Building Blocks

1 Corinthians 3:10-23

"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. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 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. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. 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. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”  So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are . Christ's, and Christ is God's."

Last summer a few friends and I lead a program for refugee children in El Cajon. Each morning we would come early to set up and go over the schedule for the day. Then we would pull out some games and wait for the kids to check in. Wes began a morning ritual early in the summer. He would gather all Jenga pieces and build towers. It was his goal to build the tallest tower he could. Of course there were obstacles. An uneven building surface, 5-6 eight-year olds wanting to "help", other kids playing tag in the room knocking against tables, etc. Creating a stable structure out of a bunch of blocks was not easy which made Wes even more proud when he created something that was worthy of having it's picture taken for future bragging rights. This week I read about the image of a temple being built. I'll admit I do not see myself as some who builds much of anything. 

However, truth is, we are all builders. As members of the church we build upon the firm foundation of Christ. It is our job to build up the body into maturity. But not everyone will build a good structure. That is why Paul warns us, "let each one take care how he builds." It may be easy to disregard this caution, thinking that it does not apply to you. But I loved something that Josh Reich said on Sunday at Revolution. He talked about how leadership is defined by influence. We all have a sphere that we influence, that we lead in some way, that we build up. Who are you leading? How are you doing that? This passage tells us that "each one's work will become manifest... it will be revealed by fire." How we build will be judged because each of us has the power to grow the church stronger in unity or to destroy it with quarreling and discord. 

But, and please don't miss this, I do not think that the judgment of our work is reason enough to build well upon the foundation. We should not work for unity in order to receive a prize. Paul ends this passage with a command. "Let no one boast in men." Do not elevate yourself or others due to pride or a need of control. Because, "all things are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's." This is a blessing. We have been given all things in Christ. We no longer need to strive for recognition or power on earth because we have all things. And still we are all unified in that we are all in Christ. He is the head of the Church and we submit all we have (which is everything) to Him. And we can trust Him because He submits to God the Father. Even unto death, He has proven that He will do the will of the Father to build the Kingdom of God. And so can we, not for a prize or even our own good. But for His glory.

*My sister Anna and David, her husband, came to visit this weekend (i'll post about that later) so this is the post that should have been up on 10/26

** If you want to go more in depth into this passage I encourage you to listen to John Piper's Sermons on it here and here.  

United

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

 ^"I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize alsothe household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power."

I married a Diamondbacks fan... it's not my favorite thing about my husband, but I deal with it. See, I am a Dodger fan. Born and raised. I may not follow them as closely as a diehard fan should, but no matter what state I live in I will proudly sport that beautiful blue (much to the dismay of my husband.) I think that is is fun to be a fanatic. We love to declare our allegiance to a team or a television show or even a pastor. How many times have I heard a person say, "Do you listen to  Piper? I love Piper!" only to hear, "Nah... I'm more of a Driscoll person." I mean, I've even heard people get into arguments over that kind of thing. Do you see how this is finally relating to 1 Corinthians? There is something in our human nature that wants something to belong to. The problem here, and so often in our culture, is the Corinthians were raising the wrong banner. 

Paul's plea in this passage is for the church to "be united."  He wants them to be of "the same mind and the same judgment." There is so much the church can learn from verse 10. If you want read more in depth about that call to unity, I encourage you to read John Piper's sermon, "The Nature of the Unity We Seek".  But the main idea that struck a cord with me is that we, as a body, are to be moving together toward a common goal with a shard purpose. Not only should our direction be the same (our mind), but our reason for that direction as well (our judgment). So often we get so caught up in what God has put right in front of us that we forget He has a global, eternal purpose for the Church. We are a part of the Church. We are a redeemed people through Christ who was crucified for us. The gospel unites us under one purpose which is the Kingdom of God. Along the way the Lord is so good to us. He is teaching individuals different things. He moves us in different directions and little by little convicts us, shaping us into vessels to be used for a specific end. However, if we get tunnel vision about a specific theological camp, or missional mindset, or way of doing ministry, we divide the Church. 

When I thought about how the Spirit unifies I was reminded of something my pastor, Josh Reich said on Sunday. He was talking specifically about seeking the will of God in our lives, but I think it applies here too. He said, "Anything that moves the mission of God forward, that makes more of Jesus and less of you, that is what the Spirit is all about!" That is the banner we should raise. United. Seeking the Kingdom for our good and His glory. 

And away we go...

Introduction

When it comes the Corinthians, they seem like so many other prosperous cities in the

Roman Empire. Large due to trade and military. Corrupt due to a pagan temple. And a

church that is caught somewhere between the indulgence of the city and the morality of

empty religion. I think this feels a lot like the world we live in today. But that makes sense.

There is nothing new under the sun. Sin is the same today as it was then. However, so is the

God we serve. He is the one who speaks light into the darkness. Paul writes to the

Corinthians in response to reports he has received from the church. He addresses internal

issues and answers questions they have about the specifics of Christian life. Something I

love about Paul is that he is very thematic. His epistles speak on many different subjects, but

woven through different topics is always one theme that he is driving home. In this letter,

Paul desires that the church be unified. I was amazed that in the greeting, just the first three

verses, Paul is already making clear the oneness of the Church body.

1 Corinthians 1:1-3

Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,

To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints

together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both

their Lord and ours:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

The word “our” is used 4 times in these 3 verses. Paul speaks of “our brother”, “our Lord

Jesus”, referring to Him as “their Lord and ours”, and “God our Father”. Paul is connecting

himself with the church. The God they serve is not theirs, He is ours. He is the thing that

unifies. And He doesn’t just unite Paul and the Corinthian church, He unites all believers

everywhere together. The letter is addressed “To the church of God that is in Corinth….

Together with all those who in every place call upon the name of out Lord Jesus Christ,”

When I read this it struck me that this letter was written to me as well. We cannot read this

letter and claim it is for another culture in another time. If we call on the name of Christ, this

letter is for us. If we call on the name of Christ, we are united with this church 2000 years ago

through His name.

This unity is through His name and it is for His name. In John 17:21 Jesus

prays, “that they may be one, just as You, Father are in Me, and I in You, that they also may

be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent me.” Our unity is for so much

more than brotherhood or solidarity. It is because when they see our love for our brothers

and a mutual sacrifice in order to have harmony, the world will take notice. They will

understand that Christ is who He says He is. I reflected on how many issues I take with

God’s people and how much that must grieve the Lord. I have an opportunity when there is

disagreement with a sister to not only preach (through my actions) the Gospel to that sister,

but also to the world watching. Christ laid down His life for me. I can humbly submit to others,

laying down my right to be right. I can fight for oneness in the church. I hope, as I join a new

church body, I will make that my goal. As far as I am able, I will fight for oneness for our good

and God’s glory.