At first, it sounds like an oxymoron. How can people who have dismissed the supernatural be idolaters?
Although stone and wooden idols are one form of idolatry, a person does not need to bow down before them to be an idolater. Idolatry ultimately boils down to using one's belief system to live for self. When Paul identified greed as being idolatry in Colossians 3:5 and Ephesians 5:5, he pierced to the heart of the problem of idolatry.
What causes a person to be greedy? When someone believes that created things are capable of taking care of his life, greed becomes the driving value for that person's behavior. Greed is far more than just wanting money. There are many forms of greed. Luke 12:15 It is the drive to acquire more of something in order to be secure or to become somebody important. Idolatrous greed can take the form of trying to get everybody to like you or trying to be the very best as a means to "become somebody" and feel good about oneself. With greed, the object of a person's devotion can be abstract (reputation, status, social contacts, etc.) or it can take a concrete form (money, possessions, etc.). Whichever form or combination of forms it might take, it is this devotion of self to what the created order is believed to provide which makes a person idolatrous. The predictable result is the person will love and depend upon his lover who provides for him, just as ancient Israel at times loved the Baals. Hosea 2:5, 8
Since idolatry is the attempt to save one's own life by pushing what are considered to be the right buttons that will take care of me, every time an Israelite sacrificed to Baal he was depending upon Baal to provide what he wanted and believed he needed in order to live. Every time a modern cosmopolitan sacrifices time and energy toward education, social status, possessions, etc. he is depending upon Education, Work, Social Status, Reputation to provide what he believes he needs to take care of him. The names are the only difference between ancient and modern idolatry.
Idolatry promotes polytheism. Any means which somebody believes is capable of taking care of him can easily be added to his personal temple of gods to be worshiped. Each new god is simply one more button to be pushed, one more tool to be manipulated to take care of my life.
It is for these reasons that scripture denounces loving the world or anything in it. 1 John 2:15-17 Similarly, the person who becomes a friend of the world commits idolatry (spiritual adultery) and the love of the Father can not be in that person. James 4:4 A person can serve only one master. Ultimately, this ends up being the distinction between serving God or serving Self.
Barry Newton, Copyright © 2000
Other articles which might be of interest
Lessons from 580 B.C. for the Second MillenniumWhat Does it Mean to Live as a Christian? Part 1: To Break Down My Idols
Insights from the Master on Idolatry
Freedom from Idolatry (An American Free At Last)