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Baruch 6:59 "So it is better to be a king who shows his courage, or a household utensil that serves its owner's need, than to be these false gods...."

 

I would argue there are certainly a few rungs in the ladder between being a king and being a household utensil, but I get Baruch's point. He starts by warning against false gods that are "made of wood and overlaid with silver and gold" and are "not able to save themselves from thieves and robbers" (Baruch 6:57). Then he transitions from warning us against thinking of these idols as false gods, to warning us against acting like them. He tells us it is better to be a courageous king or useful utensil than to be a false god.

 

Other than extreme cases of narcissism or ego, I don't tend to recognize self-idolatry easily. There are so many false gods all around us, I see them as dangers, but not necessarily how we can be idols to ourselves. When I think about how we often present ourselves as someone different from who we really are, though, Baruch's warning hits home. Self-idolatry can present itself as narcissism, of course, but, more subtly, it can be the ways we deny our purpose and our individuality in order to conform, or to elevate ourselves in the world's eyes, at the expense of what we are actually called to be.

 

One glaring example of the danger of falling into self-idolatry is the way social media leads us to present or conduct ourselves. In photos, we never show our flaws (at least not intentionally), we are even provided tools to "airbrush" them away. In speech, we often create a persona that takes on a life of its own. We can end up making false identities that we feel obligated to defend, rather than admit that we've been lying to ourselves and the world. It creates so much pressure, especially for the youth who are still trying to find their purpose! We end up sacrificing our peace, and sometimes a lot more, to keep up a false facade.

 

To avoid sacrificing yourself to a false version of yourself, Baruch says be true to who you know God wants you to be in whatever position you find yourself. You may be a king, if so, be a good, courageous one. You may occupy a much lower place in the world's power structure, as almost all of us do. Even there, be the best you can be, not denying that you are God's utensil, nor telling yourself you are more than a utensil, but being the best utensil you can be, taking joy and satisfaction in where God has placed you and what He is asking of you. That is the path to true peace. It recognizes that God alone has the best possible plan, and when we cooperate in it to the best of our ability, we are fulfilling our true purpose.