Idol Worship - 1 John 4-5

John ends his book on loving God and loving others and avoiding anti-Christ teaching in the following manner:

1 John 5:21

Little children, guard yourselves from idols.

With no salutation or Pauline-like sign off, John simply gives one final warning: Don't get caught worshiping someone or something that is, in the simplest terms, an idol.   We typically think of idols as stone or wooden statues that the ancients bowed before asking for blessings from a rock.   We laugh at the ignorance of the primitives, who, when a meteor struck their town, they would worship the rock like some god fallen from the sky, punished by the other gods.   We laugh at the tribes in the congo who are found in worship of trees and logs they have given faces and hands.  Yet, in our society we see us worship shinny and fast cars, sleek yachts, wood and cement homes, hand-held technology and empty, vain athletes and entertainment gods.   We wait in line for the next gadget, only to find out the new version of it will be out within the next year, making the long awaited toy in our hand obsolete before we learn how to use it.  We worship the way others dress, or what they are wearing.  We worship and chase championship trophies to hoist them over our heads and kiss like the ancients years ago kissed their stones.  What we pursuit we worship.   What we adore we worship.  What we long for we worship.   If we pursue, adore and long for Christ we are in the right place.  If not, heed John's final words in this book:  Little Children, guard yourselves from idols.