Idols

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,

or any likeness of any thing that is in the heaven above,

or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in

the waters under the earth.  Thou shalt not

bow down thyself to them nor serve them…

Exodus 20:4-5a

Sunday School conversation:

            Me:      What does this commandment mean?

            Child:   You can’t have any idols.

            Me:      What is an idol?

            Child:   A statue

            Me:      I can’t have any statues in my house?

[I have a bust of Bach in my music room]

            Child:   You can’t worship them.

            Me:      Why would I want to worship a statue?

            Children:           [silence]

A graven image is, indeed, a statue, and even children realize that we, in this culture and society, would not worship a statue.  But the Lord, in His wisdom, expands the definition to include “…any likeness of anything…” anywhere.  That is not in “children language” however, so we needed to break it down a bit.

I asked, “On the totem pole of your life, who or what should be at the top – the number one position?”  Some of the children said, “Parents,” others said, “God.”  One little boy answered, “video games,” and I knew we were in business.  A healthy round of discussion followed, with the class finally coming to an agreement that God needed to be the head of the totem pole.  If something or someone takes the place of God at the top of the totem pole, then we are giving our allegiance to a “graven image or likeness.”

Video games, gambling, sports, work, school, addictions, Internet, friend, lover, spouse, my own interests of whatever stripe – there are many, many things in life that can be put in the pole position.  When God is stripped of that place, then we are serving something or someone other than the Creator of the universe, giving them the very best we have to offer – our heart and our soul.