Forgive Us

We Christians can be trundlers, clumsy with our heavy feet and careless steps.

We can be tanglers of words, crushers and blinders of tender minds.

We Christians can be foolish dancers to the tunes of snake charmers, the music of lie peddlers who steal and sell the name of Christ.

We can hide behind our I-would-nevers and hold no mercy for those who would, turning a broken heart inward to cut itself again.

Forgive us, Jesus, whose scarred hands are strong enough to hold gently.

We Christians can be pride-deaf, tuned to hear voices of power over the Word of God.

We can welcome idol shackles, chain our hearts to politics and positions and possessions.

We Christians, we are contradictions, owning freedom and flirting with slavery, too often closing our fresh healed eyes.

We can choose fear over truth, comfort over compassion, party lines over people.

Forgive us, God, who poured yourself out to bring us to you.

We are the healed who wound.

Distorted bearers of beauty.

Gluttons in famine.

We are not who we were meant to be.

Forgive us. Forgive us. Forgive us. That’s all we can say.

Teach us to see beyond ourselves.

To feel past our own skin.

To hear beyond our own words.

Teach us again and again and again to be what we can be.

We Christians can be humble, broken and turned glory side out.

We can be stewards of words, handling well the Truth we’ve been given.

We Christians can be joy in motion, casting glistening seeds of hope on desert hearts.

We can hold ourselves to the Light and let our shattered pieces catch and fling His grace like a prism.

We Christians can lean close and welcome the quiet voices buried under power’s rubble.

We can stop playing time-shackled games, set aside all that rusts and put our hands to eternal things.

We Christians, we are rescued slaves, grateful reservoirs of freedom in a captive, thirsty place.

We can choose souls over security, listening over winning, brotherhood over borders.

Don’t let us settle for anything less, for halfway faith that leaves us looking more like ourselves than your Son.

We are yours.

Make us yours.

“You are the light of the world – like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. “ ~Matthew 5:14-16 (NLT)