Church Reluctant, Church Militant

We’ve marched along the watchtower, And stepped across the wall, We’ve looked for hearts of gold And joined the band on the run, The road we walk is rocky and narrow As we step towards the gate, And we sing songs of praises When from life we escape; We lost the way to the sanctuary And forgot that there is a need to pray We’ve become the church of Christ reluctant When the sermon is so twee, The preacher speaks of being…’just like me’; The worship has become a sing-a-long And the prayers a by numbers rote; The road we walk is getting wider now; We’ve heard of stars on Sunday, And songs of praise from Skegness; We’ve gone to Soul Survivor, Greenbelt and the big day out; We’ve danced at all the festivals From Glastonbury to Reading And we’ve made excuses for missing church As the road becomes a motorway to the stars; Now the days are growing darker And the truth is finding the markers That speak of pulpit notoriety When all the thoughts that build the preacher Fall on deaf ears who welcome Jesus As the Church wakes from its slumbers And preachers drop the numbers For the reality of the Gospel of Truth; The media mocks the religious, While the Church stands with shoulders stooped; When once the church of Christ reluctant Spoke with mumbled part and gave The easy option to let the world get out, Now the day has come when the world Has overcome, and the church is falling faint While the world changes what God gave; Then the Spirit ignites the hearts of men And psalms and songs are taught again The Word of God is preached to retain The heart and soul of all who come To welcome Christ, the radical King, And stand on the Word that gives all life again; The church of Christ is militant by name And now the world will see the same march in His fame; We’ve marched down every High Road And sung at every celebration And the word we hear is God’s very own, That sows our hearts with seeds that grow We are the church of Christ Militant No longer reluctant to stand on Truth; So we will walk the narrow way And welcome Christ every day; We believe the Bible tells the truth, That Christ was the Word from creation, There is a passion aflame in His church That is flickering brightly around the world; And Christ has become our battle cry While the world still turns its back And cries every time the pulpit calls the world to order; Now as Church of Christ Militant, the world fears the fight; We’ll sing, we’ll preach, we’ll march with Gospel feet; The day will come when the world Will bend the knee and lips declare Jesus Christ as Lord, And the church of Christ reluctant With militant offence, step up to the Word And now the world is quaking As the church lifts up God’s head.