Kissing and Worship

A recent comment:

Yes, Darren, it's true Jeremiah 10 is referring to forming idols...so a fragrant evergreen decoration is no sin. But how do you justify all those idols that Catholics put everywhere? In their gardens, on their walls, their jewelry, statues of Mary and saints and crucifices galore? If they aren't objects of worship, why do they KISS them? Stop worshipping objects of wood and stone. Turn your worship upward to your Holy Father. (And I don't mean the Pope!)

Just like trees, paintings, cars, or people, statues are not "idols" unless they are worshiped.

I've been to many Masses, and "kissing" is not a common occurrence, except when the priest kisses the Holy Bible and the altar.

Even so, a kiss is not worship. A priest does not worship the Bible when he kisses it. Judas was not worshiping Jesus when he kissed Him. Members of the early Church did not worship Christians when they greeted each other with a "holy kiss."

I don't worship my wife when I kiss her. In-love teenage girls did not worship stationery when their handwritten letters were SWAK (Sealed With A Kiss). An old-fashioned gentleman doesn't worship a woman when he kisses her hand.

A kiss is a sign of reverence, respect, love -- but certainly not an unmistakable gesture of worship that is reserved for God alone!

Ask any Catholic if he or she worships an object of wood or stone, and the answer will be "Of course not!" Do you think the Catholic is mistaken?

What does it mean to "worship," anyway? Can a person accidentally worship something against his will? If he can "worship" something mistakenly or unknowingly by a mere external action (kissing a crucifix, decorating a Christmas tree, etc.), does that kind of "worship" have any meaning? It would be empty, which is hardly a trait of worship.

Real worship is adoration that arises from the heart and expressed in actions. It is paying homage to our Creator, recognizing God's supremacy in the universe and beyond. It is recognizing who and what He is, and submitting our will to His in love.

Viewing artwork as a reminder of God and of heroes of the Faith -- like an overseas military man looking at a photo of his wife or children -- does not constitute "worship." They are visual representations, reminders, of something else. The man who kisses the photo of his wife is not worshiping Kodak paper. Neither is he necessarily worshiping his wife.

Worship, by definition, cannot be mere lip service.

A reasonable person will therefore understand that Catholics do not worship objects of wood and stone.

Statues and Icons (That Catholic Show #5)

Idol Words: "Catholics Worship Statues!" (Part 1 of 3)

Instead of feeling inspired or lifted up, some anti-Catholic religious folks get a case of the "oogies" when they encounter religious icons and statues, believing them to be idols.

Having been raised in an anti-Catholic home, I recall as a young person seeing a portion of midnight Mass on television once, live from the Vatican. Seeing all those "graven images" was almost frightening, because I felt I was witnessing real-life, modern-day paganism -- the very practices God had hated and condemned for thousands of years since the beginning of human history. I thought I was peering into the sanctuary of Satan.

What I didn't understand, however -- but now do -- was that the commandment against making "graven images" is in the context of worshiping false gods. It is an extension of "You shall have no other gods before me."

Here it is in Exodus 20:2-5 (NKJV):

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

You shall have no other gods before Me.

You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.

If you read this in a narrow, literalistic way, you might conclude that anything carved to look like something else violates the commandment. This would include anything from the decorative owl carvings I own to the national memorial at Mount Rushmore.


But when the commandment speaks of a "carved image," it is synonymous with an "idol" (the word used in the NIV). An idol is, or represents, a false god -- something that is worshiped in the place of the true God. That's why even Protestant churches teach that anything that comes between you and God (money, sex, fame, power, possessions, etc.) is your "idol."

Carved images were never strictly condemned in Scripture, not even in religious settings. Quite the opposite -- God commanded them to be used by the nation of Israel.