在2019年4月，著名的中世紀大教堂巴黎聖母院發生火災，燒毀了尖塔，以及支撐屋頂的橡木梁。修復大教堂的計劃很快就制定下來，世界各地的捐款也紛至沓來。工匠們開始進行修復這座古老的大教堂，他們採用與原建築相同的建築技術，以及相同類型的木材和石材。

公元前586年，尼布甲尼撒圍攻耶路撒冷時，下令軍隊焚燒上帝的聖殿，導致聖殿被毀（列王紀下25章9節）。數十年後，一群被擄到巴比倫的以色列人重新返回耶路撒冷，有些族長「為上帝的殿甘心獻上禮物，要把殿在原址重建起來」（以斯拉記2章68節，新譯本）。

他們修葺祭壇之後，「將銀子給石匠、木匠」，又從黎巴嫩經海運將香柏木送過來，用以建造聖殿的根基（3章7節）。雖然他們的重建工作遭到反對甚至被破壞，但最終工程完成了，上帝的子民再次在聖殿裡敬拜祂（6章14-22節）。

身為耶穌的門徒，我們就是上帝的殿（哥林多前書3章16-17節）。上帝裝備我們，使我們能持續扶持主內肢體，並且「互相建立」（帖撒羅尼迦前書5章11節），不是用木頭或石頭，而是用鼓勵的話語、禱告和屬靈的恩賜。

In April 2019, a fire broke out in Notre-Dame de Paris—the city’s famed medieval cathedral—destroying the spire and a “forest” of oak beams supporting the lead roof. Almost immediately, plans formed to restore the cathedral. Donations poured in from across the globe, and craftsmen have undertaken restoration using the same building techniques and the same types of timber and stone employed in the original structure.

When Nebuchadnezzar instructed his armies to set fire to God’s temple in 586 bc as part of his siege on Jerusalem, the structure was decimated (2 Kings 25:9). When the people returned to Jerusalem after decades in captivity in Babylon, they “gave freewill offerings toward the rebuilding of the house of God” (Ezra 2:68).

After tending first to the altar, they “gave money to the masons and carpenters” and secured “cedar logs by sea from Lebanon” to lay the temple’s foundation (3:7). Though their rebuilding efforts were opposed and even sabotaged, the task was finally completed, and God’s people once again worshiped Him in His temple (6:14-22).

As believers in Jesus, we—together—are God’s temple (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). God equips us to continuously restore fellow believers and “build each other up,” not with wood or stone, but with encouraging words, prayer, and spiritual gifts (1 Thessalonians 5:11).