(Regarding narcissist impostors and the church, respectively)

I’m going to tell you a thing
That you may not like at first,
But which you can surely accept
If you are willing both to look
And to admit what you see.

And after that, I’m going to ask you
Some questions that you may
Wish ever after I had not asked,
For they are troubling beyond
What many will endure.

THE THING

There is on this Earth a steady supply
Of narcissistic impostors whose religion is:

To prophesy though they are not prophets,
To preach though they were not sent,
To teach though they do not understand,
To lead though they have no authority,
To correct even while ignoring correction,
To be obeyed though they do not obey,
To be respected though they are not respectable,
To be loved even as they do not love,
To be forgiven even as they do not forgive,
To be shown mercy even as they do not show it,
To be counted righteous even though they are not,
To be counted victors even though they do not overcome, and
To be counted worthy of Heaven, even though
They are not even worthy of Earth.

And while God is stubborn
And will grant them none of this,
They have learned that they can
Have most all of it anyway at church.

And while that thought may rattle you at first,
I trust you’ll be able to see that it is true,
Even in a few moments of honestly surveying
Your own experience.

THE QUESTIONS

I have, myself, seen and admitted to this fact,
And now I want to go further—
To some unsettling questions that may simply be
Too much for some to bear.

For I think it worth asking how a church
Ever became a haven for such people
And how they came to be in control of it—
And whether God—Who is extensively on record
As utterly loathing such behavior—
Somehow accepts it, as long as
It’s confined to church.

And if it should be concluded
That God does not accept it
Even at church,
Who shall put a stop to it?
The narcissists?

And if not them, how shall we escape
The conclusion that it is
The rank-and-file members of the church
Who are rightly responsible to God
For what goes on there?

And I understand that you, dear friend,
May well wish at this point
That you had not read this,
For it may be that your religion, too,
Is the religion of this world—
Which is to reject such responsibility,
As do also the narcissists who lead it.