Church Politics

It is said that money and sex are the two leading causes of divorce. I would venture that they are the driving impulses for more than marital discord. The cynic in me would even go so far as to say that sex and money, not love, are what makes the world go round. That aside, examples of the divisive nature of money and sex are to be found anywhere. In my own life, money is making itself most prevalent at Church. Yay.

Church Politics are a delicate thing. Mostly because they aren't supposed to be there. We're supposed to work together, buttress our sisters and brothers, and work for the good of all. But we're still us and history is riddled with the sad trippings-up of Church. All of Paul's letters were written to struggling Churches, the Nicene creed was written to straighten out a few grievous misunderstandings, the division of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches lies in the politics surrounding the papacy, the Reformation was a wonderful mix of Church politics and state politics, America - fled to because of good ol' Church politics. And, just now, my Church is steeped in politics and divided due to a lack of money (maybe better than an abundance of sex? Maybe not, maybe everyone would be less uptight then...). I understand human nature, the need to survive, protect, and flock but this divided camps thing is getting old. Petty backbiting and gossip are beneath us and particularly disheartening from the perspective of one who sits between the camps, unable and unwilling to take sides. Maybe this goes back to my last post but I kind of wonder when we, as the human race, are going to grow up.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go have chocolate cake for breakfast because that's the grown up thing to do.