“But idolatry is not something that belongs only to the ancient past or to pagan cultures. God said,’ You shall have no other gods before me’ (Ex. 20:3 NIV), because he knew we would forever be tempted by other gods, strange gods, and new gods. He knew that ‘the human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked (Jer.17:9 NLT) and prone to worship idols. He knew that-even in the twenty first century and even (or especially) in a world that seems to be shaped increasingly by American culture-we could be led astray ‘with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from evil powers of this world, and not from Christ’ (Col.2:8 NLT). He knew that American idols would be no less dangerous than Canaanite, Philistine, or Babylonian idols. And he knew that as often as we succumbed to these temptations, our lives would be harder, poorer and sadder.”
(Josh McDowell, foreword to American Idols, Bob Hostetler, p.iv)