Returning to the Use of Imagery - Part 1

It is without a doubt the most common thing in our generation to see graphics and imagery being used in church worship services all over the United States. Whether it is pictures accompanying words during the worshipful singing, or there are video clips during the preaching, images are common place now in churches all over America. This is seen as the hot new thing to be doing.

There are some very practical advantages to using such imagery. It enables the words for the songs being sung to have a more pleasant background to look at. Using a projection system with the words also saves on paper as well and it is good to be green. With a generation of media driven people attending church, using images is only natural as a means of keeping their attention and speaking to them on a level they understand.

Nevertheless the use of images during worship is not new. The technology is new, but the idea is ancient. Since the beginning of time man has created images on the cave walls they lived in. The worship of deities from earliest of times was accompanied by the creation of idols and images for the purpose of worship.

The nation of Israel had to be warned not to make images of God for the purpose of worship from the very beginning. (Exodus 20) The pagan worship taking place all around them was filled with idols and images for the purpose of worshiping their deities. The temptation to do likewise did not escape them when they left Egypt, it remained with them for centuries. This temptation and practice of using images actually became a continual struggle for them throughout their history. The use of such images was one of the final issues that broke God's heart and caused Him to remove His presence from the temple. God will not share His glory with idols.

Certainly the use of images in our day and age is not for the same purposes as that of the idolatrous Israelites. Nevertheless, the point is that it is not a new thing. Solomon pointed out in Ecclesiastes that "there is nothing new under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:9) While it is much more expensive to set up such a system in a church facility to project images than to carve an idol from a rock, the use of images is an old idea.