The Irrationality of Idolatry

They … exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles … They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. [Rom. 1:23,25]

Imagine it: A man buys a costly block of wood, brings it back to his workshop, and then uses all his artistic skills to carve that block of wood into the likeness of an animal or person. He sands, polishes, and varnishes it, and when he is done he cleans his tools, returns them to their places, and sweeps the wood shavings from the floor.
He then takes his carving to a religious leader for consecration, returns home, sets the statue in a prominent place, spreads a mat, and bows before it in prayer. There he implores the very wood he has carved with his own hands to help him through difficulties and bring him safely into the afterlife.
Can you imagine anything more irrational than for a man to worship the product of his own hands? That’s what idolatry is. It substitutes the corrupt things of this world for the majesty of God. The glory of God is traded in for the “glory” of a snake, or of a crocodile, or of a block of wood.
What would we think of a woman who, after receiving a new mink coat as a gift, stuffed it into a garbage can and pulled soiled rags from the can to wear instead?
Of course we would be appalled. Onlookers might whisper, “What’s wrong with this nut? Doesn’t she have any taste, any idea of glory?” Yet, in many respects, that is how irreverently humankind has treated God’s glory.
But the analogy is a poor one, for the difference between the glory of God and the glory of the crocodile is an infinite gulf.
There is no comparison. God alone deserves worship. He will not share his glory with another.
Sproul, R.C., Before the Face of God: A Daily Guide for Living from the Book of Romans, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books) 1992.