Splinter

I remember one time when I was young, I was at my grandparents house and was playing outside with my cousins. Somehow I got a splinter. I went inside and my grandfather put me on his lap, pulled out his pocket knife and made me close my eyes. In seconds, (and almost painlessly) he had the splinter out. It was one of the best memories I have of my grandfather. He was tall, strong, had rough hands, but could be very gentle.
What is a splinter? It's what happens when something starts coming apart. It's usually small amounts and it's not considered good.
I've thought a lot lately how the church in America has been splintering. The true "American" is considered individualistic and independent. We pride ourselves in free thinking as well as pioneering. We want to be first, top of the heap, and world leaders. The church has taken on this exact replica. How little do we think of unification of our faith? How little we think of joining together with others that believe in the same God and focus on reaching people together? We have become splintered.
In Hebrews 10:24-25 it talks about we need to sharpen and build each other up. It says that we need to meet together more and more as the end draws near. Are you meeting up with Christians more or less lately? I feel if we don't meet up more, we will splinter even more. This is the goal of the enemy. The more divided we become, the more we splinter and hurt the Kingdom of God.