He Lost His Chance

I went to my parents' church today, 
For the first time since December 2019.

I was excited, and actually liked this pastor.

(And I don't like many pastors.)

My sister and brother-in-law are in town,

And one of my mom's friends came

Who brought her eleven-year-old granddaughter

And a friend of hers.

It started out alright,

Remembering those lost,

But then it took a weird turn.

And - which I did not expect from him - it turned political.

The topic was murder,

And he spent the second half of the time

Talking against abortion. 

He even brought in a political activist.

The basic message was, 

"If you have an abortion, you are a murderer."

He gave no evidence, no proof,

Nor adequately addressed any other sides of the issue.

My mother's friend took the two tweens and walked out of the service.

Afterwards, my mom even said that if she had known the topic,

She would not have invited her this Sunday,

Which, to me, says something about a church.

He lost her. He lost his chance to show Christ to her.

After the service, my brother-in-law - 

Who is much more conservative than I am - 

Said there were multiple lines crossed,

And discussed them on the way home.

He cited several straw man arguments,

And what this kind of teaching can lead to - 

Such as insurrections for a certain political party.

He laid out things in ways most people cannot. 

They do not live here, but they were still turned off.

They go to church every Sunday, and 

In many ways are fairly conservative.

Yet my sister even commented how he missed the mark.

He left out medical issues, any exceptions.

He contained a religious rhetoric,

And did not explore the complete picture.

He only reached those who completely agree with him.

He lost them. He lost the chance to invigorate them.

I had promised God I would go - 

And He released me from going.

I probably should have listened,

But I would have heard anyways.

In some ways, it was better that I was there. 

To see, hear, and experience it first hand,

And not just get second hand information that made me mad.

This is a very passionate subject for me.

I almost walked out, but I did not drive myself.

And I wanted to finish - even if by sheer will. 

At the end I stood there with a hand on my hip, 

Shaking my head with how out of touch these people are.

He lost me. 

My brother - the real smartest person I will ever know - 

Heard all of this first from our conservative brother-in-law,

And then in conjunction with our sister, 

Before he ever got to anything I thought.

He lost his chance of ever getting him to grace his presence at that church.

Our father is conflicted,

And though our mother is not so much,

Her friend is turned off,

And both were not expecting what happened.

So what happened?

That I really do not know but am sorely disappointed.