Jack Pelham

Evangelism has become the idol
Of much of the modern “church”
As they shove Jesus out the door
To make more room for new members.

Surely, the empty box still lies around here somewhere,
Wherever it was that it fell on that great day that
He tore it open and snatched from it that
Brand new mind he had been given—
And that he has used voraciously
Ever since—even while wishing
He had either another, or
More time for this one.

Still in the box and
Right where he set it on
The day God gave it to him
Lies a mind with which he could
Do many things if only he were willing

To be sure, God will deal with the wicked human.
He will most certainly pay the full price
For every one of his sins against humanity.

But this doesn’t help the living, does it?

Watch him when he discovers
That he could do better
And you will learn a great deal
About what kind of man he is.

The unimpressive thing about us
Is how we pick and choose
What to be excellent about—
Even in the things we think
Are generally worth the doing—
As if there were in play
A predetermined conclusion
That it is more virtuous to leave
Order and beauty unfinished.

The thing most hated about Jesus was surely that
He told people the truth about their sin and error.

And to this day, that heavenly act of kindness
Still divides people into their true colors.

Funny—
How some people look funny
But it wouldn’t be funny
If you looked like them, too.

There’s a popular Facebook manipulation that goes something like this:

“You people who are upset about this thing should be upset about that thing instead.”

Jesus is so much more than we ever discover in this life—
Where we would be the exception to get even the half of it right.