Nehemiah Would Have Listened to NPR
I heard on NPR the other day that certain people have been ignored for decades. In the wake of the 2016 election, I heard that’s how conservatives feel—ignored for decades. The people being ignored, according to the NPR story are pockets of African Americans, whose communities have received less funding and even less Christian mercy from their white brothers and sisters in the suburbs. I feel that way, too: ignored. I feel small and helpless against the processes that guide and control our country, our communities, and even our churches. But we have to wonder: what’s the difference between “feeling” ignored and being ignored? Are they the same? Nehemiah has answers. As a bold leader, he always seemed to have answers. Too many foreign wives? Pull out some hair! Enemies at the gates? Carry a weapon in one hand and wall-building materials in the other! Things were simple for Nehemiah: he saw and problem and he fixed it. A social conservative and strong advocate of self-defe