Which Church?

“I hear the church shut down

They could o’ do that ever since,

They aren’t serving much purpose

And they don’t make any sense.

They have ulterior motives;

Money is everything,

They faithfully support their leaders

So they can have a fling.

So as far as I am concerned

The church could remain shut down,

Much of its activity, anyhow,

Only causes me to frown.”

I hear you loud and clear

Your position appears to be strong,

No doubt many support you

But you are so wrong.

I have a question for you

Because I see your ignorance,

On which church, I ask,

Are you basing your stance?

Is it the one you see

As you daily commute?

Like the ones that populate Barbados

Almost too varied to compute?

Well, here is our signal difference

Please hear me well,

Your church is a building;

It is on this point you fell.

If that were the church

We would be most miserable,

No wonder the ones who hold such

Are a dissatisfied people.

That’s why they complained

When the buildings were closed

And felt there was some hidden agenda

That needed to be exposed.

And even if there were,

What would it really have mattered

Besides the startling fact

That it would be empty chatter?

I may be flying over your head

So let me come in and land

Since the purpose of this discourse

Is to help you understand...

That the church can’t be closed

By any woman or man,

The church I am speaking of

Is a Divinely conceptualized plan.

It is the bride of Christ,

For which he gave his life,

You would recall his crucifixion:

His ultimate sacrifice.

The temple was destroyed;

Don’t replace it with an edifice,

For however grand it might look,

There is much you would miss.

It is not a building, my friend,

That houses the church

But the temple of a born-again believer

As the Apostle Paul exhorts.

Which church, I ask again,

Now that you are better informed?

By now you should realize

That there is only one.

It is not a church building

Like you thought before,

And no Government authority

Can close its door.

Jesus is building his church

One believer at a time

And it comprises all those believers

Whose hearts to him are inclined.

Stewart Russell © June 2020