This question is a subdivision of the previous but is also a further explanation of the first part of Question 9. The First Commandment (which reads, “You shall have no other gods before me”) is, at its core, God denouncing idolatry, condemning it as sin. He will not have us trusting in created things rather than the Creator for our hope and happiness, significance and security, for that means treating what God has made as if it were God. Indeed, idolatry is the exchange of the Creator for a part of His creation, as Paul wrote to the Romans:

Of course, throughout history, people have continuously worshiped other gods, which Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8:4 have “no real existence.” Their idols are fabricated deities. Isaiah 44:12-20 is a tragically comical mockery of this reality and is too good not to read in its entirety:

The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”

They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

Yet while false gods are ultimately nothing, we should take care to note that they are not always purely of the worshiper’s imagination. In chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians, Paul states, “No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons” (v. 20). A very real supernatural power may lie behind many so-called gods, but that power is demonic. Even still, these demons who masquerade as deities are rightfully called false gods because they are not divine. “There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things” even demons. To call anyone or anything, that is not God, a god is a lie.

This highlights a deeply tragic element of idolatry. To have another god is to believe in what is not reality. It’s the formation of a more elaborate imaginary friend, minus the element of friendship. Consider the desperation of the prophets of Baal who cut themselves in order to get the attention of a statue that they themselves made. Or think of the parents who set fire to their toddler so that Moloch would be pleased with them.

But this was not simply the tragedy of those “ignorant” ancients. Look at the devastation caused by a parent who has made their child the object of their worship. To idolize anyone means placing the weight of godhood upon their shoulders, which will crush them and breed the hatred of unmet expectations in you.

Or think of the shallow and fleeting endorphin rush of getting more stuff or of swiping down to the next Facebook or Instagram post. You see some new thing and soon become lost in the vision of what life could be if only you had it. You grab the phone or turn on the TV like a comfort blanket to avoid the dread of boredom and the thoughts that it may bring. A short high is much better than grappling with contentment or being with yourself. They are gods that offer instant reward and an easy path because they know how hard life can be.

Of course, the ultimate false god is self. The pagan deities of the ancient world demanded no love from their adherents, and they had none for them either. Religions were almost entirely a matter of quid pro quo. People gave the gods food via sacrifices, and in return the gods used their mystical powers to answer the people’s prayers. In the same way, our objects of worship today still revolve around the idea of what they can offer us in return for our devotion. All idolatry is a form of attempting to placate our own desires. Even ascetic forms of idolatry revolve around the endeavor to be rid of guilt. Self-indulgence or self-flagellation both orbit around the self. They all revolve around you. Stop me if you’ve heard this one. You be you. Just be yourself. Be true to yourself.

Your problem, my problem, every person’s problem, is not that you don’t love yourself enough; it’s that you love yourself too much. Deep down, we all know that we are not worthy of unconditional love, even from ourselves. We know that we are not worthy of worship, so the battle for self-affirmation and self-esteem always results in cognitive dissonance. We feel in our gut that we are not great, yet many stand in front of a mirror chanting the same mantra again and again until belief finally sets in.

Or as I said, maybe it’s self-abuse instead. The lie of idolatry, of sin itself, is that you can choose your own adventure, that you can do whatever you want. Yet the road to destruction is so broad that many fail to see that it really is only one path with one single destination. It is easy and wide enough for everyone to travel exactly as they wish. As all roads lead to Rome, so all religions (or even non-religions) lead to God, or the Life-Force, or whatever you want to call him or her or it.

If sin is lawlessness, we don’t need the other nine commandments to know that we are sinners. This one is entirely sufficient. After all, have you truly loved God with all your heart, soul, and might today? I think not. And what about yesterday? And the day before? How about last month? Last year? You’ve set your heart, at least partially, on other things. So have I.

Idolaters, every one of us.

And this refusal to love God entirely is not a small sin to be overlooked. This is the great sin, the sin from which all others flow. Idolatry is the giving of our love to lesser things in place of the one true and living God. It rejects the loving relationship with our Creator in favor of slavery to our own passions and desires.

Thankfully, the true and living God has not left to us our idolatrous ways. He has sent a Redeemer to bring us back to Himself, which the catechism will soon present to us.