Christians Build Walls
First of all, I understand that the claim that Christians ought to build walls is going to be rebutted by a counterclaim that Christians are to be bridge builders. So I just want to humbly ask you from the beginning to imagine a beautiful and magical kingdom someplace where walls and bridges can coexist. Now, imagine just the walls, because that’s what I’m talking about at the moment.
In the Old Testament, there is a story about a man named Nehemia. You can find that story in the book that bears his name. The basics of that story are as follows: Nehemia is a Jew living in foreign land under the rule of the King Artaxerxes of Persia. Nehemia receives news that his homeland city of Jerusalem is in shambles. This moves him deeply. This is the “place of my father’s graves”, he says (Neh 2:3). His native affections for his homeland are inflamed by news of its disarray. And so he petitions the king to allow him to go home and repair the city. The king consents and sends him off to lead a great project of city renewal.
The great tension of the story is played out ‘on the walls.’ Nehemia leads his fellow citizens to repair the walls of the city. But this makes Jerusalem's neighbors mad. They passionately disagreed with Nehemiah’s vision for public life. The men on the wall were argued with. They were ridiculed. They were threatened. And so the men on the wall needed to be skilled builders, as well as prepared warriors.
The building project of Nehemia was not simply focused on renewing the physical defenses of Jerusaelm. He was more deeply concerned with renewing and reforming the total life of the people of God. The renewal project began with repentance. He confesses that he and his people have not kept the law of God (Neh 1:7). And after the wall was finished the people rededicated their life to obeying God’s law.
Nehemia was leading a great renewal of public and private life. The wall building was about rebuilding and rededicated all of life in submission to God as their King. We are called to do the same. As Jesus taught, the Kingdom of God is at hand (Mk 1:15). Jesus is the risen King. We are members of his Kingdom now. And we are called to build the kind of lives, both public and private, that in everything we do we do explicitly for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31).
And in the process of building that kind of life you are going to ruffle some feathers just like it did in Nehemia’s day. Some will oppose Christians who live as if Jesus is really King. Some of our neighbors will hate us for what we preach. Some will call us oppressive toward women when we seek to preserve life in the womb. Some will call us transphobic when we challenge the lies of the transgender ideology, and oppose the genital mutilation of minors. Some will call us abusively patriarchal or toxically masculine when we advocate for the beauty if male and female gender roles that God designed to function in harmony. Some will call us Quanon conspiracy theorists or white supremacists for liking a movie that sheds light on the evils of human trafficking. Christians who live in total submission to Christ, and who seek to order the world around them according to God’s design, will have their building projects opposed by the world.
But none of this should surprise us. Jesus told us to expect opposition. “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (Jn 15:18). This is why the symbol of sword and trowel is a relevant symbol today and not just an artifact of an old story. Just as in Nehemia’s day we need Christains who are willing to stand on the wall and build, armed for battle, and skillful in our brick laying.
Being armed for battle first and foremost means being armed for the spiritual battle, that like it or not, is raging in our midst. As the Apostle Paul said, our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the demonic kingdom of darkness (Eph 6:12). Our scabbard, hanging ready at our side, is a deep knowledge of the Word of God (Eph 6:17). And our enemy is the devil and his lies. And his lies need to be assaulted and destroyed by the skillful wielding of the truth (2 Cor 10:5).
Christians are also called to be skillful with the trowel. This means we build a life in obedience to Jesus. Brick by brick we build the wall of a renewed Christian culture by obeying the law of God. We share the gospel and baptize people into the faith. We join and support local churches. Men leave their parents basements and find wives to love for life. They have babies and train those babies in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. We do our jobs with excellence, providing abundantly for our families and having enough left over to give an inheritance to the next generation and share with those in need. We plant churches. We start non-profits, schools, homeschool co-ops. We run for school board, city council, and serve on various non profits. Overal we grab the trowel and seek the welfare of the Gateway community, because in its welfare is our welfare.
So Christian, you are called to build the wall of a public Christiendom. Keep the sword of truth sharp and keep mortar on your trowel.