Flee & Escape Idolatry

1 Corinthians 10:14 “Therefore, my dearly loved ones, flee from idolatry.”

As I look around me, I feel the necessity of challenging us to properly view idolatry. It would seem that our era of Christianity has been led to believe that in order for something to be classified as idolatry, we must envision carved images on altars covered with candles. Or perhaps we see gatherings of dark, evil men with sadistic plans to overthrow the world. We think on ancient civilizations that had graphic rituals that, we have been told blatantly replaced and usurped Yahweh. But this would not have been the case to most throughout history. Idols had great, personal meaning. They had purpose. They were beloved and provided something of identity to the worshipper.

To address this according to more modern Christian-speak, perhaps we may reflect on the endless sermons that present idolatry as an alcoholic who is unwilling to let go of his love for alcohol, or at least the comfort that it brings. Maybe it’s pornography where the lust of a mans heart overrides moral boundaries and prohibits him from true intimacy with his wife and Heavenly Father. The Christian church has no issue calling this out as idolatry. But what of a man calling out what the masses hold dear and looks more appealing? Oh no! “*That* could *never* be idolatry! It’s impossible!”, is a common response, despite it looking more like the Garden deception and rebellion. Idolatry, which is sin, is desirable. It is alluring. It is captivating and beautiful to the one who is gazing upon it, in his heart.

Herein lies idolatry at its finest! It would do us well to remember the heart of idolatry. It is something that is close to us, friend. It is something considered so valuable and cherished. Idolatry is, by nature, something we treasure and are unwilling to lay down in surrender and even consider living without. An idol has literally become part of us. That is what worship is intended to do! We must remember that we are never given license to approve what *we* think is proper worship, ascribed to Yahweh. The clear, biblical pattern that runs from cover to cover is this: Yahweh determines what is proper worship of Him, as He prescribes. Man does not and his attempts to offer worship unto Yahweh, via our own means is idolatry. Period.

In this season, my heart is grieved to see how this issue abounds. I long to see people willing to discuss even the remote possibility that what the masses hold as so dear, could be idolatry. They are becoming more in number, but they are few, by comparison. Could something that we have been led to believe is wonderful, in any way, actually be idolatrous? If we say no, we are primed and ready to be deceived and led into idolatry. This is a heart issue, and we all have it. Until we are willing to lay *absolutely everything* out before Father, and His People, to judge according to the Word alone, we will all adhere to our idols. Why? It’s simple. We see them as good. We see them as beneficial to us. We love them. We justify them and move on with our lives, no questions asked.

So, friend what is an untouchable place/thing/belief/tradition for you? What in your life – in your very heart – is a “no fly zone”, in regards to what you adhere to? What will you simply not tolerate questioning and challenging towards? I have personally seen the fruit of many (my household included) who are willing to start by saying, “You know what, as dear as ‘this’ is to me, I’m willing to listen to you and the Word to see if it makes it through the filter of Truth.” Time and time again I have seen men who are willing to openly dialogue about what we have wrong be changed! Humility of heart must *look like something*. True humility is not threatened by challenges to our traditions and religious exercises. In fact, we are told that iron sharpens iron, in the process of literally clashing on a matter.

*This* is biblically how we see change, and then fruit - growth! Sadly, many despise hearing even a hint that they might have something wrong. It is quite crippling to the Body as whole. The current status of the Church makes this clear. People get hurt and leave this place for another. Relationships are severed and are even deemed unnecessary entirely. Even worse, many isolate and abandon the instruction to not forsake the literal gathering of the Body. Alone, they are set on cruise control, maintaining the spiritual course that they embarked onto years previous – unchallenged, unchanged. Idolatry can flourish here – unchecked by the Body as a whole, properly using the Word of Elohim.

I believe that we all must *start* here. Openness to being wrong. Willingness to at least see if there be any idolatrous, wicked way in us. As I always say, this should be of no great surprise to the ever-maturing follower of Yeshua. In fact, we should be expecting more and more layers of idolatry to come to the surface, as we journey into our sanctification process. If we have not wrestled with, and then walked away from an increasing amount of traditions and natural-man ways, with great regularity, I’d challenge any man’s spiritual condition. Repentance leads to repentance.

To examine today’s text just a bit more (although it is of course pretty self-explanatory): The word for “flee” can also be understood as “escape”. This is quite fitting, to me, as we properly discuss idolatry. It is not merely running away from idolatry but equally *being freed from it*. When one escapes a circumstance that is detrimental for him, he is set free and runs out, to another location. He is freed to move into a place of safety, deliverance and freedom. Many times, we do not even know that we are in bondage and in need of escaping to freedom.

This too, is idolatry at its finest. We may not even know that we are in bondage while attending to something that we take great delight in because it’s simply what we have always done, via inheritance. This is why it’s imperative to feast upon Yahweh’s Word (with unbiased *spiritual* discernment), and openly allow others in the Body to bring us correction, in order to allow It alone to define idolatry! Otherwise, we will simply continue on forever with what is right in our own eyes. We will risk calling good evil and evil good.

We should strive to constantly examine ourselves, not merely confirm and condone what we already believe, adhere to and rationalize. This too is a sign of idolatry, as the Word proves. Countless generations of those who preceded us simply walked out the idolatrous inheritance of their fathers and were thereby deemed guilty themselves. Only men, such as the biblical examples of men like Hezekiah, Josiah and even Paul were deemed righteous because of their willingness to step outside of what they were handed as truth. They allowed themselves to be humbled and corrected when Truth was revealed, that exposed their condition.

These men were willing to stand up and call out *themselves and others* in order to return to Father’s Ways and abandon the traditions of their fathers. By doing so, they paved the way for others to do likewise, in freedom and liberty – reinstating *proper* worship unto Yahweh alone. May we be like these men. I am thoroughly convinced that the shift that is taking place this very hour is dependent upon those being found willing to lay it all on the table! For the man that is willing to examine every inch of his heart for idolatry – even the most precious places – there is freedom! Freedom that most of us may not even realize that we need.