Article June 20, 1988 Issue

Idol chatter

Whom or what are we listening to? Conversing with? Talking about?

Edmonde L. St. John

At first I was amused by the subtle play on words in the crossword word puzzle I was solving: "idol chatter" was the answer for the clue "godly gossip." But the more I thought about it, the deeper the subtlety penetrated. Here was a useful lesson.

To be honest, all of us probably engage in some type of idol chatter more often than we are aware or than we'd care to admit. For instance, does this kind of talk sound familiar? "I dread the hot weather. It makes my skin break out in a rash," or "I need to be careful about eating spicy foods. They unsettle my stomach," or "I must have slept on the wrong side last night. I can hardly move my neck this morning."

Isn't this kind of talk and thinking actually a form of idolatry, a "bowing down" to belief in a power apart from God? If we are to honor one God, Spirit, whose universal authority and control are law, we would need to acknowledge that His power alone is causative and effective. Any condition that does not emanate from God, good, must be classified as unlike God, or ungodlike. And any so-called cause connected with such a condition is simply without validity.

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