You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.—Exodus 20:4-5
First, let’s erase the impressions of molten gold and carved wood from our minds and consider the matter of idolatry, rather than the idol per se. The sin of idolatry occurs when we offer those things reserved for God to the things created by God. Our worship, for instance, is reserved for God. By “worship,” I don’t mean a Sunday-only event, and I don’t mean only music and singing. I’m referring to a lifestyle marked by a passionate pursuit for Him.
Along with worship, we also grant God the authority to govern our behavior. This is manifested in a willingness to obey His precepts and submit to the way He has instructed us to live. We don’t offer our opinion and we don’t make an analysis of God’s expectation of us. We simply obey.
When something else assumes these roles in our lives—that is, when we passionately pursue something other than God or when we obediently submit to an authority that is not God Himself or God ordained, then we have slipped into the sin of idolatry.
But there are other idols in our age that are wreaking havoc just like the idols of money and power, and I believe(while some may disagree) that addiction is one of these idols.