“Now isn’t that stupid? It’s just plain stupid to worship idols, isn’t it?” the Sunday School teacher said to her class as she held up a picture of an ugly, dark idol. The children listening agreed, of course. Idolatry was stupid.
This
attitude toward idolatry is still pervasive in American churches even though
the New Age Movement is changing the attitude of the population in
general. When we first came to Japan, my
husband and I both doubted the reality of idolatry in this country. After all, idolatry is “stupid,” and Japanese
people are intelligent; therefore the idols must really just be monuments to
history or rather unimportant trinkets of tradition. We were greatly mistaken, and winning
Japanese people to the worship of the true and living God from idols is no easy
task.
The
idolater worships idols basically for the same reasons we worship God. Their worship is not stupid. Rather it is an expression of their longing
to fill the vacuum in their lives that only Christ can fill. Through listening to my friends, through
reading books on Buddhism, and through seeing idolatry portrayed on Japanese
television, I have come, not to sympathize with idolatry, but to sympathize with
the needs of the idolater. By trying to
understand why intelligent people seek help from stone images, I yearn more and
more to see them seeking the True Saviour.
A
Christian teacher once held up a picture of an offering of rice made at a
family altar. She said, “Now a rat comes
along and eats the rice, and that is why the people think the god has accepted
their offering.” No, this is not the
thinking of the idolater. The thinking
is more like this: “There is life,
spirit, in everything. When my father
died, his spirit left his body, but it stays with us for sometime. His spirit still wants to fellowship with our
spirits. We usually fellowship when we
eat. We place his favorite foods out on
the family altar for him. His spirit
eats the ‘spirit’ of the food, and then when we eat the ‘body’ of the food, we
can enjoy fellowship with our father again.”
So, one of the main things an idolater desires is A WAY TO EXPERIENCE
FELLOWSHIP with the spirit world.
Part of
this fellowshipping includes the idea of reporting to the spirits. The Japanese, of course, believe that they
are reporting to their dead loved ones, but we know that if there is a
spirit present, it is not the departed loved one. It is most surely, most sadly, a wicked
deceiving demonic spirit. “The things
which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have
fellowship with devils” (1 Corinthians 10:20).
The demons have tricked the Japanese people into thinking that they are
fellowshipping with their departed loved ones, when really they are
fellowshipping with devils.
Is it any
wonder that the father of lies teaches his demons to be so cunning and
deceitful? Paul wrote, “Absent from the
body . . . present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). The Bible is very clear that there is “a
great gulf fixed” between Heaven, Hell, and Earth. Neither the rich man nor Lazarus could return
to earth (Luke 16:26).
However, the
Emperor reports once a year to the sun goddess Amaterasu, from whom the Japanese
people have supposedly descended. He
gives her a kind of state of the union address.
Sometimes, if you go to an old-fashioned Japanese home, and you take a
present of cookies, the cookies may be presented at the family altar in the
home. It is reported to the ancestors
that this gift was brought. Supposedly,
the spirit of the ancestor eats the spirit of the cookies, then when the family
eats the physical cookies, they are communing with the ancestors.
Many
Japanese people “report” to their deceased loved ones all kinds of family
news. They also ask advice. In Japanese soap operas, one can see, for
example, a man bowing to the picture of his dead wife, telling her the problems
their teenage children are facing and asking her advice. Then, at the top of the TV screen, the image
of the wife will proceed to give advice.
This
fellowship with the spirit world is especially sought after a death in the
family. It is A WAY OF MOURNING. In the grieving person’s imagination some
loneliness is alleviated. When a death
occurs in our families, we too, want to do something. We order flowers. We often plan the funeral services
ourselves. We write eulogies. In doing something, anything, we feel
better. It is a way of lessening our
grief through action or through focusing on good memories. However, when the idolater offers flowers, he
is actually presenting a gift which he hopes will help the spirit in the
afterlife. A Christian wants God’s influencing
comfort, but the idolater seeks A WAY TO INFLUENCE THE SPIRIT WORLD through an
offering.
Mourning
loved ones who have passed away is not an easy thing for anyone. Pretending that they are still around may be
A WAY TO FEEL BETTER, but it is not truth.
It is not reality, and such comfort cannot satisfy and will not endure. When Japanese people make offerings to the
spirits of their departed loved ones, they temporarily feel better; they feel
that they are doing something to help the loved one.
Even when Jesus died, the people wanted to do
something. Joseph of Arimathea took care
of Jesus’ body by putting it in a nice tomb.
The women wanted to anoint His body with spices.
Some ancestor worship is done to make the
living people feel better in the midst of their mourning. It is contrary to God’s commandments, but it
is understandable. When there is no hope
of heaven, there can be only weak substitutions for genuine hope and comfort.
Often the
offerings to a dead loved one are made, not just because of sorrow, but also
because of fear. The surviving family
members are afraid that if they do not honor the ancestor correctly, the spirit
will give them bad luck. I said to one
college-aged girl, “When your father was alive, didn’t he do nice things for
you? He made sure you had food to eat
and clothes to wear, didn’t he? Then why
would you think that he would want to do something bad to you after he has
died?” She had no answer.
Of course, we know from the story of the rich
man and Lazarus, that even a lousy guy who has died, wants good things for his
family. "Then [the rich man] said, I pray thee therefore, father [Abraham], that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment" (Luke 16:27-28). So ancestor worship is A WAY OF CALMING FEARS.
When a
loved one dies, those left behind can feel helpless and out of control. Idolatry can RESTORE A FEELING OF BEING IN
CONTROL. The human beings who build a
statue are in control of it. They choose
the materials it is made of; they choose the offerings.
The Japanese god box, or mikoshi, which is paraded through the streets of each community
often contains the rice wine that has been produced in the community. It is elevated above the heads of the
worshipers and carried high like a palanquin.
Human beings are in control of their god.
The ark of the covenant, on the other hand,
was designed by God. His Shekinah Glory
directed where the children of Israel went.
It was carried in a lower position than the Japanese mikoshi.
Christianity is based on the truth that God has come down to us and
wants to lead us. As we yield control to
Him and His Holy Spirit, we experience tremendous blessings. We don’t have to try to grasp blessings for
ourselves by being in control. In
Christianity, we relinquish control to a sovereign, all-knowing and all-loving
God. In idolatry, the worshiper tries to
control the spirits and bring blessings to himself through them.
Most
Japanese people don’t pay any attention to the gods until they particularly
feel they are in need of good luck, or they feel that they are having bad luck
so they must appease the gods. When high
school and college entrance exams are held in Japan, all the students feel they
need extra good luck, so they flock to the shrines. They are trying to control the spirits and
get supernatural help. Every New Year’s
holiday the shrines and temples are crowded with people wanting good luck for
the new year. Automobile rearview
mirrors sport traffic safety “good luck” charms bought at temples.
Idolatry
can be A WAY OF SOOTHING THE CONSCIENCE.
Aborted babies become gods. The
mothers write letters of apology and explanation. They leave offerings of food and toys. You see, the idea is that there is spirit in
everything; therefore, the spirit of the dead baby can enjoy the spirit of the
food and the toys.
A SENSE OF
IDENTITY is established for the idolater in many aspects and actions of
idolatry. He identifies with his family
during times of ancestor worship. He
identifies with the community when community gods are paraded through the
streets in yearly festivals. He
identifies with the nation when the emperor makes his yearly state of the union
address to the goddess Amaterasu.
In
worshiping at the family altar, the worshiper identifies himself with the
family history. His own IDENTITY is
defined and strengthened. He has a sense
of security and belonging. This sense of
community is found at the family altar, but also at the various neighborhood
shrines and temples. The Christian’s
sense of identity is in Christ. “I am
crucified with Christ: nevertheless I
live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20). His identity is also in the church. “So we, being
many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another” (Romans 12:5).
The
Japanese do not just worship ancestors.
Their Shinto religion makes it possible to worship almost anything. It is basically nature worship. If you believe there is spirit in everything
(pantheism), you can worship everything.
(Do you know that there is even a toilet god?)
One friend told me that her family always
kept a home for the gods near the ceiling in the living room. This is quite common. The little house is called a kamidana. Kami
means god or spirit, and dana means
shelf. They never bothered with it
except once a year when her father (as high priest) took it down to clean it
and put out new offerings. She wanted me
to know that otherwise they seldom bothered with it. But, she did mention that if some difficulty
came up in their lives, something that they could not take care of themselves,
then they would go to the kamidana
and pray for more power. The idolatry in
that case is A WAY TO OBTAIN SUPERNATURAL POWER. Even though Japanese people are quite secular
and humanistic, they keep the door open to receive supernatural power when
humanism fails.
Another
thing an idolater wants to get from the worship of his god is A WAY TO BE
PURIFIED, that is, supernatural spiritual cleansing. He is aware of his bad thoughts and
attitudes. Shrines often have a pool
with running water. A worshiper can wash
his hands and rinse his mouth to cleanse himself before worship. The One True God bids us to be clean through
“the washing of water by the Word” of God (Ephesians 5:26). That is true cleansing, not just
symbolism.
“God,
grant me the serenity to . . .” is an inscription on a plaque hanging in many a
Christian home. But is this truly a
Christian prayer? This is the prayer
that Buddhists make as they sway forward and back in meditation. Was Christ’s life serene? Was His attitude serene? As we read the New Testament, where is the
serenity? The closest thing to serenity
in the Old Testament is, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).
The SERENITY the Buddhist strives for is a
complete emptying of one’s self, but the meditation of the Christian includes
“. . . and know that I am God.” The
stillness, peace, and restfulness of the Christian comes because his heart is
in agreement with God, because his mind has been disciplined with truth. A Buddhist longs for a passive serenity, but
Christians achieve an active peace, the peace that “passeth all understanding”
(Philippians 4:7).
Why does a
Buddhist worship an idol, a stone statue?
To us Christians, who know a God of the strongest love, the strongest
emotion in the universe, the thought of worshiping a hard, unfeeling idol is
incomprehensible and ludicrous. The
statues of Buddha, for example, are almost all expressionless.
However, the love of God caused Him great
pain. He loved, and His Son died. It is human nature to avoid pain. It is said that the first Buddha taught that
all pain was caused by selfishness. If
self is eliminated, then pain will be eliminated. By meditation, that is, completely emptying
the mind, self can be eliminated, emotion eradicated, and a serene, emotionless
expression like the Buddha’s may be obtained.
Serenity through hardening the heart is not recommended in the
Bible. Those who worship idols become
like them (Psalm 115:8). Unable to
suffer the pain that love brings with it, the Buddhist must give himself up to
only callous, indifferent, self-centered serenity.
“God,
grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.” A true Christian who worships the True God
never has to accept the evil things he cannot change. A true Christian can always pray to the True
God about those things. Prayer to the
True God is not an exercise in futility.
The fatalistic attitude of those who seek serenity through idol worship
has no place in the heart of a Christian.
The sorrows, trials, and pain of everyday life can be prayed about, and
we can trust God Who makes “all things work together for good” (Romans
8:28).
Since most
Japanese people do not go to their gods until they come to the end of their
rope, when they have done everything humanly possible, it is our goal to teach
them Who the True God is. In
their hour of need, we want them to come to the One who can truly meet their
need. In the depths of their sorrow, we
desire for them to come to the God of all comfort. “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of all mercies, and the God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3).
"THEIR IDOLS ARE SILVER AND GOLD, THE WORK OF MEN'S HANDS. THEY HAVE MOUTHS, BUT THEY SPEAK NOT: EYES HAVE THEY, BUT THEY SEE NOT: THEY HAVE EARS, BUT THEY HEAR NOT: NOSES HAVE THEY, BUT THEY SMELL NOT: THEY HAVE HANDS, BUT THEY HANDLE NOT: FEET HAVE THEY, BUT THEY WALK NOT: NEITHER SPEAK THEY THROUGH THEIR THROAT. THEY THAT MAKE THEM ARE LIKE UNTO THEM; SO IS EVERY ONE THAT TRUSTETH IN THEM."
