Explore "Who Is a Christian?" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Who is a Christian in this Christian land / Of many churches and of lofty spires? / Not he who sits in soft upholstered pews / Bought by the profits of unholy greed, / And looks devotion, while he thinks of gain. / Not he who sends petitions from the lips / That lie to-morrow in the street and mart. / Not he who fattens on another's toil, / And flings his unearned riches to the poor, / Or aids the heathen with a lessened wage, / And builds cathedrals with an increased rent.
Christ, with Thy great, sweet, simple creed of love, / How must Thou weary of Earth's ‘Christian' clans, / Who preach salvation through Thy saving blood / While planning slaughter of their fellow men. / Who is a Christian? It is one whose life / Is built on love, on kindness and on faith; / Who holds his brother as his other self; / Who toils for justice, equity and PEACE, / And hides no aim or purpose in his heart / That will not chord with universal good.
Though he be pagan, heretic or Jew, / That man is Christian and beloved of Christ.