Pictures of Jesus Can Cause Spiritual Harm (Part 4)

The fourth argument against pictures of Jesus is that there is an inclination after seeing any image of Jesus to associate them with God during worship, prayer, and reading scripture in our personal devotion time. This is an inclination in our visually oriented culture and in the fact that we are all sinners have tendencies toward idolatry. The obvious problem is that if we associate a mental image of Jesus with God we are in direct violation of the second commandment. In my own personal experience this has been a problem, so for myself I know pictures of Jesus are wrong because I tend toward idolatry when I pray to God after seeing them. There are many others who I have met who have also struggled with this same issue. Even if someone does not struggle with this issue personally, this argument by itself is still sufficient in showing that a person ought not to make, have, and endorse pictures of Jesus. After all if you make or have a picture there is a good chance a visually oriented person will see it and thus struggle with associating that picture of Jesus with the invisible God. If someone endorses a picture of Jesus then he or she is giving positive acknowledgment to an object that might cause many people to stumble. Because images of Jesus lead people to breaking the second commandment we ought not to make, have, or endorse them.