Idolising your new Temple

I know it’s been a long time since I’ve posted, but between a month on teaching practice and exams, blogging hasn’t squeezed into my timetable. But, now I’m on university holidays...

Over the last few months my church has moved into a brand new building and its... nice.

Frankly, it’s your fairly generic new church.

But, it is brand new.

And, if you’ve been a part of the entire building process, then you’re super excited.

But, I wonder, when does the line from thankfulness to idolatry get crossed.

Gladly, the swooning over the new building has started to die down, but what would happen if my church was still swooning over the new building after three months?
What if it was mentioned at the still at the start of every service?
What if it was still a part of every prayer?

Whenever a big new initiative happens within a church there’s always a danger of idolatry.

We can make the same mistake as those in the Old Testament did with the temple. 

We can elevate the gift over the giver.

I wonder how many church leaders are aware of the danger and how many, by thanking God so profusely and repeatedly, are an instrumenti for idolatry to grow.