I knew that the Old Testament often talks about idols. In the New Testament you could read about them from time to time. But one cannot imagine much. Even more far-fetched was the idea of serving idols myself. Finally, I couldn't imagine giving up being a Christian and becoming a Buddhist, Hindu, or Muslim. What remains is the message that there should be no things in your life that keep you from serving God; or that no things or people should stand between you and the Lord. In itself, of course, this is not a wrong message, but it is not very concrete. So all in all, idolatry was very far away for me.
The result was that there were many things in the Bible that had no direct meaning for me - while it is God's Word! By the way, I think most who will read this will recognize it.
The Thessalonians knew about worshiping idols and serving the living and true God, and they knew the difference:
“. . . how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven…” (1Thess.1:9-10)
I think that as Christians today, we no longer see the distinction. We no longer know what it is to 'serve idols' and can hardly imagine anything concrete about it. What it means to 'serve the living and true God' is the subject of so many different opinions that a normal person would lose his way. So everyone does it in his or her own way and then we say that it 'reflects God's diversity' or something along those lines. If we no longer know the biblical difference between 'serving idols' and 'serving God', we run a great risk of mixing these things up and getting lost spiritually. Probably history will repeat itself and we will have the same problem of ignorance as the people of Israel and the congregations in the New Testament.
Could it be that the great chaos in Christianity has to do with this distinction no longer being seen? That many Christians today think they are serving God, while they do not realize that in reality they are committing idolatry?
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