I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, "You are charging your own people interest!" So I called together a large meeting to deal with them. – Nehemiah 5:7

Today's Scripture Reading (November 14, 2023): Nehemiah 5

In the mid-1970s, Canada made the change from Imperial measurements to the Metric System. Canada was not an early adopter of the Metric System; most of the world had already made the change from the Imperial System of measurement, including the United Kingdom, which most might have expected to be the last to change away from the Imperial System, long before Canada made the change. For Canada, a country that desired to expand its import/export possibilities into Europe, it made sense to make the change. With the move to the Metric System, trade would become both more accessible and cheaper with the majority Metric world.

In a parallel story taking place simultaneously, the United States also planned on making an identical change. As the largest trading partners of each other, having both countries using the same measurement system made sense. But we know the end of the story; Canada put on a brave face and moved into a metric future. The United States decided not to make the change. The United States decided to join Liberia and Myanmar as the only countries left in the world using the Imperial measurement system. But for many, even in the United States, Myanmar, and Liberia, people who work in areas that have to share data and results across nations, everything must be translated into the Metric System because that is how the rest of the world communicates weights and measures.

So why didn't the United States make the change? Because "We the People" opposed the change. We were used to thinking in Fahrenheit, pounds, and miles per hour. We didn't want to make the change, so the United States politicians decided to protect their jobs and choose the more expensive route of keeping the Imperial system.

We often think that speaking truth to power is telling truth to those in high positions. But sometimes, it is speaking truth to the masses, the ones who control the fates of a politician or a Pastor. I have often been accused of not speaking truth because my congregation might fire me. Or, maybe worse, people who I love might leave the church. And that is true. I have been fired, people have left, and I have even had people make up stories about me. Yet, at the same time, as a spiritual leader, I must be able to confront the sin that is within our fellowship, or I am not doing my job.

Nehemiah recognized that there was a problem. Some of the Israelites were excelling, making money, and getting rich. But most were getting poorer and poorer. Nehemiah is angry; this isn't what it should be like as the exiles try to make a home in their ancestral land. But it was even more challenging because his friends were the ones who were causing the problems.

Nehemiah spoke the truth, even though he knew he could offend the very people he needed to rebuild the nation. But before anything good could happen, Nehemiah had to have the ability to confront the powerful among the people of their sin. And hope that they would take Nehemiah's criticism, repent of their wrongdoing, and become part of the hope of rebuilding Jerusalem.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 6