Of Incomplete Buildings

Of Incomplete Buildings[1]

“Hey! Look there Ollie; yet another incomplete building!” Xing Yi pointed out. It was incomplete to say the least. It was a hulking, derelict skeleton of a building with scrap and trash strewn over the yard. The walls looked faded and dirty with gaping holes where the windows should be. It looked deserted and sad; a stark contrast to the complete buildings on the left and right that teems with life.

The Youth and Young Adult Mission 06 team to Indonesia had just arrived in the crowded and bustling city of Jakarta. The humidity hit us like a wave from a tsunami. In between beads of perspiration in a mini-bus with an air-con blowing at full strength, we surveyed the city of 16 million souls as we made our way to the OMF guest house. Along the way, we noticed an incomplete bridge that ended abruptly next to the expressway we were traveling on. Wendy said that incomplete roads, bridges, buildings and structures were common in Indonesia. A project is planned, starts and midway through, the funds strangely are insufficient to complete it.

A similar scene was repeated later in the evening as we left the serene refuge of the OMF Guest House to walk our way to the shopping mall to purchase snacks and sweets for gift-packs and for our first dinner in Jakarta. Even along a busy thoroughfare, there were incomplete decrepit buildings and structures that stand mutely as the people passed them by. Xing Yi and myself looked at each building and wondered what were they originally meant for. What were their purposes? Perhaps a commercial building for thriving businesses? Or a residential complex providing homes for the people? Or a school serving to educate and inspire? We did not know. The buildings were incomplete; their purpose forgotten.

Back in the OMF Guesthouse I reflected on the life of Faith we are called to in Christ Jesus. How we too like the buildings, could easily have our purpose forgotten and our calling incomplete. We could start off with well-thought out and well-intentioned plans and find that in the process of living the life of Faith that we get side-tracked, our priorities shift and what we were meant to do lies incomplete. How then can avoid the fate of the incomplete decrepit buildings, mute and silent, purpose forgotten?

I recalled then that we have an example - Jesus. Jesus “pioneered” the path of faith Christians should follow. He also “perfected” the way of faith since He reached its end successfully.^[2]

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV)

Like the plans for the buildings, we too have a blue-print in Jesus; and it is not hidden. The word “marked” in Hebrews 12:1 originally means “to lie or be placed before (a person or a thing) or in front of.^[3]” We have an example right in front of us. Christ is both the exemplar and the enabler. We not only have a blue-print by his example; Christ will enable the completion of our lives of Faith. We will accomplish our purpose, achieving what we were meant to do.

And how are we to do so? We are to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” and run with perseverance the race – the life of Faith before us. This is reiterated in Hebrews 12:2; the word “fix” originally means “to turn the eyes away from other things and fix them on something^[4].” Not only does it mean that we are to keep our eyes on Jesus, we are to actively turn our eyes from other things – our self-centred ambitions, our self-fulfilling material wants, our self-seeking relationships. We need to re-examine our priorities and re-fix our attention on Jesus. We would then be able to complete our lives of faith; our purposes fulfilled. And like the completed buildings fulfilling their purposes and teeming with life.

Ollie

Jan 2007

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[1] This article was inspired by the Grace Baptist Church YYA Missions 06 trip to Indonesia from 13 to 20 Dec 2006.

^[2]Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. 1983-c1985. The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures. Victor Books: Wheaton, IL

^[3],4 Strong, J. 1996. The exhaustive concordance of the Bible : Showing every word of the test of the common English version of the canonical books, and every occurence of each word in regular order. (electronic ed.) . Woodside Bible Fellowship.: Ontario