Rescue Stations

I saw an entry in Dry Bones Dance today which reminded me of a parable I love.

There was once a treacherous stretch of shore which caused deadly shipwrecks on a regular basis. People drowned almost every day.. Then one day, a group of people decided to build a rescue station on the shore, from which they could go out and save shipwrecked people. The station was small and primitive, but as more and more people were saved from the water, more and more people made contributions to it for the benefit of others. Bedrooms and hospital facilities were added. Comforts were added one by one, such as fine dining and rec centers. Soon, people became more concerned with the station than with rescuing the shipwrecked people. The rescue station became a sort of country club for a very exclusive clientele.
A few people in the group were outraged at the change. They demanded a return to their original mission - people were drowning once more. These few were not heeded, so they went and made a new rescue station next door.
Unfortunately, within a few years the process repeated itself. And repeated itself again. Until now, the beach is famous for its stretch of exclusive country clubs, just in sight of the rocks where people drown almost every day. And no one is left to do anything about it.

Sometimes I feel like the modern Church spends a lot of time worrying about minutia, or disproportionately worrying about certain sins. How many of us beg God to have mercy, dance joyfully in His grace, or lavish His love upon the world He made, upon the people He redeemed with His Son? How many of us act to seek and save the lost, rather than search and destroy?
Love should be the chief hallmark of the Christian. We should in humility consider others better than ourselves. If we are not self-seeking, if we keep no record of wrongs, if we always hope, always trust, and persevere in these traits, we should have no cause for bitter battles with our brethren. Doctrinal issues become a mere question of theory, when the real question is how we can help heal a fallen world.
I'd almost be happier if I saw the church bitterly arguing about which way to help the poor, to feed the hungry, to succor those in misery. Or how to draw all peoples to God. Arguments about which political party to support or how badly we should hate a particular sin seem like a waste of time, and I'm tired of it. It seems like a great many other people are tired, too. I wonder if we're due for an Awakening soon? Only unlike the previous Awakenings, one more interested in the summons of heaven than escape from hell.