I waited at the threshold where I was told He would come.
I was desperate. I fled my abusers. Questions abounded. Confusion surrounded.
I thirst.
I was told He would meet me at the threshold of the church -the Horeb of God.
I stood still and helpless.
Then I heard a loud noise —
Clanging drums and cacophonic music conflated with loud Hallelujahs.
Clapping hands, thumping jumps.
Swaying as though a wind engulfed them,
each dropped nearly dead on the ground.
Everyone said, they experienced the Spirit’s move.
Yet my Beloved was not in the noise.
Then I felt the tremor.
A suave man appeared sporting a lapel and tee,
his face magnified a thousand times by a screen
separating him from me so much so that
I felt I was treading holy ground.
He read a portion of the Bible,
closed it never to open it again.
He pounded the pulpit with pet stories and style-slogans.
He coddled abuse with ‘It’s ok, we’re mere men.’
He raised his hands just to show off his tattoo.
He paraded his wealth and said, ’God will bless you too’
Everyone said, the voice of God shook them and moved them to tears.
Yet my Beloved was not in this tremor-theater
Then I saw the fire.
Click, click. All eyes fixed. Instagram flicks.
More and more were bent in austere posture,
not in humble contrition but in hashtag confessions
which lasted just a moment.
Suddenly something strange happened.
The man in the middle multiplied himself on myriad screens,
held in the palm of their hands.
He was ubiquitous —one with one and all, all the same.
A flicker became a raging fire, enflamed by the winds of
tweets, likes, reshares, sermon jams & memes.
The lone pastor loaning the Lord’s pulpit became an overnight star,
star-struck by social media paparazzi.
Everyone said, there was a revival —a fire that blazed through the city.
Yet my Beloved was not in the fire.
I was told He would meet me at the threshold of the church -the Horeb of God.
I stood there, still and helpless.
As I turned to go,
I heard Him.
A sheet of silence,
a wisp of whisper was all it was.
Yet the sound of it made me whimper in fear.
A raggedy old man was warmly embraced and given a front row seat.
A weary pastor wore the scriptures of God on his sleeve.
He pled with men to repent, amend, and relent from their sin.
He bled and died, with none to bury him.
A prisoner belted out the Psalms as he was put to the test.
A sinner surrendered to God as he beat his breast.
Brother pursued brother in love and forgiveness.
Mother scrubbed dishes in humble faithfulness.
Maidens savored the scent of their sweet Friend,
The disabled washed the feet of beloved saints.
In their quiet witness I heard my Beloved speak
Though silent or dead, they yet speak
a better word than the clamor of a thousand cheers.
I came to the threshold of God, hurt and screaming,
angry that I alone was told to go upstreaming.
Yet there were seven thousand and counting
who were the hill of God ascending, with feet so sore
but never once complaining.
For though their feet hurt and their strength so small,
they were ever looking to the One whose whisper carried them all.
(This spoken word poetry is a creative adaptation from 1 Kings 19:9-18)
Wow! Beautifully capturing the different emotions. Well written.
thank you for taking the time to read Dr. Ashok!
Very Interesting Read. Written with the needed poise and thrill, yet the message is loud and clear! God bless.
thank you Neetha!
Well written. You have captured so well the whole thing that happens in the mega-church. I align so much with your feelings. I have been there, experienced the same jing-bang n got nothing in return. I never thought it could be something that the devil is brewing. In few years, i got weary and left the mega-church. I was fed up with the pastor’s eloquence, his wife’s glamour and the show off of the ushers. It’s high time the people who worship such pastors wake up from their slumber to see the danger they are in. Will forward to my contacts who are part of mega-churches.
Thank you Ani for being so open about the struggles you have faced in the past. WHile I myself haven’t been hurt by a megachurch, I know several friends who were left abused, confused or deceived by many megachurches that preach health, wealth and prosperity. Some seem even conservative but usually get caught up in power and abuse scandals. It is no wonder that of all the crowd that followed Christ, only 11 stayed.
So true and well written. We so often forget that this is a relationship with the Living God rather than just experiencing some kind of social, emotional or psychological instances.
thank you vinod! Very valid thoughts. I pray that God would open more eyes to see this truth.
You are an incredible writer. Really enjoyed the intricate nuances of emotion that you’ve captured in this piece.
I am not sure we can write off every church that has massive numbers or that every one of these churches have failed in bringing Jesus to the hurting but recent scandals have exposed the massive cracks.
I have been curious to see how God will move once the sacred and secular divide of the church is removed abruptly. Where church as we once knew it will no longer exist and that we will know His Church solely by the people who are truly His.
While He will commune with us in the ways the slice of life portraits featured in this poem, He will meet with us in unexpected ways, I’m sure. Maybe even in ways that we do not find unacceptable or right by our own understanding of what church ought to look like. He is doing a new thing. Maybe God will show Himself in new ways.
We may even see the beginning of megachurches being filled with the Glory of God like never before.
Although I respect and admire your opinions so well put, I am open to being surprised by God in those churches that we may yet deem lost/dead. 😁
Thank you Rachel for such a thoughtful response. I appreciate your sentiments and concur with you that not all megachurches are ridden with corruption and some may even be preaching the true Gospel. My poem was a caricature of what most megachurches are like and how ridden they are with issues of the three poignant sins painted by John in 1 John 2: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life. It is simply inescapable to build a large institution and not be entrenched or at the least enticed by the love of glory, power or money. It is far better to build a large church and then spawn off local church plants as did the early church (eg: church of Jerusalem planted church of antioch and church of antioch planted the asia minor churches) so that one man’s ministry or methods don;t not take the center stage of Christ and His ordinary means of grace. God is pleased to work only through His ordained means, and though He sovereignly works even through the evil schemes of men, no thanks to them at all since God worked despite them! To me, churches that have power vested in one man vis a vis God ordained plurality of elders, or have too much focus on elitism as against the modesty that governs the Christian ethos are not the chosen means through which God is pleased to work as their means do not square with His prescription. I am open to be surprised too Rachel, but I would be far more surprised and in awe of God presenting His power though small and weak churches rather than through megachurch machines which to me seem to have already received their reward in full. Blessings!
Wow! So beautifully expressed Shammi!
Your words hit home several times as I kept reading your post.
Sincerely thanking GOD for gifting you the skill to convey these pertinent truths through poetry — which is one of my favourite literary forms. Loved it!
Thank you suja! May we all inch upward towards Him unhinged from our narrow way.