Graven Images or Symbols of Faith?

Yesterday at work, we were saying good-bye to a student in our program who was moving to another state. During our conversations with her, the topic of idol worship came up. This student was a former Catholic and she was commenting on a cross necklace that another person was wearing. The student put forth the opinion that wearing the cross necklace was a form of idol worship. She said that the Catholics worship the statues and images of Mary (earthly mother of Jesus), the Apostles and their own saints, rather than worship God directly. She felt that wearing a cross necklace was similar in that people who wear the cross are putting their faith in the image of the cross, rather than Jesus himself. Interesting argument! She said that God himself commanded us in the Ten Commandments that we should make and worship no graven images of other gods and worship Him alone. She felt the image of the cross was an image that Christians were worshiping.

A colleague of mine, who was a Christian told the student that the cross was just a symbol of faith rather than an image that she worshipped. She said the cross necklace reminded her of who was she was serving, Jesus. She said she did not pray to the necklace or worship the cross itself, it was just a reminder of her faith. She went on to say that the statues and images used in the Catholic Churches would be OK, as long as the members of the Church did not worship the statues. As long as the images are reminders of who they serve, which should be God or Jesus.

My opinions, were kept silent (a miracle itself), until now. Here are my thoughts: 1) God did give the commands stated by the student, "You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. you shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God." (Exodus 20:3-4) 2) The image of the cross necklace is not a idol, or at least it's not supposed to be. The cross is a symbol of Christians representing the life sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for the forgiveness of all sinners. It is a reminder of the promise of eternal life we shall one day have. I guess if Christians use the cross in a way that makes it more than what it is, then it could be considered an idol of sorts. For example: Using a cross or cross symbol to scare away vampires or evil spirits. The cross itself has no holy power over evil, it was the person on the cross, Jesus, whom "God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name." (Philippians 2:3) The cross cannot save us from our sins, only Jesus can. 3) I don't think Catholics intentionally worship the images of saints or the Apostles. I do think they misdirect their prayers through the saints, or special priests, bishops, or others. Christians are told to pray to God through His Son Jesus, with a Holy Spirit who intercedes for us. I do believe Catholics do worship Mary (the mother of Jesus), even though the Bible never tells us to directly do so. If in fact Catholics are praying to these images or in the name of these images, then they are in fact engaging in a form of worship to them. This would not be in keeping with the first two commandments of the Ten Commandments. Jesus very clearly said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

We cannot get to God through the Pope, Mary, the Apostles, the saints, a good preacher, your "inner light", good works or deeds, or any other false prophet such as Mohammad, Buddha, or Joseph Smith. Only the Bible, the Word of God, can give us true guidance to God; not the Kabbalah, the Qu'ran (Koran), The Vedas, The Book of Mormon, Naturalism or the Four Noble Truths. There is only ONE true God...to believe in anything or anyone else is wrong. This is absolute and cannot be changed. See my earlier blog By Who's Authority?.

My response to the student would have been have follows, "If you feel that wearing the cross is in violation of the 10 Commandments, then by all means do not wear a cross, for this hinders your personal worship of God. But do not condemn those who wear the cross as a reminder of Him who died upon that cross. I do not believe they are worshipping the cross, just looking at it as a reminder of whom they serve."