Salvation

Salvation The young Langston Houghes was pressured into believing in Jesus by the church who is responsible for his loss of faith. Langston was in his aunt’s church were a revival was being held “to bring the young lambs to fold…” Langston along with the other “young lambs” were all placed on the mourners’ bench on the front row. Each child one by one accepted Jesus until Langston was last. Langston eventually stood and claimed to have seen Jesus. Langston’s church was responsible for Langston’s loss of faith because of the pressure placed on him. From the beginning of the story the setting seems intimidating to Langston. He is attending a revival at his aunt’s church where they were trying to bring the youth to Jesus. To achieve this the church puts all the “sinner” children on the mourners’ bench on the front row. One by one children stand up and accept Jesus until Langston sat alone. Langston was conflicted by the churches pressure and the atmosphere created by the loud prayers and moans. Eventually Langston stood and claimed to have accepted Jesus. The church praised him for his belief, but they were merely praising his lie. The church was responsible from the beginning. Placing him in a category lower than the rest of the church, as “young sinners” was the start. Then he was seated on the front row of the church as if to increase the intimidation factor. Along with all of this, church members had always told him he could “see and hear and feel Jesus in your soul…” He didn’t want to lie like Westly had, but the church’s constant prayer pressured him into doing so. Langston lost his faith because he had done what the church had told him, but the results never came. The fact that the church was willing to stay “really late” meant that they were determined to ensure he accepted Jesus. Langston’s church is responsible for Langston’s loss of faith because of the pressure placed on him. The church’s constant bombardment of prayers and overall atmosphere