Playing Games with Souls

Both sides do it. Not everyone does, but more than enough.

 “It?” 

That reflex where our side celebrates and the other side melts down.

How crazy is it that some Democrats had a meltdown when President Donald Trump went in and removed one of the world’s most dangerous figures in the drug world? And how wild was it when President Barack Obama ordered the operation that killed Osama bin Laden—and while most Republicans praised it, some still found ways to criticize how it was handled or used politically.*

It’s part of a bigger pattern:

When your party takes bold action → it’s “strong leadership.”
When the other party does → it’s “reckless,” “dangerous,” or “political.”

It’s not universal—there are always exceptions—but it’s common enough that it feels predictable.

And honestly? It feels like people are playing games with lives. Frankly, that sickens me. It hasn’t made the country I live in better.

But that emotion pales when it comes to the feeling I get when I see it in the church.

An elder and a preacher clash and the clash leads to not working together or worse, working at odd with each other. Two preachers in an area can’t get along and the result is a rift between the two congregations they serve. 

“Worse?” Yes, it feels like playing games over souls! 

While they jockey and jostle for position, power, or just to win, the church stalls.
It stops thinking about souls.
It pushes away the very people who most need to be drawn in.

I know it’s not easy to move past hurt.
I know it’s hard to see beyond an issue you feel deeply about.
And I know how tempting it is to gather a following and dig in.

But we must, must, must not use souls as pawns in our personal conflicts.

Preacher friend, I love you… but move forward.

It might just be the very thing that keeps you from quitting.

*If that paragraph stirred something strong in you, don’t get stuck there. Don’t miss the point.