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'V
Garner Ted Armstrong
r
SPEAKS OUT!
ldolaters?Who,
Us?
1
f you were to page through the
biblical prophecies of the Old
Testament, you would see what
would appear at first glance to be
an excessive amount of copy about
the sin ot idolatry,
or simply the
worship of other gods. You might
wonder how that could possibly ap–
ply to our modern space-age era.
Worshiping grinning, leering idols
is definitely not a major problem in
the "enlightened" Western Chris–
tian-profess i ng world of the
Judaeo-Christian ethic.
However, the biblical definition of
idolatry is nowhere near so con–
strained or narrow as that. lt in–
eludes much more than a mere
stone sculpture of some god-form.
ldolatry involves anything (in–
cluding any philosophic concept)
that comes between you and the
true God.
The number one commandment
in the Decalogue is "you shall have
no other gods before me." Number
ten is "you shall not covet." lt
should come as no surprise that
these two commandments are
closely intertwined and interrelated.
Paul, the New Testament apostle to
Gentile Christians, wrote that
cov–
etousness
is
idolatry!
(Col. 3:5.)
Perhaps covetousness is the ma–
jor form of national idolatry in
America. Covetousness rears its
ugly head in myriads of ways in the
United States. Take TV quiz shows.
Watch one if you get a chance. The
contestants sometimes become so
mentally incapacitated with lust that
it's embarrassing. They gibber; they
can't remember their own names
The
PLAIN TRUTH October 1976
for the moment; their eyes bulge
out; they're gasping; they hug and
kiss the master of ceremonies; they
jump up and down at the prospect
of owning that fantastic new sports
model on the other side of the cur–
tain. The lust, the greed, and the
vanity you see exposed in these
people's eyes is nothing short of
incredible.
In the United States today, we
worship automobiles, money, and
the status that money brings with it
material possessions, fine
homes, and swimming pools.
James Moffatt put the words of the
prophet lsaiah in the modern ver–
nacular: "They worship the things
that their hands make" (lsa. 2:8).
Actually, this manifestation of
modern idolatry is perhaps the
gravest and most serious sin in the
United States of America today. We
"Please, sir, 1 want some more."
claim to be a Christian nation, but
our greedy conduct belies our out–
ward profession! Covetousness is
eating away at the vitals of our na–
tion.
All but ignored is the biblical ad–
monition of "let your conversation
[conduct] be without covetousness;
and be content with such th ings as
ye have" (Heb. 13:5).
What about the white-collar exec–
utive who is basking in a six-figure
income? Sadly, sometimes these
people in the highest income brack–
ets are the most unsatisfied and un–
happy of all. Some of them so
deeply desire more and more and
more!
This drive for materialistic secu–
rity with all of its unwanted side ef–
fects is yet another form of
covetoushess in this country.
Once a nation sinks into idolatry ,
it loses not only contact with and
blessings from God, but its appre–
ciation of the lessons of history, its
sense of direction, and its national
purpose. And, not the least, it loses
its sense of justice, rightness, and
high moral values.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, ever
since his forced exile from the So–
viet Union, has been stressing his
view that the major reason for the
apparent success of the communist
philosophy is the existence of a reli–
gious-moral crisis in the West,
along with the abandonment of God
for materialism, leaving the so–
called Christian world defenseless
against communist inroads.
The last verse of the last chapter
of Judges in the Old Testament
states the nadir of idolatry into
which a nation can descend:
' ' . . . every man did that which was
right in his own eyes" (Judges
21 :25) - in other words, total self–
gratification, "doing your own
thing," servtng and being con–
cerned only for the self instead of
honoring, obeying, and worshiping
the Creator God.
ldolatry, simply stated, is the glo–
rification of material things and
human ideas.
Now, with that definition, do you
see idolatry being practiced around
you?
o
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