Verse 21: Little children, guard yourselves from idols.
Jesus Christ is to be the exclusive celebrity in our lives—He is the only one the believer is to idolize and worship (Philippians 2:9-11). What is interesting to observe is that the issue of idols and idolatry are not mentioned in the gospel accounts. But as soon as the apostles began to preach in the non-Jewish Greek world it became necessary to confront this matter. 1 The apostle Paul even warned the Colossians (Col. 2:18) that “the worship of the angels” would result in the loss of their prize—“the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14; cf. 1 Cor. 9:24).
Unfortunately, the proliferation of idols has continued for centuries. They include statues and art works that venerate our Lord and various saints, angels and biblical images, so that today we are confronted with multiple forms of religious images—pictures, drawings, photos, sculptures, few of which were accessible to Christians in the first century.
However, Scripture does not advocate the necessity or provide the directive that we should focus on a physical object in order to substantiate God’s reality in our minds to generate a spiritual “mood” for our encounter with the Divine. Some might object and claim that seeing an image helps them to concentrate while in prayer or going about their daily activities. Yet, this is another example of how modern mysticism has infiltrated Christianity today, disregarding Scriptures’ assertion that our true focus is to believe in the unseen Savior:
Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. (1 Peter 1:8 NKJV)
The apostle Thomas is an example of one who would not believe in the risen Jesus unless he physically encountered Him (John 20:25). When he actually confronted Jesus, our Lord stated a promise:
Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” (John 20:29)
Our Lord is referring to us, twenty centuries later. For we have never seen Him face-to-face; nor have we put our hand in His wounded side or put our finger in His nail-print hands. For Peter states that in reality we who believe ought to “rejoice with joy inexpressible” even though we do “not see Him.” And for the good reasons that Barnes mentions:
He has done more for us than any other one who ever lived among men. He died for us, to redeem our souls. He rose, and brought life and immortality to light. He ever lives to intercede for us in heaven.2
The writer of Hebrews instructs us who have not seen Him on how we are to authentically live our life today:
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1–2) [Emphasis added]
How are we able to "fix our eyes on Jesus"? Obviously, not our physical eyes but instead the eyes of our soul. Wuest aptly explains:
One must have the nature of God (2 Peter 1:4) to appreciate and love the Lord Jesus. It is this ideal combination of a study of God’s Word and a definite subjection to the Holy Spirit that results in the clear, vivid portrait of the Lord Jesus in the spiritual vision of the saint.3
Concluding Thought
If we are to have true fellowship with the Father we must love Him (Matthew 22:37) and validate our love for Him by intently studying and applying His Word in our daily life. If we are to truly have fellowship with Jesus Christ we must believe that He indeed is true deity, that we be responsive to His commands (John 14:15) and to ensure that He permeates all our thought, word and actions. Thus, we would never need some trinket or a picture to remind us of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
It is fitting that John closes his epistle with a warning to believers about idols. For anything which stands between God and the believer is an idol.4 And as long as the believer regards another person (spouse, child, best friend), an obsession (job, hobby), or object as more important, they will never have the personal relationship with Jesus Christ that God intended for them. Whatever distracts the supremacy of Christ in the believer’s life will continues to impede their ability to advance to the biblical measure of spiritual adulthood (Ephesians 4:13).
[1] Wilhelm Mundle, In The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, ed. Colin Brown, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986), 2.285.
[2] Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: James to Jude, ed. Robert Frew (London: Blackie & Son, 1884–1885), XIII.2.118.
[3] Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997), 11.28.
[4] J.V. McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary, (Nashville,TN: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 5.821.
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