Not The White House Or Its Lawn

 

I share my blackout poetry with a handful of friends each day. 

I tend to write about two main topics:

Relationships or God. 

One of my readers doesn’t believe in God, but she knows where my faith lies and still willingly reads my poetry. 

 

One day last week, 

I sent the poem:

“I see God in this place.”

 

My friend’s immediate response was:

“If you do 

It’s not the White House or its lawn.”

 

Her words have stuck with me for days.

 

As writer Jonathan Tobias wrote on June 14:

 

“Just in case there's any doubt, the Christian church, in its authentic tradition, has long opposed gladitorial combat and anything like it.

 

The early Church opposed gladiatorial combat because Christians knew that violence staged as entertainment deforms the soul. The arena taught Rome to turn human pain into public pleasure, and the Church, at its best, said no: no human being is made for bloodlust, humiliation, or spectacle.

 

That ancient warning still matters. When power presents violence as a show, Christians should be among the first to remember that cruelty is not strength, domination is not justice, and the image of God is never a prop.”

 

For all my friend doesn’t know about God,

She knows when God is not being glorified. 

For all my friend doesn’t know about following Christ,

She knows when someone is not following in the ways of Christ’s love. 

For all my friend has not known of the body of Christ, 

She knows when someone is living a life of pretense. 

For all my friend has not experienced of God’s peace,

She knows when someone is using God’s name for power. 

 

So yes, 

Her words stopped me in my tracks 

And made me grieve what has come from the loudest voices of the 21st Century American gospel—

Those voices that hail and honor 

Power

Masculinity 

Individualism

Entertainment 

Suffering 

Pleasure and 

Victory

Over the way of Christ that is 

Humility,

Community, 

And working together to take care of the 

Poor,

Widows, and 

Outcasts. 

 

Yes Jesus suffered. 

Yes we believe in victory over death. 

But the way of Christ is not pretense. 

It’s not hypocrisy. 

And it’s certainly not confusion, manipulation, and lies. 

 

For all my friend doesn’t believe about God, 

She believes enough to know that the Christianity she’s seeing in 21st Century America is something of which she wants no part. 

 

“It’s not the White House or its lawn,”

she responded. 

 

Oh God, forgive us. 

And help us to do better than this. 

 

Amen