Ethnic and Cultural Idolatry
Greg Howse
Jason and Beth were a young couple of Scandinavian descent living in a southwestern city. Both of their families
had been among the homesteaders in the territory, and they were proud of their local heritage. Their small children—a
blond, blue-eyed boy and an equally fair girl—were replicas of every prior generation.
Jason and Beth belonged to a small Pentecostal church right in their neighborhood. They loved their pastor,
their Christian friends, and the work of God in their lives there. Then the ethnic makeup of the congregation started
changing as increasing numbers of aliens crossed the U.S.–Mexican border and settled in their city.
When their pastor spoke of looking for a Hispanic assistant, Jason and Beth realized their church really was
going to be multiracial. Late one night they lay in bed talking about their children growing up in church with
Mexican friends. They might date or marry Hispanics.
They began talking about leaving their church for a big church way out in the suburbs that had great children's
programs. They didn't want it to look like they were leaving their home church because of the Mexicans. They loved
all people with the love of the Lord. They merely wanted their kids to have a “safe place.”
When a guest evangelist held renewal services at the church, a few unusual manifestations and biblical interpretations
gave Jason and Beth the excuse they needed. They went to the pastor and explained that they could no longer worship
there in good conscience.
The next day Beth was reading from Ephesians 2 during her morning devotions. She sensed the Holy Spirit dealing
strongly with her heart that she and Jason were putting their blond hair and blue eyes ahead of the purpose of
God for their lives and their church. That evening after tucking in the kids, she approached her husband. Tears
ran down her cheeks as she told him what the Holy Spirit had revealed to her. He said he had been having similar
thoughts about the situation. “What are we going to do?” Beth asked.
The Sin of Idolatry
The second and third commandments explicitly say that Israel was not to have any other gods before the true
and living God (Ex. 20:3–6). They were never to make and worship any likeness of a created being. No creation of
man could ever represent God. This conviction separated Israel from other nations who worshiped a multitude of
gods represented in wood, stone, or precious metals.
Psalm 115:1–9 is an interesting commentary on the sin of idolatry. Verse 1 describes glory being given to the
name of the Lord, instead of being directed toward anything that has to do with man. What are the reasons for glory
being directed to the Lord's name?
Psalm 115:2 describes the nations looking for God in the form of an idol. Why do idolators have trouble relating
to God being glorified by mercy and truth?
How is God portrayed in Psalm 115:3?
How are the physical characteristics of idols depicted in Psalm 115:4–7?
What does Psalm 115:8 say about those who make idols and put their trust in them?
In the New Testament, Paul referred to the wickedness of idolatry quite often. He told the Corinthian believers,
“You were Gentiles carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led” (1 Cor. 12:3). By “dumb” Paul meant
speechless, not stupid. If the idols could not speak, what “voices” were their worshipers hearing?
Paul told the Corinthians to test the various spirits by their attitude toward the lordship of Christ (1 Cor.
12:3). What are some ways people acknowledge that Jesus is Lord?
What are some ways people can curse the name of Jesus?
Read 1 Corinthians 12:4–13. Circle the letter of the following statement that you think best captures the message
of these verses.
a. You can tell whether you belong in the church by whether you have a spectacular spiritual gift.
b. Dumb idols could never produce such a dynamic organism as the body of Christ.
c. Everybody in the church should be the same.
d. The Holy Spirit creates a unity that is displayed in a wide diversity.
e. It's a liberal, impractical idea to expect different races to worship in the same church.
Why do you think we tend to feel more comfortable in groups of people made up of others just like us?
According to 1 Corinthians 12, why has God chosen to create the one, unified body of Christ with so much diversity
among its many members? (See especially vv. 27, 28–30, 14, 18–25.)
Behind the Scenes
Webster defines idolatry as “excessive devotion or reverence for some person or thing.” An idol is “any object
of ardent or excessive devotion or admiration” or “a false notion or idea that causes errors in thinking or reasoning.”
[Webster's New World Dictionary (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988).] In this study guide the phrase ethnic
idolatry means “a conscious or unconscious exaltation of personal racial or cultural concerns above the will
of Christ for His church or for humanity as a whole.” Ethnic idolatry curses Christ and refuses to submit to His
lordship when He reaches across racial or cultural lines to create still greater unity out of still greater diversity.
Greek and Roman idolatry easily supplied every special interest group in society with a patron god or goddess
to focus on. Paul did not want the church of Christ to fragment in the same way. What is it about ethnic idolatry
that makes human effort inadequate and requires the Holy Spirit to break through the barriers among people this
idolatry creates?
The following contemporary idols have no message from the Lord. They are “dumb” (1 Cor. 12:2). What messages
from Satan does each of them inject into the life of a church that is affected by these idols?
• Absorption in materialism
• Absorption in work
• Absorption in politics
• Absorption in racial identity
The Demonic Nature of Idolatry
Peter worked for IBM when he and Pam were introduced to a big-time direct sales company. Their all-white “upline”
pushed them along saying, “We need successful blacks in this to prove you people can do it.” In three years they
built a third-level distributorship and enjoyed perks such as incentive trips to Hawaii. Then they were accused
of illegal sales activities, and the company took away their “downline” business. Even after an investigation cleared
them of all charges, management still sided with Peter and Pam's all-white accusers.
After the final crushing ruling, Peter found himself thinking: “You can't trust whites.”
“They will backstab you as soon as they get a chance.”
“A white person will only let you succeed to a certain point and then humiliate you.”
Satan was challenging Peter to engage in a form of idolatry. The devil already had convinced the white businesspeople
that race was god. Ethnic idolatry is common around the world, even in the church of Jesus Christ.
When Paul wanted to tell the Corinthians about Christian worship and spiritual gifts, he started with this statement:
“Flee from idolatry” (10:14). First Corinthians 10 gives us several things to consider concerning idolatry. Verses
16–21 ask us to consider factors of identity.
In 1 Corinthians 10:16 and 17 how are believers identified with Christ?
With what was Israel identified? (1 Cor. 10:18)
With what do idolators identify? (1 Cor. 10:19, 20)
How do believers choose to identify with the Lord or demons? (1 Cor. 10:21)
Bible Extra
Verse 21 teaches us that we must make a choice between devotion to the Lord or devotion to evil spirits. We
enter a union with whatever or whomever has our devotion. Earlier in this same chapter Paul rehearsed the sins
of Israel. Each point of sin had an evil spirit empowering it. Idolatry was empowered by deception. Fornication
was empowered by lust. Testing the Lord was empowered by arrogance. Murmuring was empowered by rejection
and rebellion.
When Ethnicity Becomes Idolatry
Peter and Pam stopped attending their church because its pastor was white. Then one Sunday, Pam suggested they
visit Cornerstone Christian Center. Peter had his reservations because he knew I was a white pastor. But co-writer
Michael Posey was Peter's lifelong friend from the “hood.” So Peter and Pam visited us, right on the Sunday that
Michael was being appointed as the assistant pastor of the church. Peter still took the opportunity to pull Michael
aside and warn him about me.
I don't think Peter had made his race an idol, but he was leaning in that direction. Unfortunately it does seem
that the white sales managers who mistreated Peter had made their race something to protect and cherish. Most of
us think that idolatry means pagan worshipers bowing before wood or metal images. But Caucasians can become immoderately
devoted to the color of their skin in much more subtle ways than the extremist tendencies of white supremacist
groups. Blacks may become immoderately devoted to various expressions of African culture.
Read the following Scriptures and record what each states or implies about how race or culture can become an
idol.
• Luke 9:51–56
• Acts 10:44–11:18
• Galatians 2:11–18
Read the following Scriptures and record what each states or implies about what God has done regarding barriers
between ethnic groups through Jesus Christ.
• Ephesians 2:11–17
• Colossians 3:9–11
• Revelation 7:9
To what racial group do you think God pays the most attention? Why do you tend to think that way?
Church growth experts tell us that the greatest movements of the Holy Spirit today are in Africa, Asia, and
South America. What does this suggest about God's interest in skin color?
Historically, this idolatry has caused ethnic groups and cultures to conceive of God in their own image. If
I am black and I want my biblical heroes to be black, I will manufacture every bit of evidence possible to prove
my position to be accurate. If I am white I will insist on every biblical character fitting my Anglo-European perception
no matter how historically, theologically, and scripturally unsound that is.
This inordinate devotion to skin color, culture, and ethnicity opens the door to demonic powers of pride, fear,
racism, prejudice, bigotry, division, and hatred. These evil spirits feed on ignorance and stir hostility among
people groups which God desires to bring together for His glory.
What do you think are the greatest contributors to racial idolatry among the residents of your community?
What are some things you and your church could be doing to eliminate or decrease racial prejudice and ignorance
in your local community?
Some might say these demonic powers can only be destroyed through spiritual warfare. Others might say that practical,
compassionate social programs in the neighborhoods are the answer. Other take a middle ground and say both are
needed. How would you suggest battling racism in the church? Why do you take that position?
James 3:15 and 16 tells us that earthly wisdom is demonic, and that envy and self-seeking open the door for
the entrance of confusion and every evil thing. How does this passage help explain the spiritual roots of ethnic
and cultural idolatry?
Word Wealth
Sensual (James 3:15) literally describes things that belong to the natural or physical realm of existence.
To be sensual is to live in the domain of the five senses, concerned with this life only. Usually we use “sensual”
to describe someone or something concerned with lusts, illicit desires, and unclean practices that open a person
to the demonic. [Spirit-Filled Life® Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991), 1899, “Word
Wealth: James 3:15, sensual.”]
Self-seeking (James 3:16) translates a Greek adjective that regressed in meaning from denoting honorable
work to suggesting dishonorable intrigue. Originally, it referred to a field-worker or reaper, and then anyone
working for pay, a hireling. Later “self-seeking” described a person who was concerned only with his own welfare,
a person susceptible to being bribed, an ambitious, self-willed person seeking opportunities for promotion. From
there it became electioneering, a partisan factious spirit that would resort to any method for winning followers.
[Ibid., 1802, “Word Wealth: Phil. 1:16, selfish ambition.”]
How do you think ethnic and cultural idolatry fit the description of these two biblical terms?
• Sensual
• Self-seeking
According to Proverbs 13:10 and 28:25, what forces within the human soul are stirred up by pride?
How do you think this kind of pride contributes to ethnic and cultural idolatry?
Faith Alive
It is this cultural and ethnic pride which stirs our hostility toward one another. The judgment for this prideful
idolatry is the same today as it has always been. There comes a visitation of the fathers' iniquity upon the children
to the third and fourth generations. This visitation of iniquity comes to those who have made a choice against
God (Ex. 20:5, 6).
How can the ethnic and cultural pride of preceding generations have a negative effect on you?
What can you do to stop the chain reaction of that iniquity in your generation?
The Way Out of Idolatry
Michael Posey invited Pam and Peter to attend a special meeting conducted at Cornerstone. The guest speaker
gave very accurate personal words of knowledge as he ministered in a strong prophetic anointing. Kevin began to
speak the “word of the Lord” to Peter. He told him he had run after the dollar and lost sight of God. He said,
“Son, you will be a pillar in a church, and you must not go according to cultural matters, but go according to
the realm of the Spirit.” In receiving these words, Peter's hurt and disillusionment immediately dissolved. That
prophetic word also caused Peter to evaluate me as a pastor on the basis of my anointing by the Holy Spirit rather
than my skin color.
When God convicts us of the sin of ethnic or cultural idolatry, how might we need to repent (change) in each
of these areas?
• Thinking
• Perception
• Speech
• Behavior
How does the Lord Jesus empower us to repent of attitudes and behaviors that separate believers in Jesus along
racial and cultural lines? (Eph. 2:14, 15)
What do you think the Lord expects His followers to find when the walls of racial division come down that we
can discover no other way?
Faith Alive
In the following quotation replace the words, “Jew and Gentile,” with the two (or more) ethnic groups that are
most alienated in your community. “For He is [Himself] our peace (our bond of unity and harmony). He has made us
both
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one [body], and has broken down (destroyed, abolished) the hostile dividing wall between us” (Eph. 2:14, Amplified
Bible).
How do you think Jesus expects us to express in practical terms the reconciliation He accomplished on the cross?
From Race & Reconciliation: Healing the Wounds, Winning the Harvest by Jack W. Hayford with Greg Howse and Michael Posey. Copyright 1996 by Jack W. Hayford.
