opposite of these: animosity and division.
Understand that idolatry is like gambling in that it what may be a problem for one person is not a problem for another. That being said, there are Idolatrous forces at work in the world that constitute the sphere of the flesh that seeks to separate people from their calling to know God and praise him. Over the next several posts we will break down the principal idols at work in my culture (Western Civilization /USA). I can only speak of my context; your results may vary. We begin with one of the most powerful and pervasive modern idols: politics. I invite you to read the rest of Romans 1.
The impact of an idol, according to Paul, is that the idol worshipper devolves into foolishness (v24). Fool is a technical term in the scriptures for it is the fool who has said in their heart that there is no God. The appeal of the idol is twofold. Idols are simultaneously a god that we have constructed in our own image and a god that we can control. But bowing down to the idol eventually leads to becoming a fool. Once someone enters into this foolishness, God decides to give them over to their own desires and unwise thoughts (v28-31).
Paul’s list of vices and sins in the last verses of Romans 1 provides us with a convenient guide to determining idolatry. If idol worship produces that fruit in the fool; then it follows that we can identify potential idols by how many of these vices the idol promotes.
Allow me a quick clarification. Politics in the sense I am referring is not the same as government. Government is the necessary ordering of people to allow for their peace, safety, and prosperity. Government is evident in the Bible and later in Romans we will learn that Christians are called to be good citizens in the communities that they inhabit. By contrast politics is the effort to wield the power of government and to influence the policy directives thereof.
I suggest to you that politics is the principal idol of America today. Americans increasingly look to government to solve all manner of problems large and small. Americans seek laws to legitimize behaviors and belief systems. Americans also are fond of labelling certain groups victims who deserve more of the attention and resources of government. Finally, any casual observer of the American political spectrum will recognize that much of it revolves around who will be allowed to wield the extensive power of the government; because, on every level (local, state, and federal) the right to wield such authority provides both the allure of making over society in one’s own image and to benefit financially as a result. Some of you will think that is all very true, but does that make it an idol?
Let’s look first at some of the criteria I listed above in determining idols. A quick google search reveals the following: Money? Experts estimate as a nation we will spend around $2 billion dollars on relief for Hurricane Helene. By contrast the total amount spend on the 2024 election will be $16 Billion. Time? CBS dedicated around 23 hours to coverage of Hurricane Helene; no doubt they surpassed that amount in election coverage on the day before, during, and after the recent election without considering all the hours spent on the campaign trail over the past 18 months. In terms of time there are now at least 5 television channels devoted to around the clock news reporting the vast majority of which is centered on politics. This tally doesn’t include the channels totally devoted to business news which also invariably covers a great deal of politics. There are also a multitude of national and local radio stations whose format is strictly devoted to politics. Americans spend a tremendous amount of time following and arguing politics on the airwaves. Finally, given the vitriolic responses recorded on Instagram, Tik Tok, and X (formerly known as Twitter) there is little doubt that the outcome of our political life is division rather than unity. If a space alien were to eavesdrop on us during an election year, they could not be faulted for thinking that we were dealing with life-or-death decisions constantly.
I could cite a myriad of examples of headlines that demonstrate the above but that would risk this post becoming pedantic. I want to be clear that none of this is to say that Christians shouldn’t be involved in politics. All I am suggesting is that all Christians should compare their commitment to politics to their commitment to scripture, prayer, and Christ. Again, I can only speak of the context in the USA. There are too many of us Americans who identify quickly as democrats or republicans rather than as Christians. We need to be involved but we would do well to remember these words of Jesus, “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God” (Luke 20).
Finally, let’s look at the list of vices that God’s word says idolatry renders and ask ourselves if an over emphasis on politics doesn’t produce wickedness, strife, deceit, and lack of mercy (Romans 1:29-31). If we are honest politics far too often results in people not only doing the same; “but also giving hearty approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:32).
The good news is that Christ’s sacrifice covers a multitude of sins. We are always able to break the hold of an idol through repentance and seeking God while he may be found. All who have placed their faith and trust in Christ are under the influence of the Spirit. We are to practice the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) and utilize the full armor of God in our political life as we do in our personal lives remembering Paul’s admonition that our struggle is not against flesh and blood.
Politics has a way of infiltrating every aspect of our lives and causing us to filter everything through the worldview of the political ideology (or party platforms) with which we are aligned. I began pondering these things while I was in seminary. I had been very invested in the politics of America most of my life. While in seminary the 2004 presidential election happened. The responses that I saw and some of what I felt myself caused me to question the issues of allegiance to Christ and political allegiance. I began to think that if Jesus cared at all about politics that his own views would never reflect one party platform over another. It was much more likely that his thoughts on the matter would be a blend of positions from across the spectrum. Out of this, for a time, I led talks about how Christians should engage in political discourse.
Around 2008, some minister friends of mine and I gathered for a continuing education event. We spent the evening with a good meal and some drinks. My friend Paul, who often saw things the opposite of me, and I began to argue strongly about the virtues of universal health care. We both had had a little too much to drink and the argument turned ugly. Some mean things were said to one another. Our evening ended with anger and animosity. Our friendship took a body blow that evening.
The next day, I approached my friend with a penitent spirit and a desire for reconciliation. To Paul’s credit he was willing to accept my apologies and be merciful towards me. Eventually, we added a maxim to the rules I was developing for Christian political dialogue: “never get liquored up and talk politics!” We still speak weekly, and we still discuss the important matters of the day. We have been friends now for 20 years, but we almost ended that friendship 16 years too soon. That would have been a tragedy. I credit Christ with seeing us through that time and growing our friendship ever sense.
Regardless of where you live (there are some international readers of Hypocritical Christian!) I encourage you to take a moment to assess how often politics consumes your thoughts. Are you spending more time in conversations about the latest outcomes than you do asking your neighbor about their lives? Do you find yourself anxious and worried about the outcome of elections and judiciary decisions? Do you find it hard to love the neighbor who disagrees with you politically? Have you allowed your political leanings to give you the permission to lose friendships and family members?
Politics tries to draw your thoughts and energies to it. The more time you give to it the less time you give to both love of God and love of neighbor. If you found yourself on the wrong side of the questions above, I encourage you to spend some time in prayer and scripture. Jesus is waiting especially if you are weary or heavy laden. He will give you rest. He will forgive.
Peace to you and blessings on your journey. Vaya con Dios!
As always, the above is freely given, and all are welcome to use it. If you do it would be nice if you mentioned where you got it. Finally, if you know someone who might benefit from reading these posts please share the URL or email with them.
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