power of the my

back when i started
an old baptist preacher told me
the 2 most dangerous words
anyone could ever say is "my church"
if i still believe there is something bigger
which hope goes back and forth
if i believe there is anything out there
or any reason or rhyme to what seems
to be chaos.
even through all of that
it took a year to realize
the old baptist preacher was right
my church
when it is uttered by anyone
a pastor
a congregate
a teacher
an elder
a deacon
a participant
my church says so much more
it says that the church belongs to
no higher power.
and perhaps that is my trouble with
the religion of church
in the end it's not held to a higher power
but mostly to the power of "my"
church after church
conversation after conversation
program after program
is all about the power of the "my"
my became god
in the modern church.
my became what rules
the modern church
we kicked god to the curb
we told jesus we had no place for him
and my became it all.
i see this in the church world wide
that my is god
my has nothing to do with others
my has nothing to do with caring
my has nothing to do with peace
my is about self
and only about self.
we look around and wonder what is destroying the church
why church is becoming a joke
we look and wonder why
but the answer is simple
it's the power of my
the power in those 2 letters
has broken apart millions
it's about nothing else
except my
what if church was simply about
serving others
loving others
caring for others
and not about the my
not about what we wanted
but what jesus would have wanted
what if we never said my church
if we truly believe in anything
there is no room for my
my is stronger than i ever want to admit
like a child who cries
we try endlessly to take back
what is ours
or so we think
if the child only knew
that what they want back
is truly not their own
perhaps they wold stop fighting so much
my has been one of my greatest lessons
i have learned.