In 1 Corinthians 10:14 we read, "Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry." The Jehovah's Witnesses argue that the command against idolatry in this verse represents a command not to wear a cross. To wear a cross, they say, is a form of idolatry.
It is certainly true that Christians must avoid idolatry, but wearing a cross is NOT a form of idolatry. Let me point out that the command to avoid idolatry was especially relevant to the Corinthian believers because Corinth was an idolatrous city. Idolatry in Corinth led to such things as sexual immorality, drunkenness, and reveling. Because idolatry and its accompanying vices were so terribly rampant, Paul instructs the Corinthian believers to "flee" (run away from) idolatry.
Wearing a cross is not idolatry because the cross is not worshiped or venerated. Christians wear a cross because they worship and venerate Christ. It is an outward expression of an inner worshipful attitude toward Christ. Only if a Christian bowed down before a cross in worship or venerated it would it become a forbidden object of worship (see Exodus 20:4).
