Idolatry in the 21st Century

"Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever." (1 John 2:15-17).
It is easy for my to read these verses and agree with John's point. Do not get caught up in the passing pleasures of this world. Yet living out this doctrine is much more difficult. I think the reason obeying this command is so difficult is because we have an earthly focus. Our minds are saturated by this world and all it contains. We are obsessed with the material and not obsessed with our Father in heaven. The accusation of Paul in Romans stands true for us, we serve the creature rather than the Creator.
While we worship God on Sunday, or even a few minutes every day, we still work hard to accomplish temporary goals. I suppose that I take John's admonition in these verses to relate specifically to the sin of materialism, or as I see it white-collar idolatry. Idolatry in the Bible occurred when God's people ignored God and worshiped statues representing demonic entities. Idolatry in the 21st century occurs when Christians ignore God's will, choosing to fuss and fret to obtain that which will shortly be destroyed.
In the Bible, the Jews worked to gain, grow or raise things that they could offer to the idol in order to cajole it into working for them. In some cases they even sacrificed their own children to the idols in what would be considered by our modern society "gross child abuse." However, our "civilized" culture commits this same kind of sin when fathers and mothers place their children into day-cares in order to spend as much time and energy as possible working in order to gain newer and nicer things; meanwhile rationalizing their obsession with work and 'things' by declaring that all this is for the benefit of their children. Rather than tossing our children into the arms of Molech, we toss our children into the arms of Materialism... both idols and both controlled by the same demonic entity. The result of the former action was a dead and lifeless body, the result of the latter action is dead relationships, broken souls, and children crying for love, affection, and attention by acting out internal rage against others in the form of bullying, rape, murder, or milder deviant behavior.
Why do we sacrifice our children to the idol of Materialism when the Bible clearly declares that, though we must work to eat, our Father will provide all our needs? Jesus said, "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for you body as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?" (Matthew 6:25-26). Paul adds to this doctrine, "And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19). The answer to the question above is that we want more than just our needs fulfilled, we want our materialistic desires fulfilled also. The high percentage of debt ridden people in our nation, including Christians, is a testimony to this attitude of instant gratification held by our generation. You can call it Christian hedonism or idolatry, the result is the same.
The Bible also clearly teaches that it is the responsibility of the parents to raise the children and train them in the ways of the Lord. Paul conveys this doctrine in Ephesians 6:4, "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." The implication of this verse is that fathers spend time with their children. It is the responsibility of the fathers to provide spiritual, moral, and emotional guidance to their children, especially their sons who will then become fathers with the same responsibility. When Daddy is too busy at the office and too tired at home to interact with his offspring, the children will search anywhere for the lacking love, affection, and spiritual guidance that Daddy refuses to provide. This may explain why so many Christian teenagers of Christian parents are actively or passively rebelling against sound spiritual leadership. They are looking for guidance and acceptance away from their parents traditional religion. If traditional Christianity does not teach fathers to be involved in the lives of their children, why should the children be overjoyed to join in with that religion? If another religion comes along promising involvement, affection, and guidance, why should the children not follow the false doctrines that temporarily provide them with the very things that their father should have been giving them?
When Jesus promised that God will take care of us in his discourse in Matthew, I believe that He was speaking specifically about the idolatry of materialism. In the verse immediately preceding that passage, Jesus makes this statement, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." (Matthew 6:24).