Is Worship of Jesus Idolatry?

God instructs his children to have no other gods before him. They are not to make images after the likeness of anything above in heaven, below on earth, or below in the waters (Ex. 20:1-6). For God’s people, there is only one true God, the God of Abraham, and he alone deserves praise, worship, and adoration. 

It’s hard to find a Christian or any believer who disagrees with this. It’s a reasonable expectation, and it’s straightforward. However, our individual perceptions of what this command means may be a bit more complex, as some individuals from other religions accuse Christians of rebelling against this teaching, either willfully or ignorantly. 

It’s because they regard worshiping Christ as idolatry, and respectfully, they have their reasons. But is worshiping Jesus Christ in fact, idolatry? In this post, we’ll take our time and think it through.

“Christians are Idolaters”

In general, the reason Christians are considered idolaters is that many of them believe Jesus is God. Answering a question regarding Christian Idolatry on yeshiva.co, the Rabbi states, “the Christian doctrine of the Trinity is ideologically idolatrous. Any doctrine that teaches that G-d is or was a human being or can take any other limited, worldly, created form is idolatrous by definition.” 

Throughout history, God has always manifested his presence and made himself known to his people by temporarily inhabiting some physical form, whether it was a tabernacle, a temple, or a cloud. Are those not worldly, created forms that are limited? So what’s the problem with him manifesting himself in human form? Why should we limit God’s abilities by human reasoning? Did he say he wouldn’t do it? Or did he say he couldn’t do it? Then, why say what he can and can’t do based on our own opinions?

The above comment is a good representation of what many outsiders believe about the worship of Christ, but it’s misleading and lacks understanding as well as biblical support. Many of those who claim worship of Jesus is idolatry or paganism, come from non-Christian backgrounds and with all due respect, have no idea what they’re talking about. It’s like Paris Hilton explaining to me what it’s like to be poor and black. If you haven’t lived the life, if you haven’t experienced it, if you haven’t been there and done that, then you’re simply shouting from the sidelines. You’re on the outside looking in, absent of understanding, and this is evident from many of these statements. 

What is Worship and Idolatry?

First, to decide whether worshiping Jesus is idolatry, it makes sense to know what worship and idolatry are. Exodus 20:5 and 34:14, include commands to the people not to bow down to any other god or any images. In Genesis 43:26, we read where Joseph’s brothers bow to him, and in Genesis 33:3, Jacob bows himself to his brother Esau seven times. All of these verses use the same Hebrew word, shachah (Strong’s #7812), which translates to “bowing down to the ground.” 

Looking again to Exodus 20:5, The Hebrew word, translated as work or serve is abad (Strong’s #5647), which is also used to refer to Adam’s work in the garden (Gen. 2:5), Jacob’s seven years of service for Rachel (Gen. 29:20; Gen. 29:25), and the Israelites’ slavery in Egypt (Ex. 1:14). You can read more about the meaning of worship here, but in summary, worship is simply honoring and serving. Therefore, merely bowing to someone other than God and/or serving them, is not idolatry. So, what is idolatry?

 Recently, I saw a video of Voddie Bachman claiming that the t.v. series The Chosen is idolatry. Personally, I’ve never watched it because I’ve learned not to mix fact and fiction when it comes to Scripture. You’d be amazed at how easily the mind can mix up the two. It’s like dreaming after a late-night with pizza and ice cream, then waking up not being able to decipher whether or not the dream actually happened. That is, if it was in fact, a dream. 

In other words, one can easily get confused, and I’m not willing to take that risk when it comes to the word of God, and certainly, not for the sake of entertainment. It’s challenging enough trying to erase intentional bad teachings like the one about the forbidden fruit being an apple.  

But, what I can tell you is that simply watching a television program no matter how warped one considers the truth of it to be, does not constitute idolatry. Idolatry is worshiping what is detestable in God’s eyes. This chiefly includes one paying homage to, and working for, other gods or representations of them, looking for something from these deities that only the God of Abraham can provide. It’s as if they’ve forgotten where their bread and butter comes from—as if they’ve forgotten that their very being comes from the Lord and no other. 

Another god, set in place, and worshiped as one having supreme power over nature, fertility, life, etc., is disgusting in the Lord’s sight. It’s an abomination to him—like the man or woman that ex left you for after all you’d done for them. Idolatry isn’t simply bowing and serving. It’s giving what is due to God—honor, glory, and a life of service—to another god. For a better understanding of idolatry, check out my previous post here. 

But, since worship of another is not sin, but only worship of another god, is worshiping Jesus idolatry? The answer depends on who you believe him to be.

Who is Jesus?

His Name

Who is Jesus to his followers? Let’s start with the very basics beginning with his name. Jesus is a transliteration of a Latin name, which is believed to be a translation of a Greek name, which itself is a translation of the Hebrew name, Yeshua, meaning “salvation” or “God’s salvation.” There are arguments for other names, but I tend to avoid them since I think they’re silly disputes. The Lord knows who we’re referring to and whether or not we belong to him, even if we don’t know his precise name. The God we serve is not ignorant. But, in worshiping Yeshua, we honor the Father, by trusting in what we believe is his salvation for mankind.

His Nature

Next, let’s look at Jesus’s nature. Some Christians believe Jesus is literally God and is somehow a 3-for-one bundle – that is, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all in one man – Jesus. According to them, Yeshua embodies them all. However, that’s not my belief, so I’m not speaking about that, but rather on the belief that Christ was sent from the Father. So, then, why do we call him God? It’s a bit of laziness on our part, and in all fairness, I think we could explain this concept better. Although we know what we mean, I suspect that when others hear us say “Jesus is God,” in their minds, it sounds something like this: 

“Meet my friend Mary. Here is Mary’s mother Susan. Mary and her mother Susan are actually the same person. That’s right. Mary is also Susan and Susan is also Mary. They are one in the same. Surprise!”

When you look at it from that perspective, of course it’s very confusing and nonsensical. But, that’s not what we believe at all. Jesus is not literally God. Jesus is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15). He is the Son or the “likeness” of the Father wrapped in human flesh (Jn. 1:14). It’s like taking a portion of air, and putting it into a balloon. The fact that it’s inside a balloon doesn’t change the fact that it’s still air. However, the air outside the balloon is greater, not in quality, but in quantity giving it more capabilities than the air within the balloon, which has obvious limitations (Jn. 14:28). 

While we can’t see air, we can see its manifestation when we examine what the balloon does — it expands. And though we can’t see God, we can see the manifestation of him through Christ—through the things Christ did that can only be attributed to the Most High. That’s why we simply say “Jesus is God.” However, in reality, he is God in human flesh. Some still can’t accept or understand this for a variety of reasons, but the fact remains that no matter how one spins it, we do not serve two gods, but one supreme God, who is the God of Abraham and his son Jesus Christ. God is one (Deut. 6:4), not meaning that he is a “single” God but that he is “unity” or perfect, complete, or whole without limitations, and that within him we find everything we need. Consequently, he will be what he will be (Ex. 3:14). 

His Role

Finally, let’s discuss Jesus’ role. Not only is Christ our Savior but he is our Lord. In ancient times, God wanted to rule over his people as king. However, the people rejected God because they wanted a king like the other nations (1 Sam. 8:4-22). Therefore, even though he wasn’t pleased with it, God gave his people a human king, resulting in a succession of mostly wicked rulers who ultimately led the people to destruction. Years later, Jesus steps on the scene. He’s the best of both worlds—-both God and man. He is a perfect king sent from the Father to rule over his people and to teach his ways. As is proper toward any king (1 Peter 2:17), we worship and serve Jesus, who didn’t come on his own authority and didn’t teach his own rules, but the Father’s (Jn. 12:49). We honor and obey him, just as the Israelites honored and obeyed king David. Therefore, by submitting to Christ as king, we’re submitting to the God of Abraham, and not a foreign god (Jn. 12:44-47). 

Conclusion

Many have compared Jesus to pagan gods with a similar birth and similar life, implying he’s also of pagan origin. Nevertheless, the fact remains that Yeshua taught the same teachings and principles we find in the Hebrew Bible. When asked questions concerning life—earthly or eternal, he pointed people to the Torah which is from God (Lk. 10:25-27; Matt. 5:17; Matt. 4:3-4; 5-7;  Matt. 19:16-26; Jn. 8). So, regardless of what one thinks about Jesus, the truth is, he ultimately directed people to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, not another god. Therefore, believers who worship and serve Yeshua who is “Immanuel”—God with us—indeed worship and serve the God of Abraham as the one true God. Worshiping Jesus therefore, is not idolatry, but is honoring and respecting the salvation of the Father, and submitting to him by serving his chosen king, Jesus.