MODERN DAY IDOLATRY

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

MODERN DAY IDOLATRY

"Cease becoming idolaters, even as
some of them; as it hath been written:
‘They sat down to eat and to drink,
and rose up to play. Cease committing
fornication, even as some of them
fornicated" [1 Corinthians 10:6-8].

In ancient days people were mostly pagans and idolaters. They believed in many gods. Their pagan gods were also believed to be promiscuous and perverted. The Greek god Dionysus (Διόνυσος) was the pagan god of wine-making, fertility, religious ecstatic dances, insanity, ritual madness and theatre. He could bring holy ecstasy to his followers and cruel revenge to his foes.

The contemporary idols of today are wealth and pleasure. Secular society promotes all the vices without any regard for values or morality. All taboos have been removed from everyday life and, therefore, one "is a free spirit" with unregulated freedom to do as he or she pleases without any recrimination. accountability or embarrassment. When one is devoid of a conscience and has no control over his carnal passions or his obsession with wealth and excessive greed, then the person loses total control of his/her desires.

Idols were considered to be demonic by the Saints of the Church. Pagans sacrificed to them and worshipped them as though they were real and living entities and Christians who refused to do so were tortured and put to death by emperical decree. No one was allowed to offend their gods. However, this forced idol worship was another sinister way of controlling the people. The first humans, Adam and Eve, were created by God in His image and likeness and, therefore, there is a profound need in man to worship His Creator. The tyrants exploited that need and replaced the True God with a fake deity.

Nothing and no one can replace the True God! Humanity needs to have faith in Him and even to fear Him. Without faith or fear of God, humanity is lost. Belief in God is essential to man for, without it, a man is an empty shell. Fear came about following man’s disobedience to God’s command regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam willingly disobeyed this command and fell from God’s path to perfection, thus separating himself from His Creator. In the Book of Genesis God was very direct with Adam and said to him, "You may eat food from every tree in the garden, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you may NOT eat; for in whatever day you eat from it you shall die by death" [Genesis 2:16-17]. Until Adam disobeyed God’s command, Adam had n’ " [Genesis 3:10]. Fallen man now aquired a fallen will and a tendency to run away from God. The joy that Adam had once felt when speaking to God became fear after he fell into sin.

Great wealth and unbridled pleasure can be sources of sin. They both become obsessions and can lead to other related sins. People desire wealth so that they may be able to enjoy various pleasures in life that only money can obtain. There are many ways to acquire wealth but not all of them are lawful. A wealthy person, if not ethical, can use his/her wealth to abuse and exploit others, to dictate and use his/her wealth as power to control less fortunate people. A wealthy person may also become arrogant, full of conceit and pride and see themselves as elite and superior to others. Over the years we have witnessed very wealthy individuals who treat their employers as slaves or serfs.

Another idol is "pleasure." Historically humanity has shown its weakness and passion for entertainment and pleasure. Some want life to be only a time of leisure and fun. The question, however, is what kind of pleasure does one seek? "A man should rejoice in his works" says Ecclesiastes 3:22 and enjoy the simple satisfaction of accomplishing the "works" God has given him to do. However, the kind of pleasures a person desires today is unconstrained to say the least. For some, pleasure becomes an obsession, a passion, lust without any restraint. "Pleasure" then becomes a passion which leads to sin. Human passions are sinful desires which separate us from our Loving and Merciful God. Passions which overwhelm us and take control of our faculties, and desires, become an idol, no different than a pagan idol which people worship. I mentioned above that idols were considered by the Saints to be the dwelling place of demons. Anything that comes between us and our Creator God becomes an instrument of Satan.

Christians worship only the Almighty God! They do not need idols in their lives. In the early years of Christianity holy men and women were taken to pagan temples by force and ordered to sacrifice to the idols but, upon seeing the Saints, the idols would crumble to the ground and the demons who dwelt in them would flee in terror. The Christian is NOT a pagan temple but a temple of the Holy Spirit, our God. I do not believe that any Christian would wish to become a pagan temple or idol which is the dwelling place of demons.

Use the time you have been given by God wisely and pray unceasingly. "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him." [Matthew 6:7-8].

__________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George