“We may observe people worshipping statues, and we accuse them of idolatry. We say that these lumps of wood, clay, or metal are lifeless, and so posses no divine qualities. Indeed we find the idea of worshipping statues so bizarre that we even laugh with contempt at those who do it.
Yet far more dangerous than statues that are visible are the numerous idols which are invisible.
Power is an idol. Some people who posses powerful personalities desire power for themselves, and in this way make it their idol. Others like to be under the sway of a power powerful personality, who makes decisions on their behalf, and in this way releases them from the task of making moral choices for themselves; thus they make the powerful person their idol.
Fame is another invisible idol. Some people with the gift of speech love to bask in the warmth of adulation, and so make the admiration of others their idol. Those others find perverse pleasure in treating the gifted speaker as a god, whose every word must be treated as infallible.
What I am saying is that the most dangerous idols are not outward objects made of wood and clay, but reside inside the human heart”
John Chrysostom, Homilies
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