Turning From Idols

Knowing The Living True God

We don’t believe in idols very much any more. As moderns such an idea seems rather simplistic and naive. We believe in solid stuff—fancy houses, luxurious cars, rising banks accounts, bitcoin, stocks and bonds, gold and silver. Or if there are idols, they’re limited to the crevices of the underground mines of Oruro, Bolivia where the underground god El Tio reigns and will protect your life in exchange for a few cigarettes or coca leaves.

Yet in the corners of our minds the idea of idols may not seem so strange (the Faustian myth has an attraction for us all)! Once in a while we have the lucidity to recognize that we are indeed bowing down to certain human desires. Judas’s betrayal of Jesus for thirty silver coins becomes more than a symbol. Who hasn’t denied Christ to preempt an embarrassing situation, like Peter before a servant girl? The tendency for idol-making is there for us all and runs along as basso continuo amidst the music making of daily life. (Didn’t Rachel of old hide her father’s household Gods under her saddle seat when heading off for the promised land?)

To this point Karl Rahner, the great theologian of the 20th century, argues that idol keeping is not simply a propensity of the past:

Idols may still stand on our altars: the idol of success in this world, the idol of pleasure, the idol of recognition by others, perhaps even idols that we do not believe in, that we consider a devouring nothingness. For as well as benevolent deities human beings have often worshiped dark and vicious ones…for we too…are always in danger of worshiping idols, though we no longer make graven images to worship. (Karl Rahner, The Great Church Year)

For Rahner the answer is “to know the living true God who has called us, who is more than all the idols of this life that we are constantly tempted to raise to altars of our hearts.” Don’t settle for cheap imitations! Aim higher by fostering a relationship with “the living true God” who knows your name and only wants the very best outcome for your life.