the church of stretch armstrong

I'm going to be very honest here. I really can't understand most people who are adamantly conservative. And I really can't understand most peple who are unabashedly liberal. Not only of the political persuasion, but of the Christian one as well. Christians have polarized themselves into subcultures and subgroups and political parties and almost everything else imaginable, and in turn have themselves divided the body of Christ more than any curse-word-screaming rapper, Supreme Court member or President of our country ever could.

We divide ourselves over petty issues. We pull our own sections of the body of Christ until we are like one big Strech Armstrong doll. Should the table with the words "In Remembrance Of Me" be at the altar in front of the preacher's podium every Sunday? I can here a parishoner now..."If it isn't, I may just go to the Methodist/Presbyterian/Baptist/Episcopal/insert denomination here church across the street that does keep it there every Sunday. And it doesn't matter if the children are doing a play in front and need the space this Sunday, they can like it or f*@# it." That's the way issues tend to be tackled in a lot of churces today, and it infuriates me. Especially because we are Christians.

Want some more? I know a good number of Christians that think that just because this or that person does/doesn't support something they believe in as strongly as themselves, that there is something severely wrong with them, maybe even that their faith may be faltering. So just because I might not be pro-life with the same staunch conservatism that you exhibit, you think my faith is faltering? Something has gone drastically wrong with the Church today.

I think life is about challenges and growth. Life, the way Christ intended it, is also about relationships. It's about learning all that we can about how to be Christ and to share that with others, through mostly tough experiences. It is certainly not about picketing in front of abortion clinics to prove the point that abortion is wrong or authoring a constitutional amendment banning homosexual marriage to make that point that God says homosexuality is a sin. Those people have it all wrong. The lessons of life come from way more serious and way more difficult things to do than that. Why? Because God didn't put us on this earth to figure out by age 25, 43 or even 87 all that we needed to know and then go tell others with staunch conviction as if we were He himself. I hope God keeps teaching me the humbleness that accompanies such an outlook on life, because of anyone I probably exhibit it the least.