Great Illustration of Why Idolatry is Wrong

(Excerpt from Sunday’s message on the Second Commandment.)

Adrian Rogers gives the following great illustration of why it is wrong to worship an image of God:

Suppose a woman walks into a room and finds her husband embracing another woman. He sees his wife out of the corner of his eye and says, “Now wait a minute, honey. Don’t get the wrong idea here. Let me tell you what I was doing. This woman is so beautiful, she reminded me of you. I was really just thinking of you when I was embracing her.”

There’s not a woman in America who would buy that, including my wife, Joyce! And God doesn’t buy it either when we worship something else and say, “Now, Lord, wait a minute. Don’t get the wrong idea here. I was only worshiping this thing because it reminds me of You. I’m really worshiping You.”

No, you really aren’t. That’s what the Second Commandment is all about.

(Adrian Rogers, “Ten Secrets For a Successful Family”, pp.44-45)

10 Comments

  1. Gopal says:

    Your analogy is incorrect. God is told to be omnipresent. He is everywhere including Idol, in your heart, mind, soul and whole universe. Secondly, you mentioned that you are with another woman… Correct analogy should be you worshiping your wife’s photo or her picture and your wife is omnipresent and sees you that you still love her so much! Thirdly, lot of people have hard time in focusing their mind towards God. Having image or some form of Idol, helps them focus. Forth point is, God does not care whether you worship him or not. It is only beneficial to you if you worship God so that you are able to have right mindset, selfless Godly mindset. It is you taking your mind towards God and become Godly with all the good ethics, etc. Minute you start manipulating how others should be worshiping their God, you are manipulating them which is again unethical. Let there be freedom of worship… Don’t listen to this guy and worship the God the way you like… 🙂 God bless everyone in the world!

  2. Ray Fowler says:

    Gopal – Thank you for your comment. I disagree with you about God not caring whether or how we worship him. The Bible says that God does care about these things very much. In fact, that’s what the first and second commandments are all about! You can read more about the first two commandments here:

        • First Commandment – No Other Gods
        • Second Commandment – No Idols

  3. Richard Gopie says:

    Hi
    I like your illustration, it will be helpful to many who can’t seem to understand the concept of God is a spirit.

  4. santosh tiwari says:

    hello Mr. Fowler. first of all let me know weather you met or with god or not.I’m sure of course u don’t know anything about god. when all your knowledge and wisdom stop and your thinking reaches the maximum point still you won’t have ability to understand about god. Only bhakti marg (Idolatory) i.e. complete devotion to god make you understand that all your beliefs are personal and please stop others to be fool like you until and unless u understand what God is.I also agree with the answer given by Gopal as above.

  5. Samuel says:

    To use any creature’s of God as is pictire or object of worshop is in correct. God doesnot live in any object. And if I does at all it is only in those who fear him and obey his insttuctions. Objects are lesser in quality to man. Why worshiping what you surpose to be using and eating .God has given man dominion over all creatures.God didnot subject man under any object or animal.

  6. very Good Ilustrations says:

    Well Done,

  7. devapriya says:

    You take a paper in SUNLIGHT Even while the temperature is 50’c or more and show the paper for hours together, it does not burn. The same paper for few minutes through Lens, the paper starts burning in few seconds.
    Man who is worshiping the Creator of God can worship in any way thro Idol or meditation.
    Bible as per Archaeology are tales composed during Greek and Roman periods and has absolutely no Historical reliability.
    Saying Bible tales or Quran tales as Word of God and Jesus as Son of God is Million times worse than Idolatry

  8. idol worship cannotplease god.. lets worship God directly instead of worshiping his creations in form of idol

  9. shane says:

    Hi guys,been following the this thread on ‘Idol worship’ my response to Santhose,Devapriya is this .. Idol worship is simply a cheap copy of the real thing( God) , some guy sits in his house or worshop and fashions an idol,sells it ,we buy it and now worship it as God ? really?? well,everyone’s entitled to worship what they believe and that’s okay for you BUT certainly not me !! We all have some religious book we follow (principles) I follow the bible – this is what it says in Psalms 115.8 ” Those who make them ( worship them too) will be like them and so all who trust them too ” there’s the answer ,so I guess the reason you don’t understand it’s wrong could be that you have already become ONE.

  10. Emma says:

    Haha good answer

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