Preachers

“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.”
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 NLT

Paul wasn’t a builder by profession, although his job as a tent maker was close. In his life, he had probably seen buildings erected, and he knew the importance of foundations that would stand the test of time. And he also knew that, then, as now, society had a building industry that sometimes used cheaper and inferior materials, cutting corners and generating more profit for the builders. In the analogy that Paul was using, he was the one who laid the foundations for the Corinthian church. He came to Corinth in about 51AD and started to tell the Jews there about Jesus when he attended their synagogue. “Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike” (Acts 18:4). But in the end, he gave up because of their hard hearts and left to start the church in a home next door to the synagogue. “Then he left and went to the home of Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God and lived next door to the synagogue” (Acts 18:7). It was here that Paul laid the foundation for the Corinthian church, “So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half, teaching the word of God” (Acts 18:11). What did he teach? 1 Corinthians 2:2, “For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified“. This is important in terms of foundation laying, because building on anything other than “Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified” would have been like building on the sand we considered yesterday in the parable of the wise and foolish builders. 

But over the years, there have been many churches, fellowships, groups, sects, and ideologies that all claim to have been founded on Jesus, but many have introduced a subtle change or interpretation that ignores the central facets of the Foundation and have built on something else. It started in the early church days with, for example, movements like Gnosticism. This centred on the idea of gnosis, or secret knowledge, that could liberate individuals from the material world and connect them with a higher spiritual realm. Key to Gnostic thought was the belief that the material world was inherently flawed or evil, created by a lesser deity, while a higher, transcendent God existed beyond it. This movement clashed with Jewish and Christian believers, who considered it for what it was – heresy. Then we have Marcionism, which believed that the God of the Old Testament was different from the God of the New Testament, and its followers rejected the Old Testament. And then we have the Montanists, which was a movement emphasising prophecy and the direct experience of the Holy Spirit, believing their revelations superseded existing Christian teachings. Many others flourished in those early days, and they all were marked out by their false foundations. 

In modern days, some sects that call themselves Christian have attracted followings and have established their own denominations and churches. For example, we have the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who believe that Jesus was not God, and the Mormons, who claim to be Christian but aren’t. Both of these have one thing in common, in that they claimed to have divine knowledge imparted to them by their own founders.  And there are other sects that have emerged over the years. Such groups and sects have confused and misguided people into believing something untrue. 

In yesterday’s blog, we considered Jesus, the only true Foundation. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). A bold and unequivocal statement that has been the true foundation of the Christian church ever since, and is something central to our faith. After Paul had established the Corinthian church, other men of God built up the believers there, men such as Apollos. What building materials did they use – “gold, silver, jewels?” or  “wood, hay, or straw”? The precious metals and gems were an analogy of the truth about Jesus and what He taught. In those days, there was no availability of the New Testament as we know it today, so the quality building materials used would have been through Godly men and women who knew the Truth. Paul gave a clue as to how when he wrote, “And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:4). The quality builders like Paul and Apollos had one thing in common, and that was the revelation of Jesus through the Holy Spirit within them. We know this from John 16:13, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future“. Truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Truth in building the foundations and truth in building the Church. 

What would the “wood, hay or straw” have been? Teaching that distorts the message of Christ or waters down the truth. Such a definition fits very well with the JW and Mormon sects we have with us today. As another example, I was once in a church that decided to preach a series of sermons based on a popular Christian book. I can’t remember which one, but the issue for me was that the preachers were being a bit lazy in taking ready-made sermon material from a book rather than seeking the Holy Spirit for “gold, silver and jewels” to include in their messages. Another danger is with AI-based applications, such as using ChatGPT, which will provide a sermon outline very easily and plausibly. Did I use this when writing this blog or any other? No, I prefer to set down thoughts inspired by the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, the Bible. But back to our Corinthian builders. Did they end up building wood, hay or straw in the lives of their audience? As a warning, Paul went on to write what will happen on Judgement Day. On this terrible day, fire will destroy what is of no value, but more on this tomorrow.

In the meantime, are we pilgrims in a place where we are being built up by the washing of the Word? Ephesians 5:25-27, “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault“. We need to be in a place where we can read, believe and apply God’s Word in our lives. Through personal study of the Bible and through listening attentively to the preaching of a Godly “builder” from the pulpit. There is no other way to be built up in our faith. We are built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, and our lives since have been built by following His truth, and none other.

Dear Lord Jesus, only You have the truth that leads to eternal life. Only You are the One who is the correct foundation for Your brothers and sisters in the faith. And we pray for our leaders, that You will lead and guide them in Your ways and in Your truth. In Your precious name. Amen.