Builders Around Us
What is God building that your neighbors are already working on?
Mark 13:1-2
As [Jesus] came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”
You don’t have to be gifted with oracular prediction talents to do what Jesus did here. Just knowing the limitations of stone and mortar as they withstand sand, water, and time can make a prophet out of any second grader who passes their geological sciences class. Buildings don’t last forever. Whatever it is you’re impressed by, whatever thing a prior civilization made so well that it’s the talk of the History Channel - it all comes to ruins someday. Even the awesome complex religious structures we so love to fabricate. Both the ones made of stone and of beliefs.
Jesus reminds us that energy spent on structures is probably better spent on constructors. We could appreciate the builders around us now more than we have been, and ask what thing they are making that we could contribute to.
What is God building that your neighbors are already working on? How will your contribution bring attention away from existing structures and toward the new thing?