Witness

My faked indifference
Is my witness.
I’m not in the best
Fitness of heart and mind—
Doing the daily grind.
I gotta stop for a second
’cause truly loving meets resistance.

They’re here and everywhere
Just stop and look around—
People sitting on the ground
Asking for help.
Tell me, who is going to help?

I may see a man with a sign:
“Broke and in need,
I got a family to feed.”
Maybe God is pressing me
Do I pray for a miracle,
Or is there something else?
Are my words his only help?
Then he’s out of sight, out of mind.

“That’s kind of harsh,” you say,
“You’re shelling out for his welfare pay
I’m sure he’ll be OK.
Got Medicaid for his health
Catered to by professionals
He can use them for confessionals
And what’s the point?
The poor are always with us right?
Besides you don’t have time
Someone else can fight their fight”

Our current indifference
Is our witness.
We’re not in the best
Fitness of soul and mind
Caught in the daily grind
Let’s just stop for a second
’Cause this life has no rewind.

What a crime
We sell our time
And with it our lives
Passing the fallen by
To pick up our next buy
But the lost aren’t saved
By our savings accounts
And when we get to heaven
We will see what amounts.

And it’s not about OUR ambition
To change humanity’s condition—
Through Christ we are FREED
Now other captives we are to lead.
Compassion cries out “Justice!”
Fairness begets brotherly love
Soft hearts may show their colors
But actions take more than blood.

----------Let me tell you what—
Obeying God is the difference
Out of comfort, into life
We start as shadows
Next, we’re the light.
By letting him be our source
Of Love
Truth
Desire
Action
What’s the result?
Full Worship.

Our old indifference
Replaced with fitness
Of heart and soul
God’s the witness
Of our new goals
Escaping the daily grind
By letting Jesus be our guide
Let’s invest our limited time.

Katya Schmidt is a second-year undergraduate student from the University of California–Davis, majoring in International Relations. Home has been everywhere from Caracas, Venezuela, to Calgary, Alberta, though she mainly grew up in the States and most recently hails from Redding, California. She is and has been a pastor’s kid, a missionary kid, and a third-culture kid, all of which have largely impacted her desire to see her campus and the world changed by the vital truth, ferocious love, and adamant grace of Jesus Christ.

For more perspective on justice, watch these videos: 

Arm Charity 

Evangelism and Justice