Hello my friends,

Given the recent ribbon cutting ceremony, where a pastor led a celebration for the unveiling of a 22 foot tall gold statue of the president on one of his golf courses, I thought I would send out this reflection on how idolatry is framed in the Bible.

It’s not just the gold statue, it’s what it represents.

One of the central themes running throughout Scripture is the rejection of idolatry. Yet when many modern readers hear the word “idol,” they often imagine ancient people bowing before little statues made of wood or stone. In the biblical world, however, idolatry was never merely about statues. It was always about allegiance. Fidelity. Worship. Power. It was about what kind of kingdom people would participate in and what kind of image they would reflect into the world.

This is why the story of King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3 is so important.

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, builds an enormous golden image on the plain of Dura. The image itself was likely meant to represent either the king himself, Babylon’s gods, or more likely both together. The distinction hardly mattered because in the ancient world political power and divine authority were often fused together. Kings regularly presented themselves as uniquely chosen, divinely empowered, or even semi-divine figures.

Then Nebuchadnezzar commands everyone in the empire to bow before the image when the music plays. The political consequences for refusing are immediate and severe: anyone who will not bow will be thrown into a blazing furnace. Like the worst game of reverse musical chairs ever.

Something often missed is that Nebuchadnezzar was not demanding that people stop worshiping their own gods entirely. Babylon generally allowed conquered peoples to continue practicing their religions. The issue was that their worship now also had to include Babylon’s gods and Babylon’s vision of power.

So, the demand was not necessarily, “Stop worshiping your God.”

The demand was, “Worship our gods too. Show your loyalty to our system too. Bow to the image that represents our power too.”

This is what theologians often call syncretism, which is the blending devotion to God with devotion to systems, rulers, ideologies, nations, or values that stand opposed to God’s character.

And this is precisely why Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to bow. Because worship is not merely external religious performance. Worship is fidelity. It is allegiance. It is giving your heart, trust, loyalty, and obedience to something.

The golden statue was never just about religious faith.

It represented Babylon’s entire system:

its violence,

its imperial power,

its greed,

its domination,

its dehumanization,

its demand for unquestioning loyalty.

To bow before the image was to participate in what the image represented.

This is why biblical idolatry is always much larger than just carved statues. Scripture repeatedly connects idolatry to injustice, oppression, violence, exploitation of the poor, and the corruption of human relationships. The prophets understood that idols are never religiously or politically neutral. They always shape societies into their own image.

And this is why many Christians are deeply troubled by public spectacles in our own nation, like the recent ribbon-cutting ceremony for a 22 foot tall golden statue of President Trump led by a pastor and celebrated by many Evangelical Christians.

Because again, it is not merely about the statue itself. It is about what the image represents.

It is political power is wrapped in religious symbolism, it is leaders who are treated with messianic devotion, it is Christianity fused with nationalism, authoritarianism, wealth, cruelty, fear, and the pursuit of power at all costs. As these dynamics continue to play out before us, we must clearly acknowledge that we are no longer witnessing simple patriotism or political enthusiasm.

We are witnessing idolatry.

We are watching the name of Jesus being used to sanctify other “gods.”

The gods of greed.

The gods of domination.

The gods of cruelty.

The gods of bigotry.

The gods of endless consumption and power.

And like Babylon, the demand is not to abandon Jesus. It is worse. It is to merge allegiance to Jesus with allegiance to these other powers. To bow to both.

That is what makes this moment so spiritually and politically dangerous. Because eventually people can no longer distinguish between the way of Christ and the way of empire.

The Bible calls this taking God’s name in vain.

In Scripture, taking God’s name in vain is not merely saying “God” carelessly or using profanity. The Hebrew concept carries the idea of bearing God’s name falsely, emptily, deceptively. It means attaching God’s name to things that fundamentally contradict God’s character.

To claim the name of Jesus while embodying greed, cruelty, deception, violence, and oppression is to carry his name in vain before the world.

And Scripture repeatedly warns that idols always deform the people who worship them.

Psalm 115 says idols have mouths but cannot speak, eyes but cannot see, ears but cannot hear. Then the Psalmist says something chilling:

“Those who make them become like them.”

We become what we worship.

This is why the prohibition against idols begins all the way back in Genesis and Exodus with something profoundly important: humanity itself is already made in the image of God.

In the ancient world, kings would place engraved images or statues of themselves throughout their kingdoms as symbols of their authority and rule. Genesis turns this entire idea upside down. God does not place statues in creation to represent God's image.

God places human beings. Humanity itself is God’s image in the world.

Every person is already engraved with divine dignity, worth, and sacred value.

Which means idolatry is not just false worship. It is a rejection of our true vocation as image-bearers of God.

When we bow before idols, we forget who we are and whose we are.

Instead of reflecting God’s love, justice, mercy, compassion, and care for creation into the world, we begin reflecting the values of the idols we serve.

And that is exactly what idolatry still does today.

May we call for repentance from idolatry within American Christianity.

Pictured below is the AI image of a gold statue of Trump the president himself shared on social media in a video that depicted turning Palestine into a new Trump resort, with the gold statue in the middle. Then the recent ribbon cutting ceremony for the gold statue of him on one of his golf courses.

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