In response to a question on Idolotry and what is an *idol* as it pertains to Discernment, and how that words gets thrown around sometimes.

Great question. That is the deepest of questions, whether you see that right now or perhaps sometime in the future if you're blessed with the continuing curiosity such a question reveals.

No one can answer that question for anyone else without proving themselves false, casting the first stone, as it were.

But when the slave nation was released to die in the desert, the creator who had conspired their release from Egypt took them like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, guiding and protecting her as his own.

In their fear to remain in the good graces they wanted to worship and give thanks, but they had only ever gods to be imbued in some symbol, image, or statue. They had no concept of a direct, personal relationship of a real and present God. While Moses was up chiseling a guide to direct them with ways of living, they so feared death and were running out of water, that they were going to kill Aaron, who Moses had set in charge, so he capitulated to their calls to have a god fashioned for them so they could give thanks and worship. (The golden calf).

They bowed before it and worshipped: "This is the Lord our God who brought us out of Egypt."

...Such a familiar story but it gets glazed over every time. It was the right prayer, but it was idolatry: any man-made thing - when people put their faith, their stake, their confidence, their refuge, their hope in anything other than the mysterious creator we all strive to comprehend and fail.

...we did it again with the Torah, likening God to the power of our laws handed down as a guidepost while our hearts were nothing but wicked that we could survive. The Pharisees (religious bible scholars and preists of the day) who conspired against Jesus, leveraging the Law, were no different from the slaves, with right words but bowing to their golden dome, their temple, their statutes, their altars, their multi-million dollar animal sacrifice supply chain. Looking back, the bustle of the temple market was no different the drunken orgy of the golden calf story. No different. They believe they are worshipping, but are they??

The law let them survive, but not thrive in God's mission to partner with humans as a nation of priests to bless all the nations. ***"I came that you may have life, and more abundantly." (***John 10)

... the idol object, you see, does not matter. For all those people, idolators, they believe they're worshipping God the way they think he wants them to.

We don't mold calves anymore. The idolatry is in our hearts, when we treat our prayers as if they're something other than messages to be received and heard and answered -- instead they think they're magic spells, incantations of some sort.

...Discernment is not learned or gained, it can be practiced, but it's inherently a gift from the spirit of Wisdom which can be given to anyone and any time. It is one of the key signs we were to be watching for near the end of this age, as the Spirit comes down itself and chooses to wake a great many sleeping, gifting it's wisdom upon many, imbuing even little children with the gift of perfect discernment, and the wicked will be shown bare and naked, and there will be much gnashing of teeth as many are humbled. Discruction for those who won't.

Discernment is one among many of the most beautiful concepts in all the bible, yet like any word, it can get thrown around and weilded by those who don't really know what it is. I call that when we "churchify" a word in "Churchianity."

I like that you caught this one, but idolatry can and does happen with just about every important word or verse in the bible. ~right words, wrong heart~