21st Century Paganism

The first-century world was rife with widespread paganism.  Across the mediterranean world, nearly every major port or city had its own patron deity and the various cultic activities that went along with it, including sacrificed food, temple worship, widespread sacred prostitution, and the sale of cultic artifacts and worship trinkets.  Needless to say, this was big business.

Now consider Christianity, which needs no external devices of worship; no trinkets, no sacrifices, and definitely no sacred prostitution.  Because of this difference, Christianity, as it made major inroads into the hearts of converts across the world, dramatically challenged and changed the religious landscape.  Additionally, because the sale of cultic paraphernalia was such a large industry, when the previously pagan consumers converted to Christianity in droves, the purveyors of the apparati of paganism lost their reliable sources of income and rose up in opposition to Christianity.

Consider the ordeal at Ephesus, chronicled by Luke in Acts 19:21-41, when a silversmith, Demetrius, riled up the craftsmen guilds in protest of the Christians who had so dented the major part of their respective industries, which was idol worship.  As a result of Demetrius' rabble rousing, whole city of Ephesus was stirred into a rioting mob, aimed squarely at the Christians who, because of their eschewing of idol worship, had decreased their bottom lines by converting their pagan-worshiping consumers.

This is one example of many.  It would seem that this was so widespread that nearly every New Testament book deals directly with the threat of paganism and syncretism (syncretism defined: when pagan worship practices are incorporated into Christianity to create an amalgam that supports Christianity with paganism).

As indicated above, the context of the first-century world was one of pervasive and prevalent paganism and idol worship.  So, as people repented of their paganism and converted to Christianity, idol worship and paganism also decreased.  In truth, the 21st-century world is not altogether different in this regard to the first century.

There is still widespread paganism, extensive idol worship, and continued syncretism.  All of these elements are especially prevalent in America today.  From shows about musical idols, 24-hour sports worship, and the syncretism of materialism, believers need to be aware of the risk of falling prey to syncretistic idolatry.

In a very real sense, believers' idol radars require continual sharpening and Spirit-led alignment in order to protect us from the continual bombardment of paganism and syncretism.  When we repent of our previous pagan, unbelieving, idolatrous self, we turn to God in faith desiring to worship God alone.  God is jealous for our worship; the first and greatest commandment is still in play today as much as it was in the time of Moses.

Jesus' teaching in John's Gospel (15:19) and the exhortations of Peter (1 Pet. 4:1-5) seem quite applicable and appropriate to this dialogue.  God wants us wholly, every single nook and crevice of us is to be dedicated to the Lord.  If and when we commit to this kind of focused and singular devotion, it will look odd and obsessive to the world, because the world cannot understand the true value of God.  In response to the oddity of our obsessive love for God, the world will persecute us because when we highlight God, the world is condemned for its sin.  This should come as no shock but should compel us to press on in faith and perseverance.

Paganism and idolatry is subversive and subtle in this world but it is also widespread.  Moreover, no matter form it may take, it is still sin that draws away from God.  We need to be aware and on guard against such as this so that we would not disqualify ourselves from our intended fruit-bearing potential.  Let us then pursue the Lord in full and abandon the world for its worthless idols!