c. 2005 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Today will be idol-worship day for many people, myself included unless I am careful.

My plans, for example, are to do six things, each of which could become an idol, that is, a substitute for God, a tangible thing or pursuit to which I give the devotion, yearning and expectation due only to God.

I plan to manage my money: move funds, pay bills, plan expenses, chart revenues. Money is the classic idol, the one Jesus cautioned about more than any other.

I plan to write, an activity that is my pathway to God but isn’t itself divine. I need to remember the difference between road and destination.

I plan to take my son to his first orchestra practice, which I intend as a gift to him but could inadvertently communicate the idolatrous message that the violin makes him more worthy. Worthiness is a gift from God, not a prize won by accomplishment.

We plan to prepare our house for upcoming guests. We intend that as stewardship and hospitality. Houses, however, are always an inch from becoming idols. In addition to commanding our resources and attention, they draw us inward and make safety and comfort seem ultimate life goals.

I plan to take a three-mile walk, part of a stay-healthy plan. Health is another curious idol-in-waiting. While stewardship of our bodies seems wise, we can go astray in worrying about appearance and surpassing others. Such straying leads to idolatry.

I anticipate a peaceful evening at home, which could become idolatrous if I become too defensive of it _ not allowing anyone to enter my reverie, for example _ or too proud.

Idols, you see, don’t have to be golden calves, statues of Baal, or “graven images” fashioned to represent God, as outlawed in the First Commandment. Anything can become an idol if we invest too much in it, becoming too devoted, too defensive, unwilling to share, prone to commit violence to retain, or expecting this thing or pursuit to make our lives worth living. Anything can become an idol if we expect it to deliver that which only God can deliver, namely meaning, healing, hope, joy, love, light and eternity. Even Scripture, even religion can become idolatrous if we forget the difference between road and destination, especially if we deify our interpretations and structures.

Only God is God, and as Isaiah said, “My glory I give to no other.”

It would be valuable to do an “idol audit” of our daily lives. I’m not thinking of where we devote our time or money, but rather what do we expect from the various components of our lives? Most of us don’t have infinite choice about allocating time and energy. With jobs, families and obligations, our discretionary time and money are small.

Better, I think, to take an audit of our expectations. Do we look to marriage, for example, to make us whole persons? Do we think successful careers will justify our lives? Do we think money will yield peace of mind? Do we think ourselves better than others, more worthy of grace, because we have more wealth, more skills, better morals or fewer sins?

A thing or pursuit becomes an idol, you see, when we look to it for outcomes that can properly come only from God. It becomes, then, a substitute for God, appealing because it is close at hand and controllable, and because it requires no real sacrifice in return. A job, for example, by itself doesn’t require self-denial, love of one’s enemy, peacemaking or justice. A house by itself doesn’t require radical openness to strangers and outcasts. Religious institutions can proclaim themselves holy without doing the least thing for other people.

Those other requirements _ self-denial, love, peacemaking, justice, openness, sacrificial giving _ come from God. In fact, it could well be that we fashion easier idols specifically to evade God’s expectations.

AMB/PH END RNS

(Tom Ehrich is a writer and computer consultant, managing large-scale database implementations. An Episcopal priest, he lives in Durham, N.C. Visit his Web site at http://www.onajourney.org.)