From a brother pastor the other day I received some questions with comments. The first one is about my understanding of idolatry. I sent my answers to him and with his permission I am also posting the correspondence here again.
First of all: in my opinion, there are all kinds of forms of idolatry, not only the ones you address in your articles, but also the ones you wouldn't call idolatry, such as the things in the RD (of June 17 last) were mentioned: spending too much time on things that are not wrong in themselves, but which creep stealthily into the place of God (neglecting prayer and Bible reading more and more, etc., and hanging on to other things with your whole heart and life), and the like.
This is indeed an important point, and you are not the only one who sees idolatry much more broadly than I do. Most Bible readers who take idolatry seriously see it in a broad sense.
My understanding of idolatry is based on what God's Word itself says about it. The only "definition" of idolatry that I know of is from Deuteronomy 12:2-4,30-31 and its meaning is that God's people may not approach Him in the way the pagans approach their gods. As far as I can see, that is the essential characteristic of idolatry: that it is always directly related to man's relationship with the invisible world.
The only other expression from the Bible that I know of is the one that talks about "greed, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5; Ephesians 5:5). About that I have here are some thoughts written down and argued that greed and idolatry are not identical; you can't put an = sign between them. I'm not going to elaborate on it here because I think it's too distracting. But if it prompts further discussion on this, I'd love to hear from you.
In terms of Bible interpretation, I believe it is always best to take the Bible text as literally and as precisely as possible in the first instance. Hence, for example, I take the concept of "serving their gods" as having contact (or fellowship) with the spiritual beings in the invisible world. We may not approach the God of the Bible in the same way(s). The way He "wants to be approached is by/in faith. "Whoever comes to God must believe that He is ..." (Hebrews 11:6). Believing has to do with the mind of man and the Spirit of God working in it (imperceptibly for us).
By the way, this then also leads to the question "how the nations - the pagans - serve their gods" or in other words, how do people without God make contact with the invisible world. This is crucial to know, though, because without it we still don't know what to do with the Bible text. When a person opens up to experience the invisible world, it is the demons that act on the feeling (i.e. on the soul level and not like the Spirit on the spirit level).
This line of thinking almost automatically leads us to distinguish between that which the Bible calls idolatry and all kinds of other "sinful behavior. The former always has to do with contact with the invisible world, that is, with the direct influence of demons on man's soul.
That is why I believe the Bible makes this distinction: idolatry has to do with opening yourself up to demonic influence while believing you are serving God. So all other sinful behavior, in my opinion, does not fall under idolatry. It is the principle difference that is made in the Bible with great consequences for, for example, the image of God that we have, for explanation of many Scriptures (including very difficult ones) and for pastoring.
Just as an aside, in practice there may be situations where 'undesirable behaviors' are associated with idolatry and then they will have to be acted upon. Examples are the "greed that is idolatry" and immoral immoral practices such as homosexuality which, in my opinion, also often accompanies idolatrous practices.
Incidentally, the Bible also speaks of idolatry resulting in all kinds of sinful practices. One of the consequences of idolatry is that the distinction between good and evil blurs, if not disappears. This has (see among others with the people of Israel) a multitude of miserable consequences such as immorality and all kinds of injustices and wrongs.
When we do not keep idolatry and other sins apart - as I believe the Bible does - that confusion can lead to all sorts of awkward and undesirable (pastoral) situations. For example, I heard a while back from a believer who believed that he had committed an unforgivable sin and would not get into heaven on the basis of Hebrews 10:26 and 27. In my opinion, that is the misapplication of these texts, because the whole context is about "entering into the sanctuary" (verse 19) and "drawing near to Him" (verse22). Approaching in faith and with boldness is contrasted with those who shirk it (verse 39), which in my opinion are those who indulge in idolatry. Moreover, I have yet to encounter a believer who does not know this from his own life. You know in advance that what you are going to do is sin and yet you do it. The text in Hebrews 10 is not about those situations.
Thus, there are more serious Bible passages dealing with idolatry; not only in the letter of Hebrews (in several places), but also in 1 John (e.g., 3:4-10).
On the other hand, the problem you mention of a believer neglecting fellowship with the Lord by not taking time to do so is real. Then spiritual things become less important so that a crisis of faith can arise, where seeking "experiences of God" seems like a short cut back, but unfortunately it is not. Because without realizing it, you are deceived and you end up from the rain in the drip.
Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount also focuses the literal text of the commandments on transgressing them in our words and our deepest thoughts. In this sense, a child of God (one justified by faith) can sin against the 1st commandment just as much as against any other of the 10 commandments. The "old man," "the flesh," remains inclined to sin. The struggle against it will not be over until after this life.
We couldn't agree more. The Lord Jesus makes it clear in the Sermon on the Mount that sinful thoughts are as bad to God as sinful deeds. In doing so, He makes it clear to everyone that we are incorrigible and doomed sinners. It shows what is in the human heart.
If someone is justified by faith, then according to you he/she would no longer have to deal with the wrath of God. In my opinion, this is true when it comes to the eternal wrath of God on "the wicked"; but not as far as this temporary life on earth is concerned; then a child of God can indeed encounter the wrath of God on sin, but then as a discipline (Hebrews 12) to persuade him/her to confess these sins and to break with them, whether it concerns sins against the 1st or the 6th, 7th, 8th commandment (etc.).
As far as I can tell, the New Testament twice mentions "the wrath of God" on the life of a "Christian.
- In Ephesians 5:3-8, believers are presented with an apostate walk of life to which they could be deceived. Christians with such a walk of life of fornication, money-seeking and idolatry have truly lost their way and are called "children of disobedience. Upon such as these comes the wrath of God (verse 6).
- We find something similar in Colossians 3:5-6.
Therefore, I would not readily refer to the Lord's "disciplining" as "wrath of God. Discipline, in my opinion, is more what a father (and our Father) does to his children to "teach them the right way" or as Hebrews puts it "that we may partake of His holiness" (12:10).
Our God and Father is the God who "forgives manifold, gracious, merciful, patient, rich in kindness" (Nehemiah 9:17) and acts accordingly with those who love Him and keep His commandments (Exodus 20:6).
Of course He is one and the same God, but He deals with His children in a different "character" (so to speak) than when dealing with idolatry.
By the way, it should not become a war of words between us: what does or does not fall under the term "idolatry" is not, in my opinion, the most important thing; in any case, it is sinful if you become more and more preoccupied with all kinds of things that prevent you from taking time for dealing with God and His Word, whether we call it idolatry or not.
I gladly agree: the distinction between idolatry and "other sins" is not important for the eternal preservation of a child of God. And we are not making a war of words about it. I try to explain on the site how I understand things in God's Word, and whoever reads that may consider for the Lord what to do with it. In that regard, I just echo Paul - without of course comparing myself to him in any way - who said to Timothy: consider what I write, and let the Lord give you insight (2 Timothy 2:7).
By the way, I just read an article on CVandaag about 'Christian yoga' with a lot of comments, and from them it appears once again that people in Christianity have no idea that the Bible has a lot of serious things to say about yoga (and many other occult matters). Therefore - if the Lord allows me - I will continue with the site for a while.
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