"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people. "
Proverbs 14:34
A LOT OF PRAYING TO DO
Read It: Nehemiah 1:1-11 he book of Nehemiah tells about a remarkable man who knew God, knew what society needed, and brought them together. Few people are nation-builders. Even fewer are nation rebuilders. Nehemiah was one. We need to spend time with him. We'll take the last two weeks in our study on transforming culture to consider Nehemiah-the book and the man. The tip-off to the kind of man Nehemiah was is here in chapter 1. He was "cupbearer to the king" of Persia (v. 11), an Israelite living as part of the community in exile. When he learned about the degradation and the deterioration in his homeland, the first thing Nehemiah did was pray. The prayer recorded in this chapter shows that Nehemiah definitely knew how to pray. He prayed on behalf of himself and his nation, asking God to forgive give their sins and to give him another opportunity to turn things around. Nehemiah also knew that God could work through the Persian government, ernment, because he asked God to give him favor before King Artaxerxes, to whom Nehemiah was a trusted adviser. Nehemiah was willing to use his strategic role to help rebuild the community of God back in Jerusalem. Nehemiah 1 teaches us an important principle about cultural transformation. formation. He understood that the deterioration of culture is first and foremost most a spiritual issue. Until the spiritual dynamics have been addressed, you cannot properly address the social, economic, or political realms. We keep trying though. People have meetings and draw up strategies.
Because God's people have failed to a large degree to inform the culture of the spiritual dynamics involved in rebuilding a community, nothing that is put in place will do the job right. For example, our society has touted abortion as the answer to unwanted children and teenage pregnancy, and now it's legalized. But abortion is the shedding of innocent blood. At the same time, people are decrying the horrible increase in violence. Well, the Bible makes it clear that when people shed innocent blood, God will require it at their hands. What we are seeing is not coincidence, but God's judgment. We had better get busy praying! Think About It This is a spiritual issue, and things won't happen until people like you and me bring righteousness into the public square.
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