In case you think idolatry is an ancient superstition that isn’t practiced anymore; here’s what it looks like to worship a false god in the modern era.

True idol worship requires incoherence and blind faith. Idol worshipers turn ordinary objects into deities. Things like oceans, stars, plants, animals, and even human hearts are credited with supernatural powers. Idol worshipers praise themselves for loving themselves even when they didn’t know how to love themselves. (Read the poem! I’m not making this up!)

In case you’re tempted to mock Christians for worshiping their Bronze Age sky fairy; here’s fair warning that whatever deity you’re worshiping is much, much, much sillier. I’m singing songs to the giver of life. You’re writing love poems to your bowels.

Your body doesn’t sustain itself. It is the power of God that wakes you up in the morning. It is God’s mercy and grace that keeps your heart beating. Worshiping created things instead of the Creator is an ancient religion. Love letters to your body is no more respectable than falling prostrate in front of a statue or howling at the moon. Idolatry still thrives among people who rebel against the one true God.

(Colossians 3:5) Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.