1 Corinthians 3:10-13 The Church’s One Foundation
1/26/03 D. Marion Clark
Introduction
I am amazed at times at how well the scripture for the sermon fits the occasion of the day, considering that the text is chosen without my knowledge of the circumstance. I could not have selected a more appropriate passage than the one that by “chance” falls on this Sunday. Perhaps there is something to the providence of God and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to guide the preaching of the Word.
What is to be the foundation of a church, and how then should the builders build upon it? Paul, who laid the foundation for the Corinth Church, is concern about how the leaders he left in charge are continuing the work.
Text
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. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Paul develops the analogy he introduced in verse 9: For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. Using the concept of the Corinth Church as a building, he talks about the work that must be done. Consider what Paul says about himself. He notes that he does his job “according to the grace of God given [him].” This fits what he has previously said about himself and Apollos. They are no more than servants carrying on the special tasks that the Lord has given each. What Paul means by “grace” is both the decision of God to give him his work and the gift to enable him in his work. By God’s grace Paul is called. God then gives a “grace-gift” to fulfill the call.
Paul likens his work to that of being a foundation layer. He does not see himself as the builder who continues the work until the building is completed. That is an accurate depiction of his history in the book of Acts. Paul would travel to a place that had not heard the gospel. He would then proclaim it, get a church started, and leave. In some cases he would appoint and prepare church members to serve as elders, such as recorded in Acts 14:23. Other times he would leave his assistants to complete that training for him. As he wrote to Titus, for example, This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you (Titus 1:5).
The term for “master builder” in Greek is “architecton.” You don’t have to be knowledgeable in linguistics to catch that this term is the root for our English word “architect.” Paul was a laborer, certainly, but here he is comparing himself to that of an architect or engineer. I’ve laid foundation as a construction laborer and neither a master of the work, nor particularly wise. But I could follow orders to dig dirt, tie reinforcement bars, and then fill the ditches with concrete. Knowing how deep to dig, where to dig, what kind and how much “rebar,” and how much concrete was needed to sustain the building intended – for that I was clueless. For that type of knowledge, a wise builder is needed.
Paul is such a builder for he understands exactly what the foundation must be – Jesus Christ. Paul did come up with this idea on his own. Jesus spoke of the same thing. After his disciple Peter confessed him as “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16), Jesus told him that it was on such a rock that he would build his church. The rock was the substance of what Peter professed – Jesus’ work as the Christ, i.e. the Messiah.
But Paul, being the scholar of Scripture that he was, probably had in mind Isaiah 28:16:
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD,
“Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion,
a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation.
Jesus is that stone that has become the foundation for his church.
Paul then warns the builders who have the job of building on his foundation work: be careful how you build. Paul is not complaining that others are building on his work. He is expecting others to do that job. But he is concerned in the case of Corinth with the quality of labor.
12 Now 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.
As I’ve indicated, it is evident that Paul is doubtful about the work of the Corinth leaders surviving the test. What is he troubled by? Is he thinking of Apollos? Probably not. He never has a bad word about Apollos. Plus, Apollos left Corinth and has even been with Paul before this letter was written. As verse 10 notes, Paul is concerned with the building that is going on at the moment.
To reach our answer, think again the issue that Paul has been addressing. The Corinth saints have become enamored with what? Wisdom, sophia. It may be the wisdom of the mystery cults or that of secular philosophy; as long as it sounds impressive, they like it. What has Paul contended? That the message of the cross, though it is foolishness to the world, is the real wisdom of God.
Think now of the foundation Paul contends that he has laid. It is Jesus Christ. But what does he mean to say that Jesus is the foundation? The Corinthians would agree that Jesus is the foundation and still have something different in mind than Paul. They could mean that Jesus’ teachings are the foundation or that the mystery teachings of his Spirit, which they can attain through their new charismatic gifts of knowledge, make up the foundation. We know by now what Paul believes. The foundation is the work that Christ has done on the cross. It is the message of the cross upon which, and with which, the church is to be built.
The Corinthian builders have gotten away from this principle. Paul’s gospel preaching is too dull; his building has quickly become out-dated. Can’t he see that a new age has come, the age of the Holy Spirit that is manifested by power and wisdom? The cross is fine for its place. Perhaps it does make a good foundation, but once you start building you cover it up. By the way, they would have caught Paul’s drift when he referred to himself as a “wise” master builder. The Greek word is “sophia,” the same word for wisdom that they claim for themselves. Perhaps Paul was a wise builder of foundations, but he needs to leave the real work of what goes on top to them.
They need to hear this master builder’s warning. What is Paul getting at with this list of building materials? The first three are materials used for the temple. The gold and silver were used for ornament. The precious stones may be costly marble. Wood, hay and straw were the materials for common homes. Paul does not contrast the materials by saying that one group is more valuable than the other. The contrast is how well the materials will stand up when tested by fire. As verse 13 notes: 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. “The Day” is the Day of Judgment. Paul is warning the church leaders and teachers that when the Day of Judgment comes, the quality of their workmanship in building Christ’s church will be exposed for what it really is. If their work was of good quality, then that will be made clear; if it is of poor quality, that too will be shown. How will they be revealed? The fire reveals by testing the material. It either leaves the material still standing, or it destroys it.
Lessons
The lesson of this text is clearly intended for the leaders of the church. Poor elders; they get singled out! The ministers of the church are included in that group, so I don’t escape either. Paul is sticking his finger at us and saying, “Careful! Beware of how you build on the foundation. One day your work is going to be judged by God.”
No wonder elders get edgy about the decisions they make! Today we are having a wonderful celebration for the thirty years of being a church. We are thinking nice thoughts about ourselves. Then we have to read Paul who shakes his head and says, “We’ll see. We’ll see what this church is made of come the Judgment Day.” And then he glares at the elders and ministers! Now do you understand why we seem at times to be overly cautious in our decisions? It is not you we have to answer to; it is the Judge, the Judge.
We can all learn from the mistake of the Corinth Church. Where did they go wrong? Surely they did not reject the gospel. They did not claim that the message of the cross was false. Their impatience with Paul was not that he taught false doctrine but that what he taught was not sufficient to build the church further. It was adequate for a foundation, but more is needed to attract people to the building and keep them in. Thus, they turned to special knowledge and wisdom, which to them meant spiritual knowledge, but as Paul tried to point out was really an attraction to the world’s wisdom.
One can trace this same trend in the modern church. Theology, as in all other fields, has its own “liberals” and “conservatives.” The muddy understanding as much as explains the differing positions, but they exist, nonetheless and we will use them. By “liberal” I mean a theology in which the events of the Bible, including Christ’s incarnation, his miracles, his atoning work on the cross, and his resurrection, may be reinterpreted to be merely symbols or myths. Liberal theology rose to prominence in American mainline churches during the last century, so much so that the names of Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, and Episcopal are generally associated with liberal thought. What happened?
Theology historians point to the influence of German theologians and Bible scholars. Rudolph Bultmann pioneered biblical criticism that strove to “demythologize” the gospel. Paul Tillich was a theologian whose concern was to communicate the gospel in the context of modern man’s ultimate questions. In his day, the operative language was that of existentialism. Neither man rejected the gospel or the cross, at least in his own mind. They contended that the New Testament writers, such as Paul, merely used the language of their day to communicate the gospel in the context that would make most sense to their audience. The task of each generation is to reframe the gospel in the prevailing world-view of its day and culture.
There is certainly some truth to that contention. All of us are creatures of our time and culture and operate in that world. Paul was no different. Nevertheless, he was careful not to cloak the gospel in language that pulled it out of the context of the Scriptures, nor that confused its simple message of Christ dying for our sins. Indeed, he points out that because he would not cave in to tampering with the message, he was considered a fool and his message foolish. His response to that was “so be it.” As he warned the Corinthians, better to be thought a fool than to lose the gospel itself by trying to adapt it to the world’s wisdom.
This is what has happened to a large degree in the mainline churches. They still have the Scriptures. They still proclaim Christ and the gospel, but in an effort to be relevant to the world, they have reinvested the historic doctrines with new meanings. Thus, Jesus can still be exalted as Lord and Savior, but no one need make such a personal profession to receive the benefits of his work. No one need even to convert from other religions. Jesus’ crucifixion may be proclaimed, but it is emptied of its power to atone for sin, which is not a word that people identify with anymore. The end result is that in its all-consuming effort to be relevant to the world, the liberal church has lost its relevancy for the kingdom of God. Most grievous of all, it has become the most prominent institution for causing people to lose their faith and for keeping “quasi-Christians” comfortable in their unbelief.
Before we evangelicals pat ourselves on the back, we need to examine ourselves. I receive a flier in the mail recently inviting me to ________ Church. It is the text:
“What can you expect at ______ ? A relaxed, casual atmosphere; messages that apply to your life; great, live rock band; friendly people who won’t single you out; high-quality childcare; real (imperfect) people seeking to know God and make him known. ____ us a church where people can come as they are, with no pressure to be someone or something they are not. Discover the kind of church you’ve been looking for: contemporary, creative, accepting and dare we say…FUN!!!” That is the complete text describing the church. It also listed the sermon titles for a series on marriage, dating, and sex.
Put aside the question of whether any of these features of a church are appropriate. That is not the issue. The issue is that the church produced this advertisement with one concern only: What will appeal to today’s generation? What’s wrong with that? Don’t we want to draw unbelievers into our churches so they can hear the gospel? Not through lies. A non-evangelical would interpret from this flyer that this church will not make him uncomfortable with a message about sin, repentance, or commitment, since it has promised that he will be accepted for who he is and promised to have fun. He will not be tied to Christian theology, considering that Jesus is not even mentioned. All he will get are helpful messages for living life. for living life.
I know something of the church, and so I know that it subscribes to the orthodox doctrines of the faith. But it is using the same language of the liberal churches for the same intent of trying to draw in worldly people. The minister possibly preaches the gospel clearly within the church’s walls, but just as clearly he conveys that he must cloak the gospel to draw people in. The real danger is not that people will come in, be dismayed by the gospel, and then leave. The real danger is that in order to stay relevant to them, the church will compromise the message and follow the same path as its liberal counterpart, becoming more like the world.
Can it happen at Faith Presbyterian Church? Of course. We’re nothing special. We are not in a special class of elite holy churches. Like everyone else we will always move in one direction or the other off the narrow path of faithfulness, and one can compromise the gospel in efforts to be “theologically correct.” Like everyone else, we must keep focused on the simple gospel of the cross.
