What Exactly is Idolatry?

John Calvin wrote in his Institutes of the Christian Religion that the heart is a “perpetual forge of idols”[1] or colloquially stated that “the heart is an idol factory.” This is a reality we experientially know is true through our own struggles, but a concept that isn’t always clearly defined. In our narrative this morning, Exodus 32, we are given a picture of an idol, and that picture will help us define what an idol is, particularly for us as we live in a different culture and time than the Ancient Israelites.

In Exodus 32, God’s people become impatient with Moses and press upon Aaron to fashion an idol for them to worship and give credit to for their salvation (32:1). Aaron, then, tells the people to take the gold from the ears of their wives and children in order that he may form it into the shape of a calf (32:2-4). As the people worship the fashioned calf, they break the first and second commandment. From this it can be deduced that “idolatry is worshiping, or being more devoted to, anything other than God. It is also worshiping something other than God as if that thing were God.”[2] To add insult to injury – understanding that the gold earrings were items taken from Egypt in their liberation – we also see that the people use the benefits that came along with salvation and fashion it as a work of their own hands. So as much as idolatry is the worship of something or someone other than God, it results in foolish worship of self. Isaiah mocks idolatry, writing:

Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” (Isaiah 44:15-17)

From Exodus 32, we get a picture of what idolatry is, yet we also get a glimpse at the why to idolatry. At the basis, the Israelites commit idolatry because they are a fallen people like all humanity (Romans 3:23), bound to dishonor God like their fore-parents (Genesis 3:1ff). They are a hard hearted and “stiff necked” people (Exodus 32:9). Yet, the people also struggled with trust and patience with God, since God’s representative, Moses, was taking too long to return from the mountain (32:1). This lack of trust led to anxiety that tempts them to grasp at an immediate object that will bring false comfort. We see this conflation of pride and anxiety in the story of the Tower of Babel as well, for in building the tower they thought, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves [pride], lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth [anxiety].” (Genesis 11:4)[3] To add insult to injury, our struggle with idolatry doesn’t end with ourselves, but we are also tempted by the world and Satan.[4]

Though the items of our idolatry may not be as gaudy as a golden calf, we nevertheless wrestle just as much as the Israelites at the foot of the mountain. Therefore, may we be both encouraged and challenged by the final words of John’s first letter: “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” (1 John 5:20-21)

[1]John Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1.11:45

[2]Matt Ryman. “The Heart is an Idol Factory”. https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2023/08/the-heart-is-an-idol-factory/

[3]Dr. Anthony Bradley discusses the seat or precondition of sin being pride (Augustine) and anxiety (Richard Niebuhr) in his upcoming book God at Work: Loving God and Neighbor Through the Book of Exodus on the Acton Institute Podcast. https://www.acton.org/audio/anthony-bradley-finds-answer-anxiety-exodus

[4]David Powlinson, Christian counselor and theologian, discusses this in his article on the psychology of idolatry. “Idols of the Heart and Vanity Fair” https://www.ccef.org/idols-heart-and-vanity-fair/