No. Romans 14 is not excusing idolatry, but is correctly dealing with adiaphora in the Church. We need to carefully discriminate between the freedom we have in Christ, and that which is sinful.
Imagery in and of itself is not any more sinful than words; that is, they can be, but they are not sinful by default. What you're getting at is Aniconism, which you can read all about here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniconism_in_Christianity
Any form of idolatry is sin. However, knowing that there is only one God, we can be assured that an idol in itself is nothing, as explained in 1 Corinthians 8. Again, here we can see Paul talking about the freedom and confidence we have in Christ.
Let me give a practical example of how a poor application of Exodus 20:4-5 can easily spin out of control:
A) How many pen strokes are you allowed before an image of Christ becomes a sin?
B) Is an abstract rendition of Christ OK?
C) What if I re-arrange the letters of "JESUS" to look like a figure?
D) If I believe something that has been made looks like Christ, is it sin? (Pareidolia)
With situations like the above, it becomes an arbitrary and artificial line to draw, which is not in the Bible, but is typical of Judaism and Islam, that has no place in the Gospel, for the Gospel is not a matter of "do not handle, do not touch", but is rather a matter of God's grace.
Or:
1. Is a cross OK? Would it not be worship of wood, silver, gold and stone?
2. Is the Ichthys OK? Would it not be worship of a fish?
3. Is the Agnus Dei OK? Would it not be worship of a lamb?
4. Is a crucifix OK? Would it not be re-crucifying Christ? Would it not be worship of a false Christ?
No - not by merit of being a symbol. These means are neither holy nor unholy in and of themselves, for they are only outward means and confessions, whereas we worship the one true God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and one true Lord Jesus Christ. However, if someone were to treat an image as something holy and divine, then it becomes problematic and a form of idolatry. Therefore, Iconography is correctly adiaphora.
It's helpful to properly understand what adiaphora is.
Positively:
- Adiaphora are all things neither commanded nor forbidden in Scripture. They are kept for the purpose of edification, discipline and good order in the church. They have to do with the freedom we have in Christ.
- Genuine adiaphora, or matters of indifference, in and of themselves, are no worship of God, nor any part of it, but must be properly distinguished from such as are, as it's written in Matthew 15:9
- The congregation of God of every place and every time has, according to its circumstances, the good right, power, and authority in matters truly adiaphora to change, to diminish, and to increase them, without thoughtlessness and offense, in an orderly and becoming way, as at any time it may be regarded most profitable, most beneficial, and best for preserving good order, maintaining Christian discipline and for
eujtaxiva worthy of the profession of the Gospel, and the edification of the Church. Moreover, how we can yield and give way with a good conscience to the weak in faith in such external adiaphora, Paul teaches in Romans 14, and proves it by his example in Acts 16:3; Acts 21:26; 1 Corinthians 9:19.
Negatively:
- When under the title and pretext of external adiaphora such things are proposed as are in principle contrary to God's Word, these are not to be regarded as adiaphora.
- When there are useless, foolish displays, that are profitable neither for good order nor Christian discipline, nor evangelical propriety in the Church, these also are not genuine adiaphora, or matters of indifference.
- Adiaphora is not to be forced nor demanded, and so injure or burden our neighbour, as if it was a requirement of our faith. This was taught by the Apostles, by the early church (cf. Easter Controversy), at the Reformation (cf. Augsburg Confession) and still held today. Any adiaphora that cause harm is to be avoided.
Lastly, I think there are other channels of idolatry that are much more common and problematic in our time, such as the love for security and comfort, love for pleasure, love of self in form of pride, love of status and career, love for individualism and disregard for our neighbour, love for personal interpretation and disregard for the church and schism etc, which are all idolatry.
I'm sorry for this lengthy post, but I hope you can appreciate that - even if you hold Christian imagery to be sin - a significant portion of the church disagree, and for good Biblical reasons, and therefore it's good to be patient and not judge one another.
