Jesus taught that the greatest of all commandments is to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37). God has every right to our love because He created us for his pleasure. Then, when man fell into sin, God did what only perfect love would do; He purchased our salvation. God’s enemy, Satan, constantly tries to lure us away from Him and cause us to love and worship something else. One of the tools he uses today is photography.
From Old Testament times, God has prohibited making images of any kind that would displace love for Him in the human heart. Consider the Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or 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: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:4-5). The purpose of this commandment was that He, and nothing else, would have the first place in our heart. Although this commandment was given in the Old Testament era, we find direction in it for us today. The words “unto thee” in the command, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,” tell us that we should not use photography in any way that promotes self. It may at times be necessary to use a photograph for illustration purposes, but we should never use photography for purposes of vanity or pride.
Idolatry was not merely an Old Testament phenomenon. Although by New Testament times Israel had largely renounced heathen idolatry, the Apostle John was moved by the Spirit of God to warn, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).
Pictures can be modern-day idols, and many times reflect the pride of one’s heart. Without saying it in so many words, they tend to proclaim, “Look at me, admire my children, notice where I have been, see what I have done.” This amounts to worshipping and serving the creature more than the Creator (Romans 1:25). Instead of focusing on God alone, we allow self and pride to share the throne of our heart. Pride, the Bible tells us, is an abomination to God. “Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 16:5).
The Christian’s eye is set on heaven. That is where he wants to go at all costs. The Old Testament saints “confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13). In New Testament times Peter exhorts us, “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11).
Our fleshly tendency is to want to hold to and love the things of the earth. Photography tends to attach us to the world. Instead of simply enjoying the sights, beauties, and experiences life offers us and then moving on to that which God has in store in the future, we want to record and display past events. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:15-16).
The early church fathers left a record of their belief about image making. “Ages before, Moses expressly commanded that neither carved nor molten nor painted likeness should be made. This was so that we would not cling to things of sense, but pass to spiritual objects. For familiarity with the sense of sight disparages the reverence of what is divine” (Clement of Alexandria, circa AD 195).
An early Christian writer, Origen (writing about the year AD 298), stated, “...image making is an art that attracts the attention of foolish man. It drags the eyes of the soul down from God to earth. Accordingly, there was among them [the nation of Israel] a law to the following effect: do not transgress the Law and make of yourself a carved image, or any likeness of male or female.”
Certainly not all uses of photographs are motivated by pride. Legal documents such as licenses and passports require photos. At other times, photographs are business tools used for verification or documentation. Certain business situations use photos to transmit information and instructions that would otherwise be very difficult to convey. None of these are born of the sentimental, self-glorifying spirit that makes sensual and recreational photography displeasing to God.
We are very careful not to eat food that has been contaminated because we are concerned about the well-being of our bodies. Some drugs that have detrimental side effects are avoided, although they may have some beneficial qualities. So it is with many conveniences and devices the world has to offer. As followers of Christ, we need to discern whether what is being offered will help our Christian life, or if it has a greater potential of hindering and ultimately leading us into sin.