What Will We Do?

With the moral mess
sweeping,
seeping
through our culture,
some church leaders,
like David the shepherd,
courageously
protect their flock,
guide their sheep,
and so rescue them
from the mouth
of the lion
set to devour them.*


“This is the way,”
they say.
“Vote accordingly.”

Yet others
seem reluctant
to guide their sheep.

I wonder why.

Do they fear the wrath
of a pervasive, pernicious media?
Do they fear the loss
of congregants?
Do they fear the
removal of
tax exemption?

How can we encourage them
to the battle?

St. Paul beseeched
the church at Ephesus:
“Pray for me
that I may boldly present
 the gospel of Christ” **

If he sought prayer
from the sheep,
is it not all the more true
our leaders need
ours?

St. John the Beloved,
like St. Paul,
lived in a time and culture
ablaze with hostility
toward the gospel.

Yet,
to the Chosen Lady –
perhaps a metaphor for the Church –
he wrote:

Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God . . . If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.***

How many prayers
did his sheep pray,
how many words of encouragement
did they speak,
until emboldened even
to the jaws of opposition,
St. John could warn those
who would listen,

“To receive
(he might say today ‘to vote for’)
those who pass laws
and promote lifestyles
contrary to Christ’s teaching
is to participate
in their evil deeds.”

So while I wonder
why some
seem reluctant
to lead,
it is more to the point,
I think, to ask:


“What will the sheep do
to encourage our leaders,
lest they falter
in the battle?”

*See 1 Samuel 17:34-3
** See Ephesians 6:19
***2 John 8-11