The sword and the trowel
"From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me." (Nehemiah 4:16-18)
April 2, 2025
Dear friends,
I've been thinking about two aspects of the Christian life which may seem antithetical but are not. There is the constructive, upbuilding dimension which is positive in its outlook. And there is also the defensive, militant aspect, which is a more negative action, though positive in respect to what it protects. As children of God, and as citizens of his righteous kingdom, we are to be both builders and fighters.
The passage above, taken from the fourth chapter of Nehemiah, illustrates this. The Jews were seeking to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, while at the same time, being on guard against enemy attacks. They were to have the role of worker and soldier at the same time. The reconstruction would take place in the midst of severe opposition.
The great London preacher, Charles Spurgeon, published a monthly magazine called The Sword and The Trowel; A record of combat with sin and of labour for the Lord. It was published from 1865 to 1892. The cover of the journal had a drawing taken from Nehemiah 4, which included both a trowel (representing the work) and a sword (representing the fight). The sword was necessary to protect what the trowel was building. Those citizen-soldier-builders under Nehemiah would successfully complete the wall around Jerusalem in 445 BC.
This dual principle can be seen throughout Scripture. God's work goes forward in both demolition and construction. As believers, we are at the same time engaged in a work and a warfare. We too use both the sword and the trowel, spiritually considered. Consider these passages...
"So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." (Romans 6:11)
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind... Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good." (Romans 12:2, 9)
"For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ..." (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
"...the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." (Ephesians 2:21-22)
"...put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." (Ephesians 4:22-24)
"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil." (Ephesians 6:11)
"...you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood... I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul." (1 Peter 2:5, 11)
Note the contrasts: Dead to sin, alive to God. Not conformed but transformed. Abhor evil, cling to good. Putting off and putting on. Tearing down and building up. Living stones and war being waged.
It's my experience that most of us gravitate toward one end of that spectrum more than the other. Perhaps that's due to natural bent. Some of us want to be only positive, affirming, accepting, and nurturing, without judgment. Easy on ourselves and on other people. Others of us are quick to judge, quick to correct, and quick to reprove. We're ready to fight God's enemies -- those we perceive as enemies -- anywhere, any time.
Yet, the cause of Christ goes forward with both actions. We say no to indwelling sin and selfishness, and reckon ourselves alive to God; we deprogram our thinking from the world's influence, and revitalize our minds with God's word; we adhere to good doctrine and condemn false teaching; we resist the devil and all his schemes; we build up one another, and reprove when necessary; we lay aside our old lifestyles and clothe ourselves with the beauty of Christ.
In short, we embrace both the upbuilding work of God, and the necessary spiritual warfare to protect that work. In this world we need both the sword and the trowel.
IN OTHER READING.
-- More about Charles Spurgeon's periodical, The Sword and The Trowel here. Photo of the cover here.
-- "To a degree Postman could never have imagined, we must choose which truths—both facts and values—to believe." (Nathaniel Peters, in "Neil Postman: Amusing Democracy to Death")
-- "Why Our Children Don’t Want to Be Parents"...Collin Hansen interviews Nadya Williams.
FINAL QUOTES.
"There is much talk of the church being welcoming and affirming, of accepting people as they are. I don’t want God to accept me the way I am. I want God to transform me, to make me perfect. I am going to need a lot of transformation for that to happen. Our lives cannot remain the same when all our desires and loyalties are directed to the way in which Jesus loved. The gospel is not 'you are accepted.' That’s not love. That message is but a way of escaping the necessity of judgment on ourselves, ensuring we will have shallow souls. I’m not content with accepting anyone just the way they are. As others have observed, about the worst advice you can give anyone is to be themselves." (Stanley Hauerwas, Jesus Changes Everything)
"A person who has seen one million television commercials might well believe that all political problems have fast solutions through simple measures—or ought to. Or that complex language is not to be trusted, and that all problems lend themselves to theatrical expression. Or that argument is in bad taste, and leads only to an intolerable uncertainty. Such a person may also come to believe that it is not necessary to draw any line between politics and other forms of social life." (Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death)
"It is not for us to enlist God on our side or for our cause, however righteous our cause may be. Rather, we need to be enlisted by God and to fight in His cause." (James Boice)
That's it for this week!
Sandy
Afterwords is an occasional newsletter on topics of interest to me (Sandy Young) since my retirement from full-time pastoral ministry. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.