Voices of Polite Society

Jesus Loves me, This I Know, Despite What “Good Christians” Say

I am not polite society.
I hear the passive-aggressive, or just plain aggressive, voices of polite society.
The sneers, the judgment, the snide comments they won’t say to my face.
The horrible comments they will say to my face.
I’m one of the ones polite society looks down on.
I’ve made more than my fair share of mistakes.
Committed enough sins that I wonder how Jesus still loves me.
And yet he does, because Jesus is not polite society either.

Polite society insists that if I wanted things to be easier,
I should have made better choices.
It’s true that I’ve made some shitty, harmful choices,
but I don’t know a person who hasn’t.
Maybe in their social context those choices had different consequences.
Perhaps I’ve made more of them than a lot of people,
but my situation was different from a lot of other people.
Thankfully, Jesus loves more than just polite society.

Polite society turned their back on me a long time ago.
They couldn’t see past their “good family values,”
to see the suffering of those who aren’t polite society.
They walk into their churches every Sunday,
their King James Bibles in their hands,
feeling good about themselves, as if their shit doesn’t stink.
They look squeaky clean, at least from the outside.
But Jesus sees me, just like he sees polite society.

“You need Jesus,” says polite society, and that we agree on.
But I wonder if polite society would recognize him if he showed up.
I’ve met Jesus, just not in a way that polite society understands.
Jesus reached out to me when I was fucked up beyond recognition.
He reached down and picked my dumb ass up from the pit of death.
The differences between Jesus and his kingdom,
and polite society with their fucked up values, are vast.
Jesus thinks the values of polite society suck.

My contribution to polite society is to provide fodder for their gossip.
I give them ways to feel good about themselves that take no effort.
They can feel better about themselves and their lives.
They throw out accusastions of a bunch of sins that I have indeed committed.
I think if polite society knew the same Jesus that I know,
He would create a scandal just by who he hangs out with.
I wonder, too, if polite society has met the dude’s mama?
Jesus and his kingdom have different values than polite society.