I believe in Jesus BUT…

 

What if I told you I believe in Jesus

BUT

I don’t believe

in the laying on of hands

for raising up the dead

or miracles

of any sort

 

Would you think me

a woman of faith?

 

What if I told you I believe in Jesus

BUT 

I don’t believe praying will

heal breast cancer

a broken arm

or a brain tumor

 

Would you think me

a woman of faith?

 

What if I told you I believe in Jesus

BUT

I don’t believe

the barren womb

of an old woman

can bring forth a child

 

Would you think me

a woman of faith?

 

What if I told you I believe in Jesus

BUT

I don’t believe in forgiveness

for those who torture to death children

through abuse

or neglect

or sheer selfishness

 

Would you think me a

woman of faith?

 

What if I told you I believe in Jesus

BUT

I don’t believe that it is our job

to care for the poor

They need to get a job

get a life

get off welfare

quit bilking the system

 

Would you think me

a woman of faith?

 

What if I told you I believe in Jesus

BUT

I don’t believe in living peaceably

with all men

especially not those who

hurt my feelings

who step on my toes

who act ugly

when they don’t get their way

or worse yet,

those who exploit me

for their own selfish gain

who pretend to be a friend

in order to gain more followers

or a blurb for their book

or advice on writing

and publishing

Who never even realize that I know how disingenuous,

how very fake they are being

 

Would you think me

a woman of faith?

 

What if I told you I believe in Jesus

BUT 

I don’t believe he hears the prayers

of foster children

of disabled soldiers

of the heartbroken

and suicidal

 

Would you think me

a woman of faith?

 

What if I told you I believe in Jesus

BUT 

not the resurrection

for the hard-headed

for the fool-hardy

for the loud-mouth

for the unfaithful

for the cheat

for the surly

for the lazy

for the whiney

for the self-obsessed

 

Would you think me

a woman of faith?

 

What if I told you that I believe in Jesus

insomuch that it doesn’t require of me anything

BUT

when believing in Jesus

means living as a person

wrecked by the

wild passion and love

of Christ,

that which Chad Norris speaks about in his book 

Signs, Wonders, and a Baptist preacher

Until such a time as that,

am I simply a poser?

 

Can anyone really consider me

a woman of faith

when I most often live in  a place

of skepticism

of doubt

of dismay

of disappointments

of disbelief?