“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.” (Matthew 7:24-27 The Message Bible)
In a book written by Wilma Gibbs Moore, a graduate of Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis, after earning her undergraduate degree and master’s in library and information science, she published a book entitled “Indiana’s African American Heritage” in 2022 (HIS Press). The work includes a number of essays edited by this award winning and celebrated author. One of the essays, “Building A Community: The Architecture of William Wilson Cooke,” was penned by Tiffany Tolbert. Ms. Tolbert’s essay described the founding of Gary, Indiana. An excerpt from her opening paragraph says, “Gary, Indiana, was founded in 1906 by the U.S. Steel Corporation, which was looking for a location to build a modern manufacturing plant. In preparation for the plant, U.S. Steel began acquiring land east of Whiting, Indiana, until it had assembled a seven-mile, nine-thousand-acre tract along Lake Michigan. The city itself was created largely out of necessity by the company, which led Gary to become a home to those looking for a better life.”
After reading the first paragraph of this enlightening chapter, I paused and thought how much work we have to do as Christians, in every city of the United States. Yes, we need to emulate the initiative and intended goal of the U.S. Steel Corporation. For out of necessity, due to the rising rate of crime, the daily reports of youth and young adult gun violence, and the decline of moral standards; standards based on secular noise and not the sacred good news found in the word of God, we, speaking of believers, need to re-create out cities to become a home for those looking for a better life. We must do this out of necessity. After all, Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth,” speaking of His followers. I’m sure you know that salt purifies, protects, preserves, prolongs the existence of good things, perfects, and persists. Out of necessity, we must proactively, starting in our homes, return out of necessity to making our cities a place where people can find a better life. What will it take? Some may suggest new not-for-profit initiative and community programs. Well, I have other remedies. How about returning to the times where we emphasized building our house on the rock versus the sand? How about parents remembering that they are to bring up their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord? How about making church a requirement and not an option? Shouldn’t applying the law of Christ be a means to an outcome that will make life better in our cities? Just what is the law of Christ I am mentioning? It is, “Treat others as you would like to be treated.” If you went over the law of Christ to quick, remember the command of Christ to “love one another.”
Out of necessity, the re-creation of our cities, here in the U.S.A. and across the world, must start in our individual spaces and the places where we can model good morals and manifest continuous examples for the new generations to follow. It starts with you and me, individually, out of necessity.
Before I close, I have to thank God because out of necessity, we as believers, those who have accepted Jesus by faith and have been saved by grace; God has provided us with a new city that we will inhabit one of these days. Well, I hope today’s meditation will impact you, instill a need to invest in having a positive impact where you are, out of necessity. Be blessed!
“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling places of the Most High.” (Psalm 46:4 The Amplified Bible)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King