The Divine Pulpit

 

 

A caution to the wise

And a warning to the foolish,

Ignore it or accept it

Just as you wish.

 

Thanks for taking note,

I mean no offense

But the pulpit has become sacred

In a peculiar sense.

 

Especially regarding

Its divine pulpiteers

Who expound extemporaneously

And are by many revered.

 

Their several titles

Gaining them great respect

Even when portions of the Word

They blatantly reject.

 

Mounting the pulpit

With their expressive pride

And in the abundance of rhetoric

God’s Word, they hide.

 

Announcing a text

To support their pretext

And then eisegeting the reference

Void of its context.

 

Matthew 27:5; Luke 10:37; John 13:27

 

Judas went out

 And hang himself.

Go and do likewise!

That thou doest

Do quickly!

Ignoring the context

Is not wise.

 

All three listed above

Are scriptural texts

But if ever they are strung together,

Be sure to reject.

 

 

Don’t be taken in

By the divine pulpiteer

That stands in his divine pulpit

And whom many cheer.

 

The clapping of hands,

And the peals of laughter

That in a relatively small church

Would lift its rafters.

 

Be wary, I reiterate,

Of the divine pulpit

Made divine by these pulpiteers

With their rhetoric.

 

Exacting from many

In their dire circumstances

Millions and millions of dollars

In extravagances.

 

All in aid of the church

And the gospel propagation

Supposedly reaching the lost

With needed salvation.

 

 

But living in opulence

And travelling first class,

Oblivious to the needs of others,

They get what they ask.

 

Only an exclusive few

Can fill their pulpits

And all that’s declared therefrom

Is Holy Writ.

 

Whether or not

This is really so

Is not of critical importance

Compared to the show.

 

Behind the divine pulpit

Is the self-made star

From whom his adoring subjects

His bodyguards bar.

 

Behold the divine pulpit

Where stands the divine!

Surely in the eyes of his subjects

And in their mind.

 

It really matters not

What the Word truly says,

The divine pulpit and its pulpiteer

Always hold sway.

 

 

 

Sir, we would see Jesus,

Hold the placard aloft

And be mindful only antichrists

Deny the cross.

 

I’d rather the cross

Than your divine pulpit

For in the Christ of that cross,

In heavenly places I sit.

 

Stewart Russell © March 24, 2025