An Indictment on Evangelical Worship

At the start of a new semester, I have chosen for my poem of the week a stirring critique of all too common experiences in our evangelical worship services by Justin Wainscott. We have probably all seen the things skewered here. Let us labor for better.

 An Indictment on Evangelical Worship

Set the stage and dim the lights,
Create my mood; abuse my rights.
Out-do all you did last week,
And never let the silence speak.
Entertain me, at all costs,
Blur the lines ‘tween true and false.
Smile and tell me all’s okay,
I’ll believe whate’er you say.
Give me mirrors; give me smoke,
Fill me with clichés and jokes.
Like an orphan with no story,
Cut me off from all before me.
Hide the pain and fake the smile,
Lamentation’s out of style.
Give me milk and warm the bottle,
Make sure it is the latest model.
Numb my mind with borrowed tricks,
Feed my soul with Pixi-stix.
Don’t confront what lurks within,
Or else I’ll never come again.

– M. Justin Wainscott, © 2007

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