One Word 2021: Build
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Early in January, as the world seemed to be exploding, a thoughtful writer I follow penned these words on an Instagram post:
“Look for the Light ...
it will show us who we are.
Tell the truth, though it hurts. Repent.
Then lay down our swords and pick up our tools: tools for building, repairing, healing, and cultivating.
This is how we join the One who is making everything new.”
When I read that, I thought, that’s who I want to be. I want to be a builder. Someone who builds up others. Builds up families. Builds up the church.
Oh, how our world needs builders today when all around us so much tearing down is taking place. We tear down houses right and left, unappreciative or unaware of their history. We tear down each other with words hastily chosen. We tear down our institutions that have served us for generations.
We are so good at tearing down. But building? Not so much.
In these times, I feel like God is calling me to be a builder with my words. Not to criticize. Not to point fingers. Not to call out. I’ve done enough of that.
Just build.
We’re watching a fascinating TV series right now called “Escape to the Chateau.” An endearing couple, Dick and Angel, bought a broken-down chateau in the middle of France with a dream of turning it into a thriving business and a home for their family. The place was uninhabitable at first—floors that threatened to break through; a roof with holes in it; no plumbing, heating, or hot water.
The place was a wreck. A shell of a home.
But through their loving care—both of the home and of their family—this couple has transformed that decrepit old mansion, a place nobody wanted, into the place of their dreams. They have taken up shovels and drills and ploughs and trowels and have patiently and carefully built something beautiful.
Each episode, we marvel at the amount of work it takes to build this place back up again (not to mention the money it must take!). But these homeowners aren’t afraid of a little hard work—they just dig in and ignore the obstacles.
There’s a lesson here, I think. And it’s not too hard to see—building is so much harder than tearing down. It’s easy to let a chateau sit unattended for forty years. To let bats nest in the rafters and critters take over the kitchen. To allow floorboards to rot and the roof to collapse.
Tearing down is easy. Building is hard.
Building takes time and effort. It can be backbreaking and exhausting. Building takes patience and time and love.
And mutual acceptance.
One of the most outstanding traits I’ve noticed about the owners, Dick and Angel, is how accepting they are of each other. When one has a problem, they aren’t afraid to tell the other, knowing they will receive gracious help rather than bitter resentment. When one has an outlandish idea, the other says, “Let’s go for it!” rather than “That will never work.”
They are both unique individuals, creatives in their own way, and yet they accept one another just as they are, knowing that each one has something to contribute to the outcome. It’s a beautiful thing to watch.
This word was simmering in my mind as I recently read through 1 Corinthians; I was stunned by how many building references Paul uses.
“According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. 3:10-11
“This ‘knowledge’ puffs up, but love builds up.” 1 Cor. 8:1
“’All things are lawful,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.” 1 Cor. 10:23-24
God is clearly calling his church to be builders, to show cooperation, acceptance, and love to one another for the mutual edification of one another. Yet, right now, it seems a lot of people want to tear down. And soon, I’m afraid, after all the tearing down, what will be left of the church will be a shell of its former glory, full of holes and rot and vermin.
*****
As I waited for God to show me what word he wanted me to focus on, I watched our country become a place of tearing down, of division, of hatred. And some used the church as an excuse for their behavior.
This saddens me greatly. And yet, I often don’t know what to do about it.
Then, I read Christy’s words. At the same time that I was reading 1 Corinthians. And, yes, watching a TV show.
All of these things came together to give me the word I feel like God wants me to not just focus on this year, but to BE.
Build.
I will fail at times, I’m already pretty sure of this. I’m hasty with my words, unloving, unkind. I do my fair share of tearing down.
Yet, I think God can use this word to help me grow. To keep me aware and on the lookout for places where I can build up rather than tear down.
My hope in the next year is that the Lord would use me and the words I write to help build his church, to help build the faith of others, to help build families. I know the work won’t be easy—as I’ve said, building takes so much longer than tearing down—but I feel this gnawing in my bones to begin.
Lord, in 2021, help me to be a builder.
“So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” Rom. 14:19
