Demo Day
A few weeks ago, the city started the demolition of Spohn Memorial Hospital. Slotted for demo for 10 years now, Memorial opened its doors 1944 but has since become too expensive to upkeep. The hospital sits right behind my office building, so I have had a front row seat to the demolition process. Think of it as Chip Gaines’ Demo Day, but way bigger and way more impressive.
For a while they were simply demoing the surrounding parking structures, metal awnings, and whatnot. But last week, they began tearing down the big structure itself.
Here is a photo from November 28, taken at 4:06 PM, when they first started to attack the front of the building.
11/28/2022, Memorial Hospital, Corpus Christi, Texas
Here is a photo from December 5 at 8:35 AM, only one week later.
12/05/2022, Memorial Hospital, Corpus Christi, Texas
One week. One week of demo was all it took to make Memorial Hospital unrecognizable. This building that was used for good to provide health care for our community since 1944 will be gone before the end of the year.
Now, how many of you know this building took much longer than one week to build? Building a hospital, a home, a bridge, a car—these things take time. Time to make sure that the process is done correctly, safely, to ensure that the project will stand the test of time for years to come. Building something is a long and tedious process. But demo? Demo can happen in a moment.
And I bet, my friend, you can see where I am going with this.
Our relationships are like buildings. We build them with care, through our actions, our words, our love. We build them up to stand against the storms of life. We build them to be safe spaces where we can go to be protected and cared for and comforted. We build relationships so we have people to rejoice with when we are living in the joy of the mountain top and so we have people to come alongside us when we are in the sorrow of the valley. God built us to be in relationship with Him and relationship with one another. Relationships are a good and precious thing we have the privilege to experience.
Relationships are like buildings—they take years to develop and build, but can be damaged in the blink of an eye. Our demo tools in relationships aren’t cranes and bulldozers; they’re the quick words we wish we could take back, the moments in which we weren’t there for the people who needed us the most, the thoughtless ways we treat each other, and the times when we let our anger, our bitterness, or our frustration get the better of us. Recall this verse from James 1:
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”
-James 1:19-20 NIV
Don’t allow the enemy to find a foothold to attack your relationships during this season. Be on your guard. Be quick to actively listen to others, slow to speak, and slow to anger.
People are complicated.
Relationships are complicated.
People are hard to love.
I am hard to love.
But we are called to love in such a way that surpasses all worldly understanding. We are meant to love unconditionally, to love selflessly, to love our friends and our families and our enemies as we love ourselves. To love others before they show love to us. To love in the crazy way that Jesus loves.
And here is some really good news: A demo day is not a death sentence for a relationship. Restoration is real and it is possible.
My grandparents’ house was destroyed by Hurricane Harvey. Demo teams went in in the weeks that followed the hurricane to finish the demo job nature started to prep for the restoration. The demo took less than 3 weeks. The restoration took 18 months. But now, the house is stronger and even more beautiful than before the storm.
Restoration is hard and it is going to cost you greatly. It is going to cost you time you won’t get back. It is going to cost you energy you may feel you don’t have right now. It will cost you emotionally—you’re going to need to be open and vulnerable and that is a scary position to be in. But if you rebuild and restore on the right foundation (Christ) and with the right tools (love and joy, peace and patience, kindness and goodness, faithfulness and gentleness, and self-control) your relationships will be even stronger than before.
For many, this information wasn’t new. If you fall in that group, good—let this be a reminder to allow God to order every one of your steps, every word from your mouth, so that it can be ordered in love. Cherish your relationships and show the people you care for how much you love them by giving them your greatest nonrenewable resources you have—your time.
But if you’re reading this and you’re finding yourself thinking that this message of restored relationships and crazy love is new, then let’s talk about it. Let’s dive in to how we can be better at relationships and better at loving everyone around us. Love isn’t a feeling—it’s a skill that with the help of the Holy Spirit we practice and learn and grow in.
And remember, though relational demolition may happen in a moment, it does not equal the death of a relationship. Restoration is possible but it starts with Jesus and continues with you.
If you want to read a bit further on crazy love, check out Romans 12:9-21 and read about the marks of a true believer.
And here’s a worship song to go along with the message:
