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Using People and Loving Things

I've been told that my young children will one day become useful to me. Cleaning rooms, washing dishes, taking care of their laundry...all these will become things they do all the time. It almost makes me want to have 3 or 4 more when I think about it. If they were organized properly, my castle could be a well-oiled, smooth-running machine. Imagine what I could accomplish once all of the mundane things are taken care of by my miniature army of pasty-white children.

Perhaps this is silly, but I sometimes think the same way with our church. I imagine what would be possible if we had more people taking care of daily tasks and even others to help dream forward. What would be possible? This isn't all bad as growth is a great thing to strive forward towards, but I wonder if I sometimes cross a line that Paul warned about.

"You can be sure that using people or religion or things just for what you can get out of them—the usual variations on idolatry—will get you nowhere, and certainly nowhere near the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of God." Ephesians 5:5

On the surface, I know I want good things for God's glory. I just need to check that inner self from time to time...or everyday.
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