News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
September 24, 2001 ___ From the rubble ___By Terry Cosby ___"You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace." I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied, "Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work (Nehemiah 2:17-18). ___Some 2,500 years ago, Nehemiah mourned the ruins of a city he loved. Jerusalem had been destroyed by Babylon and most of its citizens taken into captivity. He responded with thoughtfulness, prayer and courage to face the king and his opponents. He responded with hard work and incredible leadership. Before the rebuilding could begin, Nehemiah surveyed the damage. He rode around Jerusalem and found in places the devastation was so complete that his mount couldn’t walk through it. ___I suspect that as he rode, walked and looked at the rubble, his mind made mental notes about what could be used, what was unusable for their efforts, and what might be changed for the better. Weneed to do the same thing in light of our nation’s unimaginable loss before life’s momentum takes us along and we return to living with the same mindsets as before. ___ So what have we lost, some of which can be pulled from the rubble and used, and what have we lost that needs to remain that way? ___Without question, the greatest loss is the lives of more than 6,000 human beings made in the image of God. Their memories, their love, their hopes and dreams need to live on. We pull these things from the ruins and they must never, never be forgotten, lest these who were loved by God truly would have died in vain. ___What was lost that maybe we shouldn’t use to rebuild? ___Some would say our innocence is lost as a nation. In addition to a long list of great and noble deeds, our nation has fought 10 major wars, some of which were noble. We have billion-dollar industries in pornography, gambling and abortion. We sell arms to other nations by the billions and face violence in our own streets and schools. ___ Enough. We are not innocent. We are naive. ___ We are naïve to think that what’s has been happening for years in Israel, Lebanon, Sudan, Rwanda, Columbia and Northern Ireland could not or would not happen here. We’ve been naïve if not callous about life elsewhere on this planet. Hopefully, no more. ___We are also naïve about evil. Evil is real, not just a force in a slasher movie or video game. The Bible tells us about the evil one. He seeks to steal, kill and destroy life and its true meaning. Surely we won’t be naïve about evil any longer and learn to fight that spiritual monster with the spiritual weapons afforded us. ___We have been naïve, maybe to the point of arrogance, in our pursuits in life. Life was so trivialized on so many fronts. ___What was so important Sept. 10 became so meaningless on Sept. 11. Who played, who won; what’s on sale for how much; who slept with whom on "Friends" or "Days of Our Lives"; who got voted off on "Survivor"; these seem almost blasphemous in light of the real heroes and survivors we’ve seen this past week. Can we not find something nobler to do with our time, monies and energies than to fill our lives with meaningless pursuits? ___So, what might we find to bring up from the rubble because it’s true and timeless and indestructible? ___How about some old priorities with some new perspectives? Could not loving God and mankind and honoring country become a priority instead of a convenience again? Could not worship and prayer be mortared back into lives where so many "fun" things took their place? Could not service that is more than sweat be teamed again with it spiritual dimensions of sacrifice in mentoring, giving, sharing Jesus and practicing hospitality, which could tear down walls of separation that plague our world? Could we also not use new perspectives that remind us that life is sacred? This perspective would also say life is not totally safe, but with faith in Christ it is eternally secure and thus worth living. ___What was lost can never really be measured. But maybe what we find in this rubble to be used to build and restore can’t be either. ___So, lets begin this good work. ___Terry Cosby is pastor of First Baptist Church in Hereford. ___ Baptist Standard ___ News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world. ___ ___Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook |