Have you ever seen someone acting “holier than thou”? Have you ever acted “holier than thou”? It is a false and dangerous state of mind to be in. You are literally looking down on those you consider inferior and you have false pride. Both of these actions are offensive to God.

False holiness can be seen in every walk of life. You see it in your friends, family, at work, wherever. In our world, today, celebrities be they actors, musicians, sports stars, etc, are treated like gods. Some seem to delight in the attention and adulation they get. For some, it’s like they crave it and cannot function without it. They exude false holiness and their fans literally worship them as if they are celestial beings, like the coverage that Johnny Depp got in his recent court battle with Amber Heard. Celebs like Depp are given full coverage with fans and the media hanging on every word. This is indeed idolatry and sycophantic fans with slavish media coverage do not help.

Of course, political leaders in democracies and dictatorships can come over as “holier than thou”. Whether they realise it or not doesn’t matter the effect on those watching is the same. People are drawn to charismatic people in politics whether they are good or bad. In all faiths and in Christianity too there are those who seek the limelight and seek adulation. Look at the prosperity preachers who act like showmen/women of the worst kind, yet their followers hang on their every word.

In technology, people marvel at the latest phones, computers, and other AI devices. Does worship of these devices occur? People cannot wait for the latest PlayStation or iPhone/Android phone and treat this tech like a god.

Satan knows all about false worship. After all, Jesus called him the Father of Lies with good reason. Christ also said that the devil was a liar from the beginning of time also for a very good reason. Satan desires to be worshipped and become a god and he doesn’t care how he achieves it. Satan controls all the falseness and evil in this world and wants to usurp God’s authority. So if he can set up something that people are addicted to and follow as an enemy of God why wouldn’t he?

Materialism and consumerism are treated as gods. You must have the latest car or fashionable clothes and this narrative is force-fed to us through adverts, social media, friends, family, etc. Such things leave us with satisfaction for a while and soon we are left empty, but how many learn the lesson? We want the next thing that everyone else has and so the cycle carries on.

God and only God alone through his Son Jesus Christ should be worshipped. God does not tell us He is a jealous god for no reason. God wants a relationship with his created beings and does not want us to be deceived either by other faiths, secularism, humanism, consumerism, etc. We as Christians are expected to also show holiness and reflect our God’s spirit. Not through falseness or deceit but in serving, loving, helping, and living the holy life he has called us to. God knows we are flawed beings but through Christ, we are and can be forgiven.

God is a being of such purity that he abhors sin, especially idolatry. He did not tell Moses at the burning bush to take off his sandals for no good reason! Where God is there is no idolatry or anything connected to it. There is nothing but purity, sanctity, security, and love wherever God is. This is offered to us freely if we follow God and his Son, Jesus Christ, in this life and the next.

Here are some helpful scriptures addressing the issues in this blog:

1 Samuel 2:2: “There is no one holier than the Lord, there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God”.

1 Thessalonians 4:7: “For God has not called us not for impurity but in holiness”.

Philippians: 2:5-7: “Your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Jesus Christ:
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant being made human in likeness…”.

God bless you

Nick x.