{"id":49286,"date":"2016-10-13T21:21:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-14T02:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=49286"},"modified":"2022-07-07T12:05:38","modified_gmt":"2022-07-07T17:05:38","slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-idolatry-and-obsessions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-difference-between-idolatry-and-obsessions\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the difference between idolatry and obsessions?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\nHello! I just read a question answered on your website about idolatry:\u00a0Is having a symbol of Christianity idolatry?<\/a> In it, idolatry was defined as “anything you turn to for guidance or security.” While that makes sense, to what level of guidance and security are you describing?\u00a0 You see, I still sleep with my Blankie, and I don’t want to let go of him (yes, a “him” pronoun. How cute right?) Is that different?\nAlso, concerning guidance, what do you mean? Is that like praying to something besides God, like Mary for example?\nIs there a difference between idolatry and obsessions? Like being zealous about a favorite band or a hobby? Although they can become unhealthy fads, is it too far-fetched to consider them as idolatry?\nThanks!\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

A blanket is not an idol because you don’t expect the blanket to tell you which way you should decide. While you derive comfort from having something familiar to you, the truth is that it doesn’t really protect you. You don’t worship it as something that controls your life.<\/p>\n

Yes, praying to Mary, who is just a human, is a form of establishing a false god. When people die, they are no longer involved in the affairs of this world. “For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; nevermore will they have a share In anything done under the sun<\/em>” (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6). Thus, praying to someone dead is as useless as praying to a stone or wood carving.<\/p>\n

An obsession is “an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person’s mind.” It is what you think about much of the time. An obsessed person doesn’t think his focus of obsession will do anything for him or help him make good decisions. The closest it gets is that he might allow some of his behavior to be controlled by his obsession, such as not being able to go to sleep without a blanket; yet, that isn’t what idolatry truly is.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Hello! I just read a question answered on your website about idolatry:\u00a0Is having a symbol of Christianity idolatry? In it, idolatry was defined as “anything you turn to for guidance or security.” While that makes sense, to what level of guidance and security are you describing?\u00a0 You see, I still sleep with my Blankie,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[304,1185,965],"class_list":["post-49286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-idolatry","tag-obsessions","tag-ocd"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":68345,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-pets-become-idols\/","url_meta":{"origin":49286,"position":0},"title":"Can Pets Become Idols?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton I think we can see an unhealthy attachment to anything becomes a form of idolatry, the same as covetousness for money becomes a form of idolatry (Colossians 3:5). When our love for animals gets in the way of doing what God says, it can become a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54419,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-imagining-what-god-is-like-idolatry\/","url_meta":{"origin":49286,"position":1},"title":"Is imagining what God is like idolatry?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Mr. Hamilton, How have you been? I've been wondering, is it sinful or idolatrous for me to try and picture God or Christ in my mind? This is often something I do whenever I pray for God's wisdom on a matter, when I'm stressed out about something and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18759,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-thinking-about-a-girl-constantly-be-idolatry\/","url_meta":{"origin":49286,"position":2},"title":"Can thinking about a girl constantly be idolatry?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Could you help me understand what idolatry is according to the Bible?\u00a0 I know it seems like a simple concept, but I have heard so much conflicting information on the subject.\u00a0 For example, I heard one preacher complaining that being devoted to American Idol constituted idolatry (how about that?).\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19740,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-difference-between-coveting-and-stealing\/","url_meta":{"origin":49286,"position":3},"title":"What is the difference between coveting and stealing?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is the difference between coveting and stealing? Answer: Coveting is wanting to possess what another person has. A similar word to \"coveting\" is \"greed.\" \"For the wicked boasts of his heart's desire, and the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD\" (Psalms 10:3). In other words, a covetous\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11018,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-idolatry\/","url_meta":{"origin":49286,"position":4},"title":"Notes on Idolatry","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 30, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Galatians 5:20 Ephesians 5:5 Colossians 3:5-6 Revelation 22:15 See also\u00a0Mythology","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42468,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/innocent-statues-or-idolatry\/","url_meta":{"origin":49286,"position":5},"title":"Innocent Statues or Idolatry?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mike Thomas Consider the following quote by Bob Stanley, written in response to the claim that Catholics practice idolatry when honoring statues and images in religion: \"That is what some say that Catholics do. Why do they say that? What is their reference? Where is their documented proof? Show\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Worship-of-Mary-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49286\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}