Building God's Church
Well it's great to celebrate two years in this great building, to see how well it's been used over that time and how well the congregation has grown. But perhaps a day like this is an opportunity for us to stop and think about what sort of church we're building and how to make it stronger. In the passage we're looking at today Paul uses the image of a building to describe the Church. In fact he uses three different metaphors to teach the Corinthians what it takes to build a healthy church. So let's look at the passage and see what we can learn for ourselves.
He begins by pointing out that no matter how mature they thought they were, their actions actually showed the opposite. They thought they were filled with the Spirit and so were mature Christians but what he sees is quarrelling and jealousy.
Servants
There were some who were claiming to be followers of Paul, some who were followers of Apollos, and others who were followers of Peter, and then there were the super-spiritual types who were followers of Christ.
Christian leadership gurus go back a long way, don't they? So what's wrong with having your favourite leader? Well, the problem is that it misunderstands the nature of Christian leadership; and it misunderstands the source of growth in the church. Now can I say we don't have this particular problem here; we don't have factions wanting to put me up against Ivy or George up against Kian Gee, but we do have something a bit like it. e.g. I know there's a lot of concern about the fact that George and Ivy and I are all leaving in the next few months and you wonder what's going to happen then, as though everything depends on us. Some may even be thinking of leaving because we're not going to be here. But as we find here there's no reason to leave, in fact every reason to stay, because it doesn't all depend on us. He says 'What are Paul and Apollos? Mere Servants!' Yes they came to believe through their ministry, just as some of you have come to faith and have grown through our ministry, but they and we were just servants working for the master.
He goes on to use two further metaphors from everyday life to illustrate his point: one from agriculture and one from architecture.
First, he says, Paul and Apollos have been like servants in a garden or on a farm; one's planted, the other has watered. So which is the one that matters most? Well, neither. What matters is God who gives the growth.
Will the plant grow if it isn't planted? No. Will it grow if no-one waters it? No. What if the waterer waters the wrong piece of soil? The seed won't grow then either. Both are vital tasks. But neither is more important than the other. They're in fact fellow servants of the one God: equal in importance and value.
Look around you today. What do you see? I hope you can see not just an odd bunch of people but a team of workers called by God to work together to grow his church. Who's the most important person here? You don't know do you?
You see, we're all equally important members of God's workforce. There are no part-time Christians in the Church; at least there shouldn't be. Some of us are the ones who plant the seed of the gospel, through our words or our actions. Some are those who make the last connection for someone when they finally take the step of faith in Jesus Christ. Others water the seed until it comes to fruition or nurture the plant after it's sprung into life through our encouragement or our discipling in small groups or one to one. But without all of those tasks being accomplished by you and me the plant won't thrive. In fact it could wither and die. When George and Ivy and I go you'll still be here growing God's church together. Your new Vicar will assist you to do that when he or she comes, but you need to make sure that it continues to be a team effort because this is your church not just ours.
Leaders matter, but only ever as servants of God, never as gurus or figureheads. We need to treat them as leaders, to pay attention to what they say and be willing to follow them but at the same time being careful that we don't raise them to a place above the community. Let's never forget that we're each fellow workers for God, serving together on God's project, the Church.
The only foundation
But if the church is like a garden, needing to be planted and watered, it's also like a building. So he says you're God's building. He's worked on setting the foundations in place and now someone else is building on them.
So what does a building need if it's to be well built? Now let me tell you I know a little bit about this because I've done it a couple of times. Not from scratch but renovating an existing house. So what do we need? Well, first we need a good architect to design the structure, to make sure that the structure will be sound and especially to make sure that the foundations are good and the design is solid. Then we need an expert builder and tradespeople who'll follow the design correctly, who'll apply the appropriate skills to their task, who'll use the right tools and the right material to build a solid structure that won't fall down in the first strong wind or that won't leak if we get heavy rain.
Well, again, this is an analogy of the way the church is built up. Paul says he laid a foundation like an expert builder and now someone else is building on it. But the test of each successive builder will be whether they follow the original design or try to change it, whether they build on the foundation that's been established or try to modify it.
In fact where the church is concerned there've been many builders involved, over 2000 years, and it's still being built. I'm reminded of the cathedral in Barcelona, designed by Antonio Gaudi, called the Temple de la Sagrada Familia. It was begun in 1883 but was never finished due to his sudden death in 1926. However after his death the task of completing this incredible building was restarted and still continues today seen over by an Australian architect. They say it might be finished by the late 20s.
Now that's not far off the picture of the church we have here, is it? It's a building that continues to be constructed with every new generation. And looking back you can see how sometimes the walls had begun to sag or the roof had begun to leak. Why? Because someone has tried to build on a different foundation and the structure has become a bit wonky. Or someone has said or done something, introduced some new principal that's undermined the foundation.
So what's the foundation we should be building on?
Some thought it was Paul and his preaching. Others thought it was the Jewish law. Still others thought it was the eloquence of Apollo. But no, there's only one foundation on which the church can be built with any confidence: Jesus Christ the Lord. Look back to 2:5. What was the basis on which the church was established? - 'your faith rests not on human wisdom but on God's power.' Whenever we hear someone promoting an idea, a theology, that's based on human wisdom and philosophy, we should apply this test: is it, at its foundation, centred on Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection? Is it coming to us with God's power or with the power of public opinion? Is it based on some reinterpretation of Scripture that gets rid of the bits we don't like; or based on some blend of Christianity and Eastern or new age religions; or has it been watered down by pressure from the humanism and atheism of our world?
Paul says make sure you stick to the true foundation that God has given us. If we're to build God's Church together we need to build it on the one foundation of Jesus Christ, seeking a unity that comes from having that and only that foundation.
Playing with fire
By the way, notice God understands the way humans operate. So he offers us incentives for faithful service. We're told we'll each receive a reward for our effort. But our heavenly reward will be determined by the quality of our building here on earth.
You see, there's a stern warning here for us. Be careful how you build because it'll be tested by fire. And be careful too, because the fire he's talking about may be sooner than the last day. 1 Pet 1:5 talks about how our faith is being tested as through fire. The building we're working on needs to be built of solid material. It's no good building something out of light timber or cardboard then plastering over it so it looks solid. That sort of building crumples at the first bit of pressure. And the church is under constant pressure, now as much as ever. So the question is, will it survive, or will it crumble? Will what we build stand up to those pressures. Well what will determine that? Isn't it whether it's been built on the right foundation and with solid materials?
And notice that if any should not just build badly but destroy part of God's church they face the judgement of God. Why? Because we, that is the church, are God's temple. So those who by their false teaching lead people away from Christ are actually damaging not just a few individuals' faith, but the temple of God.
So who do you belong to? Not Paul or Peter or Apollos, not me or George or Ivy. In fact we all belong to you, because you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. Here is true wisdom. If you're on God's side it doesn't matter who else is on your side or not. You're with the winning team. So first get the foundations right and the rest will follow naturally.
So let's work together as servants, building on the one foundation, Jesus Christ, so as to build up the church in unity according to God's wisdom, not human wisdom.