Freedom’s
Song
This
hymn addresses passages from Genesis and Revelation, and some of them
will not be popular with some of those who pass for shepherds of
today’s congregations.
Indeed,
I would dearly love to present
this hymn
to the leadership of the PCA churches that I used to attend,
including the only one of which
I have ever been an official member (and without drastic changes, I
cannot see that ever happening again, as I am not one who takes
lightly having been abused in the church by officials and members of
the church).
Oh,
to be a fly on the wall when they lay eyes upon it and upon the
authorship line. Indeed, “Lord, Your teachers stay their voice as
temptation’s thralls rejoice!”
Truly,
I cannot think of very many teachers of the Word that would rejoice
to see that stanza confronting their lack of courage in the face of
sexual temptation running rampant in their congregations.
In
fact, the one foolish enough to so confront them will themselves be
accused of making excuses for their own sin—even
when the fact is actually that they are fighting a rear-guard action,
trying to defend a pure thought life in the face of an unceasing
onslaught from the females attending in their congregations.
The
sin, therefore, in such a case, is being committed by the wanton
women and those leaders who refuse to confront those
women and reign them in—not by the men crying out for help in what
these days is a losing cause, because of “shepherds”
who refuse to defend the rams among their sheep. I
speak from personal experience that such bastions of courage are
indeed out there—and one might even be leading your own
congregation.
On
the day of judgment, when they face the ruler of all that is, they
will be without excuse, as silent and mute as they were in the face
of that temptation and sin that they refused to face down in this
life. The answer is for them to stop accusing the sheep and start
attacking the wolves.
Lamb of God!
The one plea of the sinner, worth its weight in gold is the one of confession and repentance; begging for mercy, purely out of need, gains you mercy from the Lord indeed!
