Now this is a big topic, one that many Christians, including ourselves, grapple with today. We believe that our struggles come from a lack of comprehension regarding what constitutes modern day idols and the true impact they can have on our relationship with God and our lives.

During our upbringing, it was common to be asked about our idols by teachers and others. Our responses often included our favourite footballers, YouTubers, celebrities, and even family members. From our own perspective, we tend to admire such individuals because of their achievements and their qualities we aspire to develop within ourselves.

We are naturally inclined to look up to those who exert a positive influence on our lives and who possess significant influence. However, this inclination doesn't necessarily make it right, as we will explain further.

Biblical Teaching on Idolatry

The Bible talks a lot about idolatry. If we look at the Old Testament, our understanding of God’s perception of idols may be that it is in connection with worshiping false gods and statues, as we can see in the Book of Genesis and other passages. Idol worship was very common within the land of Egypt and we know that when God saved his people and brought them to the land of Israel, he told them that all worship and sacrifice should be made to him only.

These can be found in the 10 commandments brought down by Moses (Exodus 20:3-5).

Although this is true, in later scripture throughout the Bible God clearly suggests that idolatry comes in many forms not just in the form of false gods.

It extends beyond this assumption and explains how it is associated with our hearts, greed, possessions and pride. Idolatry is all around us, we show mass amounts of love and admiration for people and worldly objects that hold us back from glorifying our creator who gave us life.

Without him, we are nothing and would have nothing. As Christians, we have to make him our number one priority as he is our everything.

Idolatry in Today’s World

Modern-day idolatry is very diverse, we see people idolize and worship things like money, objects, celebrities, football teams and many other things in different ways.

After looking at these things we stated you are probably thinking…

“I have never seen anyone physically worship and bow down to money or football teams”

This is a fair observation, but let’s look deeper into how these things are worshiped by the masses.

Understanding Worship

Traditionally, we've associated worship with the act of bowing down before God. However, worship is a multifaceted concept that extends beyond physical postures and acts.

As Christians, our worship involves demonstrating our love and gratitude to God. People worship God in various ways, which can include:

• Singing

• Dancing

• Prayer

• Raising our hands in praise

All of these actions constitute forms of worship, and God acknowledges our worship when he sees us expressing thanks and giving Him praise.

Now, if we reflect on our previous points, it becomes clear that many people really do engage in the worship of idols.

Examples of Modern Idol Worship

Consider the behaviour at concerts — where people scream, fight, push and shove when the artist takes stage.
We see individuals online flaunt and honour money.
We see fans singing and chanting with their hands raised offering songs of honor and gratitude to their beloved football clubs.

These are just few of many examples that illustrate the subconscious worship of things and figures.

The Impact of Giving Our Worship Elsewhere

Now just consider the impact if we were to allocate just a fraction of the time and energy we expend on giving thanks and idolising things and people who don’t even know us, towards God who knows us intimately — the One who sacrificed himself for us, and the One who eagerly awaits for us to interact with him each day.

We now hope you understand the impact this can have on us and how having idols within our lives is nothing but a distraction that separates us from God.

We can enjoy these things like football and money, but not idolise them. We cannot let these things take the place of God or even get close.

Not only does it separate us from Jesus, but it can also create barriers between us and the people we care about when we prioritise these things over them.

We like to grasp onto temporary things such as wishing to have:

• More friends

• More clothes

• More money

• Better trainers

We believe if we achieve these things and make it our number one priority we will be fulfilled and happy, but as previously said this shifts our focus off Jesus and places it on insignificant pleasures of today.

God is love and we get our love from him. If our priority is shifted it affects our ability to love correctly and put God first. Ultimately, we can be misled and stray away.

Money

Money is the most normalized and common form of Idolatry today. From a young age, we are taught to understand that money is the key to life and happiness.

We see people driving nice cars, living in big houses and wearing nice clothes, and by witnessing these things we all agree to some extent.

We all understand the importance of money, there is no doubt about it. It has its place and will always have its place. We depend on it as it allows us to live and provide for ourselves and our families.

Its significance is also shown when we look at people around the world who are suffering because they have no money, so why is making money our priority and dedicating our life to it wrong?

When we look at the Bible Jesus was not against money and wealth, however, he taught us about the negatives of money and how our love and attitude towards it can be dangerous.

Matthew 6:24 –

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the other one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money”

What we took from this verse is that if money causes us to change in a way so much so that it impacts our relationship with God and our ability to remain in him, we should look at ourselves and evaluate why this is happening.

We know what money does to people — the love of money can be very dangerous. It causes people to be selfish and arrogant. This is because when people gain the riches of the world they feel that they do not need God because they already have everything, but we know this is far from the truth.

Mark 8:36 –

“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”

Jesus is not saying you cannot be rich and enjoy money but is warning us of the troubles that may come if we choose to serve it and idolise it.

We have to learn how to balance things and keep our priorities in check even when it doesn’t seem right at the time.

Hebrews 23:5 –

“Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

God willing one day many of you will be successful and will be blessed financially. When you do start to earn and make that money remember how to act with it. Learn how to use your money for good in a way Jesus would be proud and do not allow it to become your master.

You do not need to be rich in order to idolise money. So this applies to every single one of us no matter our current position.

Celebrities

Another major thing that is idolized in the world of today is celebrities. We could talk about this specifically for a while but we will make sure to get straight to the point.

We all understand the amount of power celebrities have these days. Their large following and fan bases has gifted them the ability to influence many individuals, having the ability to manipulate people’s lives and lead them to follow and agree with their beliefs and motives.

With this in mind, we can see how dangerous it is to follow the wrong people. You will often hear that Satan is the ruler of this earth. He has the ability to deceive and lead many people astray from Jesus and that is his whole motive. His motive is to destroy the plan God has for you and everyone in the world.

Now ask yourself, what would his best weapon be to take people away from God? Surely it would be to use the most powerful and influential people in the world.

I’m not one for conspiracy theories but it is very evident that he has reached the likes of many celebrities in this world, he has corrupted them and offered them what their flesh desires in exchange to represent everything that is not Godly.

This is clear within the music industry. There are also many celebrities who just do not live for God and live for the world, which also results in sinful ways being promoted.

Now with this in mind, be weary and more alert to the things that the celebrities you follow say and do, remembering that looking up to these types of people can only lead to spiritual destruction.

With all of this being said, recognize that we are allowed to enjoy the things that celebrities do, we can follow them and keep up to date with their life events. However, we must be aware that we cannot idolise these people (They are not God, they are humans just like us).

We must only serve Christ, who we know is all good and loving and can give us everything we need. In order to be a positive influence we must follow the one who is all good. In order to live for Christ we have to be in Christ.

Objects

Lastly, another aspect that many of you will see and experience growing up is one’s love for objects. Similar to money, objects can come in the form of clothes, cars and anything else that someone can make their idol.

Why do we make such objects Idols?
People can make idols out of these ordinary objects due to the influence of materialism, consumer culture, and societal pressures. In a world focused on possessions, individuals may attach their identity, self-worth, and happiness to material wealth.

Objects can symbolize status, power, and acceptance, leading people to idolize them for validation. Emotional attachments and a desire for control and security also play a role.

However, the Bible teaches that true fulfilment and security come from a relationship with God and focusing on eternal values rather than earthly possessions.

1 John 2:15-17 –

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

It is easy to get wrapped up in these worldly thoughts but we have to remind ourselves that Jesus has offered something much greater than the riches of this world.

John 3:16 –

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Being a Christian in this world is hard to comprehend — how to live such a life that is pleasing to God — but remember, this is a journey and these things take time.

We will all fall at times but we must have the strength and courage to keep going and aim to improve. We cannot do this alone so remain in Christ so we can better ourselves and do our Father’s will.