I wrote here a while ago about the danger of using the phrase "good value" in relation to people, because it treats them in an impersonal way.

I was tickled to read Don Miller's take on the same theme in Blue Like Jazz recently. Don was looking at some of the metaphors we use for relationships: valuing people, investing in people, bankrupt relationships and suddenly realised that these were all economic metaphors.

He wrote: "That's when it hit me like so much epiphany... The problem with Christian culture is we think of love as a commodity. We use it like money.... I used love like money. The church used love like money. With love, we witheld affirmation from the people who did not agree with us, but we lavishly financed the ones who did.

"I used love like money, but love doesn't work like money. It's not a commodity. When we barter with it, we all lose. When the church does not love its enemies, it fuels their rage. It makes them hate us more."