People are Our Favorite Idol

Ed Welch, in his book When People Are Big and God Is Small, says that people "fear man" in two ways (at least so far). We fear that people will expose us (shame-fear), but also that people will reject us (rejection-fear). What do those two fears have in common? He says that they are both forms of idolatry (p. 44-45):

To use a biblical image, they both indicate that people are our favorite idol. We exalt them and their perceived power above God. We worship them as one who have God-like exposing gaze (shame-fear) or God-like ability to "fill" us with esteem, love, admiration, acceptance, respect and other psychological desires (rejection-fear).

When we think of idols, we usually think first of Baal and other material, man-made creations. Next we might think of money. We rarely picture our spouse, our children, or a friend from school. But people are out idols of choice. They pre-date Baal, money, and power. Like all idols, people are created things, not the Creator (Rom. 1:25), and they do not deserve our worship. They are worshiped because we perceive that they have the power to give us something. We think they can bless us.

He continues (p. 46):

What is the result of this people-idolatry? As in all idolatry, the idol we choose to worship soon owns us. The object we fear overcomes us. Although insignificant in itself, the idol becomes huge and rules us. It tells us how to think, what to feel, and how to act. It tells us what to wear, it tells us to laugh at the dirty joke, and it tells us to be frightened to death that we might have to get up in front of a group and say something. The whole strategy backfires. We never expect that using people to meet our desires leaves us enslaved to them.