In God we trust

Brothers and sisters come on in

To the church that takes away your sin

Money is the root of all evil

Give it to us for your reprievel

Be sure that before you go out that door

You empty your pockets on the floor

We can sell you a heavenly home

So up there you won't have to roam

What! You don't have money enough?

We'll sell you a chair? We're not so tough

The more you pay the closer to God you can sit

Beats the hell out of sitting down in the pit

Raise your hand if you have no money

Though everyone is looking at you, don't feel funny

We'll lend you a coin to put in our plate

You can pay us back with interest, we'll wait

How would you like a personal meeting with God?

All you have to do is give us your wad

He's a busy man and in high demand

So if the cost is a little high I'm sure you'll understand

About your meeting, we let him know

It's not our fault that he didn't show

What? You say that this is a fraud

Don't sue us, you'll have to sue God

Author's Note

I've been to a lot of churchs in my day, but one that I rented a room to took the cake. Without exaggeration or exception they made every offer above.

Reviews

[Fabian G. Franklin]

God doesn't want your money. What could He possibly spend it on? He owns everything already. But He might like a "Thank You" or an "I love You" now and then. We call Him, "Heavenly Father"...parents like that sort of thing too.

[Soren]

You are so right. It is how I judge a church. If they make it apparent that they want your money it is not for me. I don't mind giving to a good cause if the money gets to the right place. Thank you so much for the review and comment.

[Fabian G. Franklin]

The "Church" as far as Christians are concerned, is the body of believers (those who are in Christ). It is not a building one goes to twice a week for fellowship. There is nobody "in charge" of the Church but Christ. Religion is simply the greatest enemy of faith that exists. I also like to point out the the Bible is not "The Word of God". The Bible is a book, divinely inspired but written by men. The "Word of God" is the person of Jesus Christ. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and was God. The Word was made flesh and made His dwelling among us. And we have beheld His glory. John 1:1-5 and John 1:14 We know that no book was ever made flesh or became a man. So most of the so-called "churches" are already gravely in error. There's so much more that they are wrong about but I won't go into it all here. I don't follow a preacher or a doctrine or a book or even an angel. I follow Christ.

[Artubar]

You capture well the spirit of many houses of worship--as for the poem itself, the tempo is slightly off. My advice: use fewer words. Advice in general for all writers: read your work at a minimum, a dozen times. Refine, refine, refine.

[Soren]

Thank you so much for your helpful words. Yes this one was just a quick write to get it out and moved on. Your comments are deeply appreciated.

[willweb]

Exactly...you have it the religious nail on the head and they don't have to pay taxes...how cool is that? Nice one my friend.

[Soren]

Thanks Will for the review and comment. It just seems sad that in the name of God some take advantage of those least able to defend themselves.

[DIVYA]

Dear Soren,

Indeed, I agree with you so much. Churches are becoming so commercial nowadays. They are increasingly being run like corporates with a proper balance sheet. Yes, the best chair perhaps goes to the highest bidder and there are offers of all sorts. If Christ, my Lord, descended into a typical church, he would be angry all over again as he once was when he threw out all those money changers from God's temple.

Having said that, I also appreciate that a church and its staff run on donations and they're (at least on paper) working to extend the Kingdom of God. Since I'm a Christian, I do feel a sense of responsibility and ownership for the Church and its financial dependency on its parish and hence I make it a point to pay tithe to my church each month. If the money I pay is misused for anything other than serving God then that's not my problem. I do it for God and for myself. My conscious is clear.

This is a great poem to think and comment on. I truly appreciate your thinking poetry. There is always something new to read and I cannot thank you enough for it.

[Soren]

Dear Divya I appreciate most deeply your review and comments. This one rings true again. I am all for each person's belief and organizations that help others. But when instead of help, they take advantage of the poor, uneducated and disabled it rankles me a bit.

[DIVYA]

Indeed, there should be some system in place to monitor these religious bodies and prevent any misuse of the funds and power that people trust them with. Such things give a bad name to all of religion. You're most welcome, dear Soren.

[John the Baptist]

Soren, you're going straight to hell. To insinuate that men of the cloth are motivated by filthy lucre is blasphemous. You probably think Jim Bakker's hawking a cure for Covid was a scam, too.

[Soren]

ai smell the tar being heated up and can see the feathers flying outside my window right now. I'm sure I'll have to do some penance, but I can't help what I've seen. Thanks John for the review and warning