According to a 2015 Deloitte Survey, 6 out of 10 Millennials chose to work for their current employers due to their “sense of purpose.” What we value gives us purpose. Just as organizations have values, individuals do also. Most people have 5 to 7 core values that identify who they are. For the Christian, we are to be “in the world, but not of it.” We are to be different than the world – in our values, in our beliefs, in our character and in our behavior.

Where does my faith intersect with this topic? How can I explain “the pointe” to a non-believer?

“You see the trouble we are in.” Could Nehemiah’s words be any more pointed? Could there be any words that would ring this true, generation after generation? Are there any better words to describe our lives right now? We are scattered because of the things that divide us.

Let’s take the COVID-19 situation as an example.

Can you add to that the tensions and struggles that divide our country? It is easy to center on ethnicity and race because they are in the news, but those certainly are not the only points of division in our country. Here are a handful of the “polar opposites” that separate America today. Can you think of others?

What can we do to begin to rebuild the structure of the walls that have become so demolished that our culture is at risk? Where do we start? To shelter us against the stresses, we build walls to protect us. Christian counselors, Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend call these walls “boundaries.” A wall is something you build to make the further progress of an activity impossible. A wall keeps intrusions out while giving you a place to recover and restore.

More to Walls than Just Bricks

Walls can be physical, but they may also be spiritual. Solomon warns us to protect our hearts (Proverbs 4:23 ESV). Walls keep the good in and the bad out. We build our walls with several things that we will talk about, but a vital one is the ability to respond clearly. God wants your “no” and your “yes” to be straight-forward (Matthew 5:37, James 5:12).

Our bodies intertwine the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical. If we are concerned about the spiritual, we have to make sure the other areas are protected and healthy by strong walls because they have an impact on the spiritual.

Some of the walls that need to be rebuilt are physical. There are concerns in the structure of society – laws, policies and the way they are interpreted – that need to be rebuilt. There are inequities with the consistency of how the policies are enforced.

Some of the walls that need to be rebuilt are spiritual. Our problems are more than just bad policies. Part of the problem is us. We are sinners. Although it is difficult for us to admit, sometimes the problem isn’t with our laws, but with the fact that inside we don’t want to keep them. I am above the law. The law doesn’t apply to me. This really isn’t breaking the law. We need to change inside.

It is time God’s servants arise and build.

 

Next up, check out the posting “Storm Chasing.” How have others attempted to address the problems of rebuilding and structuring the walls of society and life?
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Return From Babylon Lesson 02 | Rebuilding