God's Building Project 2010
I believe it is today that marks the opening on the new world’s largest building, the Burj Dubai. It has a fantastic, familiar look to it. Kind of like the designers took notes from the Wizard of Oz and the Never Ending Story. I almost want an evil sorcerer to take control of the building and sit in a big black throne on the top floor just because it would feel right. It has that wide base and craggily torso reaching up to that pointy spire you look for in an evil lair.
But I guess it doubles as a good, sturdy design too. I read somewhere that the Chicago company that designed the structure learned a lot about building high (not stoner high) with this one, and they’ve concluded that the world may see a building as tall as a mile in the near future.
In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul talks about what kind of building GOD is interested in developing, and he does it in the context of a church that has managed to remain worldly despite all opportunities to grow:
1But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not being merely human?
5What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their craftiness," 20and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile." 21So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
From what I know off hand about the Corinthian church, they were not exactly models for future churches to emulate. Specifically in this circumstance, Paul is chastising them for remaining in an infantile state when they should be on to more important items on the Sanctification agenda. The evidence of this was that the church was involved in useless quarrels about what PERSON’S ministry was better. Sound familiar? I have come to loathe these types of discussions… but probably not nearly enough. Sometimes there is nothing more satisfying to the flesh than a good throwing around of one's spiritual weight in the arenas of Who Is Wrong and Who is Right.
7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
Paul clarifies that PEOPLE in the Kingdom of God are at best SERVANTS and nothing more. God uses nobodies to accomplish His work by His grace. The worldly way of looking at it is to assume that God chooses only the most competent and skilled of His children to take the “really important” jobs, like talking in front of big crowds and gaining spiritual followings on Facebook. Nothing could be farther from the truth, and I’ve lost all patience for preaching that highlights the ministry of the speaker. I am not God, and I cannot breathe a testing fire onto the works of God’s servants. So why would I care to hear a personal pep rally? Judgment will reveal what type of building materials you have used and what has been built in you, so working for the approval of men is worthless. Teachers who lead people to themselves are promoting a worldly church and increasing divisions there within.
12Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it.
I used to think that if you are a Christian at least doing SOMETHING in this life, you’ll probably get at least SOME points with the Lord in heaven. These verses blow up that misconception. It is indeed possible to labor your whole life, building a Burj Dubai of straw and hay, only to have the carefully weaved masterpiece burnt to the ground by the Lord’s Judgment. What a sad day some folks are in for when their life’s work is engulfed in flames right before their eyes. It is a sobering thought.
Luckily, 1 Cor 3 shares with us the key to building a structure that will stand such high scrutiny.
1. The most important element of your structure must be the foundation. There is no other saving foundation mentioned than the foundation of Jesus Christ. This means there can be no strong buildings based in family values or good work ethic or even the Bible. What you do in this life and who you become must grow out of a real relationship with Jesus. I imagine that before some people start to develop this relationship, there may be a lot of deep digging to be done in order to reach the depths of who they are. No wonder it is so hard for deeply religious people to come to the Lord. Their foundations have already been laid. I have been recently asking myself What Foundation(s) Have I Been Building My Life's Work on? Is it Christ alone, or have I been building a guest house on the foundation of my own insecurities?
2. The second most important part of building an approved structure involves what will be built atop the foundation. The text mentions that there are a number of materials that may be used, some of which can withstand scrutiny and some that will barely stand by themselves. False teachers peddle the weakest of materials, often for a profit. Faithful servants of God hand out only the best of materials with no compromise on quality. Do you know the difference? Do I? Something tells me these are much more important questions than what size LCD TV I should get for my new apartment.
Here’s to beginning a new year with the right plans for a building that will pass God’s inspection standards.