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Idols In Our Heart

Idols In Our Heart

Last updated on: January 26, 2025 at 5:34 am by Henry Karlson

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Idols In Our Heart 2025-01-26T05:34:20-05:00 Henry Karlson

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Francisco Antolinez y Sarabia – Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen: Le Christ et la Cananéenne / Wikimedia Commons

We are meant to cast aside all our idols, especially those built upon and promote ideologies which directly reject God’s ways. We are called to be holy, to experience the presence of God with and in us, but how can we do that if we constantly put up barriers between ourselves and God? This is what we do whenever we sin; the greater the sin, the greater the barrier, with the greatest sins being those which directly reject and undermine the path of love. We might be Christians, we might have become temples of God through our baptism and confirmation (chrismation), but we can still turn away from God and put up the abomination of desolation and make it the focus of our hearts and minds. This is what happens everyone time we embrace unholy ideologies and use them to circumvent the basic principles of the Christian faith, they become idols which need to be overturned. Hate, avarice, and pride are especially insidious as they encourage us to follow a pantheon of lies and deceit. Nonetheless, no matter what we do, no matter how many idols and abominations we set up, we remain a temple of God: God continues to be in and with us, we just have covered up the divine presence. Why, then, should we expect to become partakers of the kingdom of God, to be welcomed within and receive all the graces which come from it, when we put so much in the way between ourselves and God? What agreement is there in the way of greed, in the way of nationalism, in the way of racism, in the way of sexism, and every other extreme, with the way of love and community?

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will live in them and move among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Cor. 6:16 – 18 RSV).

Despite what we do, despite the ways we cover up the divine presence, God still wants to be with us and offer us countless grace after grace, love after love. God is patient, giving us the chance to purify our temples, cleansing them from all the idols which we have placed within. We must destroy them, for as long as we let them remain in our hearts and minds, they take us along a path that leads us further and further from God, and the goodness and love God wants us to experience. We must overturn the idol of greed with charity, the idols of nationalism, racism and sexism with the universal brotherhood and sisterhood of humanity. If we don’t, the consequences for ourselves (and others) will be dire, as our unlove will have us act in ways which will eventually come back to haunt us. God is just and merciful, but if we cut ourselves off from mercy and attach ourselves to the ways of sin, the way of hate, we will just fuel the fire which is to come; this is why, it can be said, we should “fear” God, not because God wants us to be afraid of the divine nature, but rather, that we should respect and love God while being afraid of what God will allow when we forsake mercy and grace. If we fear God (in such a fashion), we will find ourselves following the path set up by Christ, the path of love, until at last, we find ourselves experiencing the kingdom of God and all the glory which is found in it. “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1 RSV).

What agreement, therefore, is there between hate and love, of the way of idolatry with the way of Christ? If we proclaim Christ with our mouths, we must also do so with our actions. If we want love, we must be loving. If we want mercy, we must be merciful. We must take the quality which we want to experience and make it a part of who and what we are. If we want to be with God, we must cast out from our hearts and minds all that is unclean, all that is tainted by the poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion. We can’t claim to follow Christ if we don’t embrace love, if we don’t love those whom Christ loves (like the poor, the oppressed, those suffering injustices in the world). We must listen to the needs of others, and do what we can for them (accepting, of course, that we do not have the ability to meet the needs of everyone all by ourselves, that it must be a community effort to do so). We should look to Jesus who sometimes seems to hesitate before helping others, not because he does not want to help them, but because he gives us the example we need, showing us that we must listen to those who come to us and honestly seek our help. We can see this in the way Jesus dealt with the Canaanite woman who asked him to help heal her daughter. Jesus’ disciples wanted to send her away, and, initially, it seems as if he was going to do that, but that was not to be the outcome – Jesus wanted his disciples to see and hear her, to see her faith, to see how great it was, so that they can finally realize those who come to them with such faith can and should be welcomed and helped by them, no matter what background they come from:

And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely possessed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. (Mt. 15:21-28 RSV).

Jesus gave the Canaanite women the opportunity for her to reveal her great love and faith, not just to him, but to his disciples; his initial words reflected the thoughts they had about her, allowing her to respond to their ideological biases, showing them that they were wrong. Jesus was more than ready to help her, and would do so after she asked. He gave her the opportunity to demonstrate her own agency, her own dignity. She took it, and revealed to everyone how great her faith was, showing why her, and others like her should get the help they needed, even if they come from a class of people which is generally looked down upon. In her case, both sexism and racism seem to have been at play, and through her actions, and Jesus’s response to them, we should learn that the idols which create such biases must be demolished. Let us, therefore, be willing to listen to those in need, casting aside the idols which would have us turn away those who come to us seeking our comfort and help. Let us rather listen to them, show them the love of God, honoring the image and likeness of God in them, realizing that just as we are temples of God, so, too, are they. That way we can truly be seen to be followers of Christ known, just like Christ, for the way we love others.

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N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.

General Christian

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