It is no secret that one of the top-rated television shows during the first part of the 21^st century will go down in history as American Idol. It’s amazing how we humans find it so amazingly easy to idolize our celebrities.

Those who have studied the Bible find it odd that the Children of Israel (found in the Old Testament) seemed to have fallen prey to idols over and over again. We smirk or sneer at how “foolish” they were back in those days.

If you take a good look, idolatry was already well under way in the book of Genesis. In chapter 31, the world may have been relatively young and new (thanks to the flood) but the idol thing was solidly in place.  We’ve just seen Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as far as famous lineage goes, and it’s Rachel (Jacob’s wife) who won’t part with the family idols as they begin to depart for new territory. (Not exactly the best way to make a fresh start if you ask me.)

So I went to Webster’s Dictionary to determine just what an idol really is.

• an image or representation of a god used as an object of worship.
• a person or thing that is greatly admired, loved, or revered: i.e.,movie idol Robert Redford.

Sure, it’s easy to scoff at the ridiculous mentality of those “uncivilized” peoples”.  But if you think about it, have we really come that far?  Current celebrity blogs, websites, and TV shows giving us the blow by blow on the star set are hot, hot, hot.

On a side note, if you think about it, we spend a lot of time and energy while putting quite a bit of hope into those 401k accounts. Investment portfolios are watched 24/7 and monitored carefully while kids have homework, performances, or birthday parties wondering where dad or mom is at that evening. To be honest, holding onto the house (or mortgage) is a biggie as well. 

So let’s recap.  Idolatry is:

• extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone .

Notice the word extreme?  It’s obviously not wrong to be fully devoted and caring. It does however, shed a bit of light on the verse, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If you think about it, idolatry might not be something only of the past. It might be alive and well in our current culture.  What think ye?

S.