Q4. Keep Yourself from Idols

[haar]

Q4. (1 John 5:21)

Q. Why does John exhort his "children" to "keep yourselves from idols"?

A. John needed to warn the church against the sin of idolatry because they would be substituting God  with such idols, a sin similar to that being committed by the false teachers

Q. What idols distract us from the true God? What idols compete with God for attention in your life?
 

A. TV, media, money, our jobs or family etc

 

[Reuben]

Q4. (1 John 5:21) Why does John exhort his "children" to "keep yourselves from idols"? What idols distract us from the true God? What idols compete with God for attention in your life?

John refers to the Christians as little children, and as new growing children do, they are easily distracted. We as adults, can stay on task much better , but we also fall victim to distractions. This is the same in our Christian lives. We are distracted from giving God the quality time he deserves to get from us. Worldly influences are plenty, from family, to work, to other interests, like sport etc.

Anything that we deem more important that God the Father, would be an idol and should NOT rule our lives.

[Krissi]

If an idol is anything that we do or think that replaces or takes precedence over God, then we're all idolators. I worship the true God, but I also have sin in my heart and mind that makes me forget His preeminence in my life, at times. I put my own needs or desires over Him at those times. Is this idolatry?
Or, is idolatry the explicit substitution of one god for another, in our case, accepting astrology as well as Christianity, or yoga ideas over Christian ones.

[Rob Mc.]

(1 John 5:21) Why does John exhort his "children" to "keep yourselves from idols"?

Remember,  “…small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”  (Mat 7:14).  If we allow ourselves to stray, we will only be able to use the wide gate, “which leads to destruction.” (Mat 7:13)  Moving away from God towards other idols will cause this to happen, and then it may be too late to get back.

What idols distract us from the true God? What idols compete with God for attention in your life? 

Worldly activities and famous personalities.  Movies, music, the pursuit of money, greediness, television, the internet, computer games and especially social media and the significant amount of time spent there.  Just about anything that distracts us and keeps our focus away from God is a diversion and a false idol.