At what point does admiration become idolatry?

silverleaf

silverleaf

New Member
At what point does simple admiration for the great deeds of another human, even fictitious, go beyond inspirational and into idolatry?
I know Jesus is supposed to be our ultimate hero, and not denying that His actions were great. But obviously there are other heroes too, related to Christianity (his disciples for example), and not related (presidents, war heroes), and even fictional (anime related can carries a GREAT sacrifice therefore easier to look up to them).

Just wondering. When does "wow that person was really great and gives us hope" become idolatry?
 
I'd say the essence of idolatry is trusting something or someone to the extent that we stop trusting God.

As such, people, things, and even Christian things can all become idols.

With people, we may trust in someone's example to the point that we stop trusting God. For example, you may really admire JFK. As a result, you might start trying to model you life after his. That's not bad, but if you model your life after his to the point that you trust his model more than the model of Christ, that's bad.

With things, you can also trust them more than God. I'm particularly guilty of looking at my bank account and saying things like "Wow, I've got 4k in there... things are going to be good." or "When I get paid next, things will be alright." What's wrong there is that With God, things are already good. They're already alright. By placing my faith for a good year in my account balance, I'm committing idolatry.

Also, be aware that good, wholesome Christian things can be bad as well. In the early 00's, people became obsessed with "Knowing God's plan for your life." It's not that God doesn't have a plan for your life or that knowing it is bad, but when knowing or not knowing God's plan for your life becomes more important than just trusting that God is good, that's bad. God is good no matter if you know what he's doing or not.
 
very much agreed, though I'd like to know what God's plan for my life is so I can *try* to fulfill my roles rather than playing hit and miss.

However one question remains on whether it's ok to acknowledge someone suffered more than Christ. - the value of human suffering in itself.
Not denying Christ's huge sacrifice, not denying it's the biggest gift to mankind, if you can count returning something that was taken away a 'gift', but you get the picture.

Someone could have say survived a communist prison for 5 years and kept mum and saved a few lives. Makes Christ's 3 day ordeal seem insignificant. However Christ still contributed way, WAAAYYY more than this soldier would have to humankind. Not disputing that. But is it a sin to say someone has suffered more than Jesus?

Once again I emphasize just because they suffered more does not make them greater, and it does not mean they deserve God status (I worship no other God than the Holy Trinity). It also does not mean they don't need Jesus. I'm just saying they SACRIFICED more. Their sacrifice could have been significant or in vain that is not the point. My question is after surviving say 10 years in a communist labor camp, can I declare my suffering and sacrifice was greater than Christ's? (once again it could have been a sacrifice in vain - I could have been sent there because I made a joke about them they didn't like).
 
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silverleaf said:
Someone could have say survived a communist prison for 5 years and kept mum and saved a few lives. Makes Christ's 3 day ordeal seem insignificant. However Christ still contributed way, WAAAYYY more than this soldier would have to humankind. Not disputing that. But is it a sin to say someone has suffered more than Jesus?
Click to expand...

It was not so much the physical pain of the cross that was the suffering Jesus endured, but more so having the sin of the world on His shoulders, being separated from God the Father for the first time in eternity, something we can't even begin to fathom. No one has ever suffered as much as Christ did and no one ever will.
 
Sarugon ya got to it before I did, glad to hear that on no one suffering as much. That is not to lessen the incredible suffering of martyrs, but our Savior was in a whole different class of suffering, no comparison at all.
 
ok, so you're saying EMOTIONAL suffering. But won't those who never knew God be suffering even more? Especially so if you believe in eternal damnnation.
No matter the quantity of said suffering, 3 days is still 3 days. But I do understand where you're coming from. No one would have suffered IN 3 DAYS more than what Christ would have suffered. But what about infinity>?
 
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Three days doesn't seem long in perspective of eternity in a lake of fire. But our comprehension of said three days is almost non existent. Not only the entirety of all sins forever being given to Christ, but what He gave up in order to acomplish that task. He lost everything. No one in life could possibly suffer more.

"But what about infinity>?" Hmm...I know that God is love but that love for humanity again goes beyond any of our comprehensions. He never created hell for humans, so seeing his creations end up there has got to be immensely agonizing as well. Sure, infinity without God is agonizing, but what about God's feelings about being without those people?

By rejecting God's gift of eternal life I'd think that it hurts/agonizes/tortures Jesus more than those suffering because of His great love for them.

THIS IS NOT DOCTRINE though! I have no scripture to back up this thought or to validify it. I'm not saying God would be eternally miserable because of all those people. We'll all be joyously overwhelmed to be together forever.

There's just not much in thought about hell and then the Lake of fire to definitively answer your last question...Here I go rambling on way too much! :D I hope I didn't confuse more people than when I started explaining!!!
 
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