to add to what others have said, idolatory is when you put anything above God. Jesus says do not worship 2 gods, God and money. If money or sex or anything is more important than God in one’s life, then yes it is idolatory.
Jesus said a man can not serve two masters, because he would end up loving one and hating the other, if I recall the scripture correctly.
The addict of sex, drugs, alchohol, nicotene, or anything may be enslaved by these things he serves, but also may hate them. He may hate his slave master, but can not escape. He might say he hates heroin or alcohol knowing the damage it has caused, but does not have the power to break free.
It takes a stronger being than the slave master to free the addict from the addiction. The addict needs help to get free and needs to want to be free. The initial cause of addiction is disobedience to God’s command, as is the cause of any sin. “Whomever sins is a slave to sin”. We can be enslaved to any sin, because we lack the ability to repent. If we did have that power we would be able to set ourselves free. It is not only Jesus blood can wash away our guilt, but only Jesus can give us the power to repent as well. Repentance and forgiveness are two different spiritual things, both necessary.
We are all penitent or impenitent sinners. We are all either in the state of sin, slaves to sin, or we once were. If anyone is free then he pities those held captive and prays for them, even those who insist they have no sin. Those who are free can woship God. It is impossible to worship God as a slave to sin.
When we worship God we may outwardly bow our heads or get on our knees to pray, or sing out with voice, but the worship comes from within. It is my mind, heart and soul that bows to Him and adores, loves, thanks and praises Him. It is often accompanied with tears.
The action of loving, by its nature, can not be one directional. True love can not be bestowed on a being without its being returned. There is always a trinity, the lover, the beloved and the love. The lover and beloved exchange roles. Each is both. They are the same and so is their love.
It is quite astounding when humans find out God loves them. They think this is impossible, because they know they have offended God, insulted Him, betrayed Him, spit on, mocked, cursed and crucified Him by their sins. When they are made aware that God loves them despite the evil they do, their stony hearts are crushed by this love and they are able to return it and they do it in worship. In this they are restored to spiritual life and given and increased in grace.
We desire to please God. What Christian does not want to be pleasing to God. If we become pleasing to God what does that mean? It means He takes pleasure in us. We delight Him. We give Him delight. This is what lovers do to one another. They delight in one another. This is why we are made. God made us all and everything that exists in His good pleasure. So it is also astonishing to humans to realize they can give God pleasure. We do this through our obedience which is love.
The opposite of obedience is rebellion. All rebellion is not idolatry. Sinners, those enslaved, do not necessarily worship their slave master as an idol, but they can not escape. When the soul encounters God the soul experiences ecstasy. The experience of sex or drug induced euphoria are counterfeits in the sense that they give temporary comfort to the soul. They are traps in that they take control of the soul and the soul loses its freedom. Similarly we Christians desire to give our freedom to God. We want God to take control of our lives. He will not do this. If we are to come to Him it is always in the freedom of our will.
- we commit it by taking anything not God as our God. Ideas, desires, ambitions, hopes, material objects, family, country, can all become idols. **
