by Kelly Pelton

Any system in this fallen world
commands allegiance to its tight control,
encouraging indifference to people
who don't adhere (or fit in) to a role.

The systems of this world are plentiful,
from governments, economies, and schools
to legal, military, institutional
churches, each with necessary rules.

Politics has parties, families
are nuclear, extended; denominations
patriarchal keep their females under
males in lesser valued serving stations.

Those for whom a system has no use
and those whose power is limited within
have decreased value in and to that system,
overlooked, less visible therein.

Jesus valued people over systems,
simplifying His commands to one:
"Love one another as I've loved you," 
expecting sole allegiance to God's Son.

If loyalty to any worldly system
(church included - it's an institution)
supersedes our loyalty to Christ,
we will engage in human diminution.

Abiding in the person that is Jesus
leads us to a love for all that's equal,
love then lived on earth as it is in heaven,
foreshadowing this earthly story's sequel.