For Augustine, the religious dimension of human existence is basic. Man as the image of God is fundamentally a religious being. The very constitution of man as a religious being necessitates that he either must refer himself to his true reference-point and origin of meaning, or he must exchange the truth for a lie and worship a false god generated from his own darkened imagination. Accordingly, his every activity remains essentially covenantal in character as a response to the divine calling, to the covenantal revelation presented to him in every fact of his situation. He chooses whom he will serve, but he must, as a law of his created being, religiously serve something deemed by him to be his highest good and ultimate concern.
All false religion is at bottom egoistic.
We speak of the Kingdom of God as man's highest good and the chief end of man being to glorify God and enjoy him forever . For example, if he absolutizes the material, he conceives of himself in these terms, projecting a false self-image of materialistic man with wholly material needs, as in Marxism. At any rate, fallen man in his fallen piety serves his gods solely for what they can do for him, for his being and well-being. This religious love is an idolatrous commitment that is egocentric and egoistic. This self-love lays claim to the earth as solely and exclusively man's, as material with which he can do as he wills, according to his autonomous project.