They said beware, but we didn’t dare
‘Cause it wasn’t no way we’d find harm in there.
But we got fooled and we got schooled
‘Cause like leechin’ men, bad preachin’ men
To one another pooled
And we just said “cool”

So we’ve redefined success to mean
Big buildings and lots of people
As if the storefront preacher has failed somehow
‘Cause he ain’t got no steeple.
As if he ain’t hip and he’s behind the times
Because he has less carnal goals.
Well my hats off to my storefront brothers
Because at least they’re after souls
And wasn’t that the goal?

Yeah, we’ve blown up and we’re doin’ it big
But who pays the ultimate price?
Do you remember when the church defined success
By how many came to Christ?
Do you remember when the pastors pastored
Each individual life
And not just the two or three he knew
Would keep his clothes and his jewelry tight.
Or the ones he knew that he could call
To make him feel good at night
Naw, we never had it perfect
But we had our focus right.

True we’ve always had both good and bad
But the bad was rather slim
Now you look at the church and you look at the world
You can’t tell US from THEM
We do everything just like the world
Even dress like THEY say dress
And then pretend like God ain’t noticed yet
Like He can’t curse, Like He can only bless
Now ain’t that a mess?
Ain’t nobody distressed?
Don’t NOBODY remember that God demands our best?
Read yo’ Bible, God ain’t likin’ this mess
And if God gave a pop-quiz
The church would flunk the test!
‘Cause we deify the preacher now
Even glorify their name
Flyin’ back and forth to conferences
And come back home the same
And we ought to be ashamed
Lookin’ at the outside
The suit, the shoes, the brim
As if the modest preacher with no pretense
Ain’t got no God in him.

Well Jesus Christ was God Himself
And you know what I like about Him?
He had more gifts then all of us combined
Yet there was no pretense in Him!

But God gives gifts and then we trip
And flip the script and act as if
God ain’t gifted nobody but us.
And then what’s worse, we’ll swear and we’ll curse
If you short our purse becaue
We’re so stupid we’ve yet to realize
God’s gift is for God, NOT us.
So that’s why I fuss (and it’s hard not to cuss)
Because I remember
And this folly affects every member
Spiritually speaking its around September
But we better get it right before we get to December!

No cross no crown that’s what we said
But we’ve left the cross behind
But as long as we can get a good “Go Head Doc”
We’re satisfied, we’re fine.

No treasures in heaven but we got ‘em down here
Where moth and rust will corrupt/
We gon’ get to heaven and say
“But Lord we preached…”
Well, you know the rest…..
Good luck