Soap Box

"Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself,
how will his kingdom stand?"


How so relevant this passage is 2000 years later. There is so much division in our world today. The two most obvious examples I can think of:
Our country.
Our Church.

This being an election year, the divisions in our country are even more visible. It really is sad how dichotomous politicians must be. They are forced to take an extreme position on certain issues in order to align with a specific party, instead of thinking about each issue individually and how to best benefit the most people.

And our Church? How can we expect to bring people to a body that is broken? When we bad-mouth each other, how are we supposed to look appealing and attractive to others? They seek truth, and see hypocrisy. We are not loving each other because we are too concerned with extremes - liberal, and conservative. Just like the politicians.

I have seen both ends of the spectrum. The conservative Catholics are very head-focused: know the doctrine, read a lot, understand God on an intellectual level.

The liberal Catholics are very heart-focused: God is love, He accepts everyone as they are and it doesn't matter if they sin, they'll still go to Heaven.

I feel that, individually, they are incomplete depictions of what Jesus intended. We need to be mindful of doctrine, as it was established for a reason. However, God IS love, and we are called to love one another. It makes me sad to see animosity existing between the two camps, because slowly, people are becoming more and more distant from each other, and the Church is losing its identity.

Both sides are for God. The way they go about it is different, and they are both convinced they are right. But until we embrace a balance of head and heart, the Church will continue to be a divided body.