A Preacher on the Fence

From out of the millions of the earth

God often calls a man

To preach the word, and for the truth

To take a royal stand.

“Tis sad to see him shun the cross,

Nor stand in its defense

Between the fields of right and wrong:

A preacher on the fence.
Before him are the souls of men

Bound for Heaven or Hell;

An open Bible in his hand,And yet he will not tell

All the truth that’s written there,

It haveth an offence -

The joys of Heaven, the horrors of Hell -

A preacher on the fence.
Now surely God has called the man

To battle for the right.

“Tis his to ferret out the wrong

And turn on us the light.

And yet he dare not tell the truth,

He fears the consequence,

The most disgusting thing on earth

Is a preacher on the fence.
If he should stand up for the wrong,

The right he’d not defend;

If he should stand up for the right,

The wrong he would offend.

His mouth is closed, he cannot speak

For freedom or against.

Great God deliver us from

A preacher on the fence.
But soon both sides will find him out

And brand him as a fraud,

A coward who dares not to please

The devil or his God.Oh God, free us from fear of man,

From cowardly pretence;

Cleanse out the dross and fear of loss,

And keep us off the fence.

–Author Unknown