Society is saturated beyond a capacity to absorb
Another drop of Jesus—
Heard the message preached at them over and over
Until inoculation was complete.
Culture repels the efforts of a half-hearted church…
A church convinced of its own worthiness
Painted white panels against a background
Colored by the unrighteousness of the common populace
While blind to the deadness inside the beautiful buildings on
Perfectly manicured properties with trite sayings on signs.
Churches swipe chunks of neighborhood for
Bigger, better displays of perfection
While the hungry community curses the cliques,
Wonders why all the resources don’t
Feed them… emotionally… physically…
Or clothe their naked misery…
Or pay their hopelessly unpaid creditors…
As they wait for eviction on top
Of rejection by the oh-so-holier-than-thou
Who whisper, “Come be like us,”
While they turn up their smug noses and
Throw their guilty stones.
Such behavior makes the realist’s blood boil,
But the humble man isn’t in or out—
Doesn’t fit inside the immaculate,
Makes the unclean uncomfortable in a wistful sort of way.
He is reluctant to reject either “holy” or “profane,”
Finds truth in both realms, friends in both cultures…
Like Jesus who ate with
Simon the Pharisee and Zaccheus the tax-collector,
Who listened equally to
Nicodemus the council ruler and Bartimæus the blind beggar.
Structures, after all, are only artificial human constructs—
Some effort by humanity to box in the incomprehensible.
It’s true of buildings, communities, governments… even “cultures.”
Society may be over-absorbed, Church may be over-arrogant,
But humble men walk among us still…
Like the risen Christ passing through walls
To speak truth to doubting Thomas,
Like Christ speaking mercy to Peter through the “impossible”
As He filled his nets with fish again.
Humble men speak honestly without prejudice and
Society, inoculated against pompous judgments, listens
While the church marches blindly on…
Mostly…
A few wake up even inside the white-washed walls,
Try to take bricks out of barriers,
Learn humility so they, too, can walk through walls to those who need
Someone to relate to rather than someone pointing a finger.
Humble men change society gently from within instead of
Chiseling away from the outside.