You can make anything into an idol

To the editor:

This is in response to Deborah J. Bennett's Dec. 6 letter, "Christmas tree is the wrong focus."

I agree that the Christmas tree was originally worshipped as an idol by pagans and later Christianized by, I think, Martin Luther. I also agree that Jesus is the reason for the season.

What I don't agree with is that Bennett seems to think it's wrong to have a Christmas tree and decorate it. I don't think it's wrong.

Anything can be an idol: your home, your car, your job, your paycheck, even your place of worship. As Christians, we must not be like the Pharisees and scribes: "Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel" (Matthew 23:24).

JEFF LILEY, Advance, Mo.