Asbestos

Having worked on managing a couple buildings now, I've learned how established a threat asbestos is to the cost of renovation projects, and its largely due to its health risks. It's still a high-revenue search term for Google.

In Mark Twain's essay on “The Turning-Point of My Life” he made reference to “Martin Luther and Joan of Arc” as having “temperaments not made of butter, but of asbestos.” Having been written more than a few decades before many of the buildings I knew with asbestos, that led me to look up the word. In the definition I discovered why asbestos was used so commonly before its health risks were known: Asbestos is a fire retardant.

Speaking of fire retardant… I know it's fallen out of favor for Christians to tell people they need to avoid the lake of fire, but they do. Being on fire forever is not an enjoyable way to spend eternity. Referring to the Gospel of Jesus Christ as “fire insurance” is meant as a term of derision, but I hope no one ever hears me mocking that motivation. Yes, the Gospel becomes more based on love than fear for a believer, but I have no hesitation whatsoever about using whatever means of truth may motivate someone to accept with urgency the saving message of Jesus. Given that “there is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18; Psalm 36:1), the truth of eternal judgment is more motivation for believers anyway.

Better than asbestos, instead of alternate problems, Jesus brings healing.