stepping down from our Christian soapboxes

i used to be one of those Christians who separated themselves from the world so much that i had no relevancy with anyone. this lasted about five years. turns out it is really hard to live a "not of this world" lifestyle and still manage to relate to the people you want to befriend.

i'm sick of seeing Christians who only want to save Christians. i wrote a brief note about this last week when i said "why is it that Jesus came to save sinners and we only look to save the saints?" the truth is that sometimes Christians are disgusting. in fact, we can be, and often are, downright repulsive.

that may be an offensive message to some conservative church-goers, but i believe the church today often does more harm than good. take the westboro baptist church, for example. you have probably heard of them by now. they protest the funerals of soldiers, carry "God hates fags" signs, etc. their behavior only elicits negative reactions. exactly who are they trying to save with these messages?

i'm not anywhere close to grouping myself with them, but i worry that we all misrepresent The Message in the same arrogant disregard. and to be honest, sometimes i consider making up another name for being a believer just so i won't be grouped in with crazy people.

a church my family and i once attended sent a card after my mother died. in the note, they mentioned that they were donating money to their church in honor of my mother. this never made sense to me. is the church too busy trying to save itself that it is taking the element of loving others right out of the equation?  why are we spending time loving ourselves and preaching to the world? and shouldn't it be the other way around?