MPC
6th April 2008.April 6 - 1 Corinthians 3 - "Who's Your Architect?"
MPC
6th April 2008.
Derek Hanna
There's a building in Sydney that I used to be amazed at every time I went past it.
It's in North Sydney, on some of the most expensive real-estate in Australia. It overlooks Sydney harbour, the harbour bridge and the Opera House. It's not Brisbane, but it's an impressive piece of land.
But the reason I'm constantly amazed at this building is that it sits on one of the most beautiful pieces of land in Australia... and it looks like it was transported over and dropped in place from some Siberian Communist housing experiment.
From the outside, in my opinion, it's an eyesore. It may be fantastic inside, but from the outside every time I went past I would think, "What a waste of such a beautiful piece of real-estate for such an ugly building."
If I owned that bit of land, and I had unlimited funds, I would do everything in my power to draw out the natural beauty of the environment and to make the most of the breath-taking view.
Paul is writing to the Corinthians who are building communist style accommodation on the most expensive and impressive piece of real-estate the world has ever seen.
They have been founded in Christ. And they have access to all the resources they need to build upon, enhance and display that amazing foundation. That's what he says at the start of letter. (1 Cor 1:1-9)
And yet they are choosing to build an eye-sore. They're choosing to build something that belonged in the old world they used to live in. And it does not fit.
Spiritual maturity is measured by how much you reflect that which you are founded on.
Immaturity is measured the same way.
Take the Corinthians for example. They thought they were spiritual giants. But Paul sees them as hardly even toilet trained.
Three times in the first three verses he calls them worldly. And twice he accuses them of being "mere men"... that is, just like everyone else.
The very fact there is jealous and quarrelling among them, the very fact there are factions within the church, is evidence that while they may be grounded in Christ... they act as if they are still grounded in the world.
Spiritually, they're newborns.
They want to see Paul pull out the 1 kilo T-Bone steak and whack it on their plate... and he's telling them they don't have the teeth to eat it. They need milk to build up their strength.
Now what kind of person does he have in mind here?
Let me take a stab at that and give you two examples.
The first is those who come to Christ, and are saved by his death. But their life from that point on looks no different than if they had joined the local RSL. The way they view life doesn't change. The way they view work doesn't change. The way they raise their kids doesn't change.
The crucified Christ has little or no impact on their life. They might have a different foundation... but they're building just as they always have.
The second are those who have come to Christ, and look like they're spiritual giants. They know their Bibles back to front. They serve on every roster or committee they can. They attend every conference available, and know all the important people in Christian circles. But they have no love. They're aloof. They're uninterested in others. There's nothing gentle or warm about them. They are founded in Christ... but they build to secure their own importance.
They're the kind of people Paul has in mind I think when he's talking about the Spiritually immature.
So when Paul presents them with God's wisdom - the crucified Christ - they turn their noses up at it. Because they wanted was something like the teachings of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates. But what they had failed to grasp was that this meaty teaching was maggot infested.
They fail to grasp God's wisdom, because they had failed to grasp who they were. Where they were grounded. Their behaviour and their desires showed them to be spiritual infants. They did not know who they were, so they did not know what to ask for.
The problem is, the only frame of reference they had to ask for things is what society told them. When Australia was first settled, there was any number of things to discover, but the animal that had them most confounded was the Platypus. It was like nothing they'd seen before. The combination of a reptile, a bird, a fish and a rat. And when it was report back to England it was laughed at, and even with a specimen they thought it was a hoax. The problem was, they'd never come across anything like it. There was no frame of reference.
So it is with what Paul is teaching the Corinthians. And Paul needed to construct a new frame of reference for them, so they could reflect the foundation.
So they need to unlearn some wisdom, and relearn God's wisdom. So first up, he's going to redefine for them what it means to be a teacher. And for Paul, the whole idea of teaching was defined by who you were dealing with.
Let me show you first the new take Paul has on what the role of a teacher is.
V.5 - Paul and Apollos are simply servants through whom the Corinthians came to believe.
v.6,8 - They're simply carrying out a task. One of them plants the seeds of the message. One of them hangs around and tends the results of the planting.
But look at the end of verse 6 and verse 7. Neither of them make it grow. Now that's a new revelation to the Corinthians I'm guessing, and perhaps to us.
You can hear them asking Paul, "Are you telling me that it doesn't matter how skillful, charismatic, dynamic a leaders is... we grow or we shrivel by the will of God?"
And Paul's resounding answer is yes.
The problem for us is, we don't believe that. It's counter-intuitive. Big churches are led by those with big personalities. Just stop and think of the big churches that you know of in Australia and overseas. But the mistake we make is this - we subconsciously equate numbers with growth. Where numbers increase, we assume there is growth.
Real growth - the growth Paul is talking about can only come from God. The role of a teacher amongst God's people - in whatever situation that may be; from KidzBiz to Growth Groups to Church here - the onus on teachers is not growth.
Any monkey with a microphone can draw a crowd.
There are any number of people who are clever enough, charismatic enough, dynamic enough... and can fill seats in church or a gathering. But if it's God who makes people grow, not the teacher... Then a teachers job is not coercion. A teachers job is faithfulness.
Faithfulness to what? V.10-11. Paul wants them to grow... In fact I'm sure Paul would love to see numerical growth as well. But he cannot control that. What he can control is the way he teachers.
And he wants to teach in such a way that is consistent with what started it all. Jesus Christ. Knowing all this, can you see then the stupidity of elevating leaders in churches to some kind of cult-following status? It misses the point and nature of Christian ministry completely.
So tell me, who after a good meal at a restaurant calls back the waiter and starts heaping praise upon their heads for their culinary skills? No one does. Just because they delivered the goods, doesn't make them responsible for it's origins.
And if they deliver the goods in such a way that overshadows, makes light of, or belittles that which they are serving... then they aren't worthy of admiration and respect anyway.
So it is with Christian ministry. Those who teach are servants, stewards of a message that has been entrusted to them through by God. They are called to faithfully work at building on the foundation of the Lord Jesus. They are not responsible for growth. They are responsible for being faithful to God's Word.
Now Paul gives two reasons as to why teachers should be careful about how they build. The first is that teachers will be judged. The second is that they're dealing with very special people.
So firstly, have a look with me at what Paul says about judgement in verses 12-15. Paul is speaking here of the kind of judgement that awaits teachers, those who have been entrusted to build on and in the lives of those they've been entrusted with. Because you can hide lots of things from those you teach. But there will come a day when God's spotlight will bring all those cobwebs, dirt and grime that others don't see, into clear view.
And the danger for those in Corinth is that some were building on the foundation of Christ... but they were building with things that had nothing to do with Christ. They were teaching of the values and desires of the world, and passing them off as Christian ideas. It's the same thing that is happening in many churches today. Christian teachers more interested in echoing the world, than in echoing God. Christian preachers who itch ears, instead of itching conscience.
But on 'the Day' (v.13), that is, the day of judgement, teachers will be judged based on how they have built. They can either build with things that have value for this life... or they can build with things that have value for eternity.
Whatever they choose, the warning is clear. At the end, God will bring to light everything they have taught and said. God will test whether he has been building faithfully on the foundation of Christ Jesus (v.13). And based on this judgement, he'll either be rewarded for his work (v.14), or his work will be shown to be hollow, without substance, false. As you can see in v.15 - it's not a judgement of being saved, or not being saved. For that is based purely on the work of Christ on the cross, and his perfect sacrifice can never be undone by our shortcomings.
No, it's about the fact that teachers of God's people will be held to account for what they teach, and how their lives reflect that teaching. That is the first reason they should be careful about how they build.
Secondly, teachers need to be careful because they are dealing with something unbelievably precious. The Corinthians have got the whole importance thing reversed. They think the teachers are the important ones in these equations. But Paul wants the Corinthians to understand that the teachers are simply there to serve God's people. To be God's stewards in the growing process.
Now I skipped verse 9 before so I could come back to it. And look at verses 15-16 as well. Many years ago, before I could fully appreciate it, I went to see a book in a library overseas. Now you might be thinking - what a revelation, and what a fascinating story - he went to see a book in a library!
But this wasn't just any book, this book was the Gutenberg Bible. That is, it's one of the first Bible's to be printed on a printing press way back in the 1450's.
Now I didn't just see it from a distance. We happened to know someone who took us into the backroom where it was being stored at the time, and were able to see it up close and personal. It was amazing. So big, so intricate, so beautiful.
Now I'll tell you what you're not going to find stored in a controlled environment, under glass and under the surveillance of security cameras. The latest Mills and Boon paperback. You see, one is precious and deserves to be dealt with with reverence. And the other is the Mills and Boon novel. You deal differently with things based upon how valuable they are.
Teachers of God's people are dealing with something unbelievably precious. They're dealing with those who have been bought not with money... but with the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The worth of God's people is not in their numbers, in their personalities, in their talents - it is in the fact that Christ has died for them, they are now part of God's temple, and God's Spirit now lives in them.
Solomon's temple took seven years to build according to 1 Kings 6. There was more bling in that temple than at a Logies night. But apart from the bling - the real value of Solomon's temple was this. It was the place where God dwelt. It was why Israel was so confident Jerusalem would never be conquered - because it had the temple, and that was where God was.
So think of what that means for what Paul is saying here. Those Christians in Corinth are God's temple. They are the place where God dwells. They are the place set aside for God. Holy to God. That is why teachers need to be careful about how they build on this infrastructure. Because God is there, they are God's, they are set apart for Him.
If you are in Christ, then you are a part of that temple. You are precious to God. You were bought at the price of His Son. He placed His Spirit to dwell in you, that when people meet you, they might meet Him.
The responsibility of teachers therefore is that they will be held accountable, because they are dealing with people who make up God's temple.
But there is also a responsibility placed upon those in whom God's Spirit dwells. There is a dynamic between those who teach and those who learn. Those who teach must be faithful. But those who learn are still responsible for what voices they listen to, what is built on their foundation, and what they're being influenced by.
You are also responsible for what is built on your foundation, for where you're heading, for what you're hearing and being influenced by.
Now, in Corinth, Paul and Apollos were teaching what was in accord with God's Word... but the Corinthians were listening to other voices. Look what he says to them. Verses 18-20. They were God's temple, but they were listening to the voice of another master. They had their foundation in Christ, but they were consulting architects who had no understanding of the foundation, the real-estate and no interest in God at all.
The seductive voices of those who were successful in this world. The voices of worldly wisdom and worldly power. The seductive voices of comfort and self-interest. And the voice that was being drowned out was the voice of God.
Don't be deceived he says. The voice of the world - no matter how reassuring and familiar - was not the voice of God. They are wise to the world... but they are foolish to God. God's voice is the voice of wisdom. God's voice is the salvation. It is God's voice that God's people need to hear and listen to.
So, he says, v.21-23... We do not listen to people because they are eloquent or successful. We listen to those who will teach and show us what we already have in Christ, and what it means to be in him.
And we do not seek after things that this world and its voices have to offer. Because everything is ours in Christ.
He's already told them this in the first 9 verses of this book, but it's that important - and there are so many other voices drowning it out - that he needs to say it again and again.
If you are in Christ - all is yours. All the wisdom and power of the creator. All is yours. You are in Christ. And Christ is of God.
Do you want glory? Do you want comfort? Do you want meaning? Do you want to be known by God? The only place you're going to find these things is in Christ.
Not band-aid solutions for the next 5,10,15 years. They will be answers that last eternity.
I watch a show on TV called Grand Designs.
It's a show about people who are building their dream house. These people often sacrifice everything they have for their dream house - and the places they come up with are amazing. The locations are breathtaking. The designs are stunning. They take their location and they enhance it with what they build, and they seek to highlight its beauty.
If you are founded in Christ... what are you building on top of this foundation? What architect are you listening to? What materials are you using? Because whether you admit it or not... you're building something, you're listening to someone.
The default position for all of these questions is that we decide our future based on what we've known from the past, and the voices of reason and moderation we hear around us.
The material we use to build, the construction we allow to happen, will uncannily resemble everyone else in the world. Even though our foundation is stunningly different.
But we don't want to be infants. We want to be those who have passed the spiritual milk stage, and are chewing up and digesting God's wisdom. If we are founded in Christ, then what we are building should reflect that.
If we are in Christ, we are in God, and we have everything we need in order to build on that foundation, to highlight it, to spotlight the fact that we are not like everyone else, because we have been saved by the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
We relate to others based on the fact that we know we aren't perfect, but that God loves the unlovely. What a comfort that should be for most of us.
We prioritise our week, our career, our life around the fact that this world is temporary, but we are building for the world to come.
Maturity is defined by what voice you listen to. Who the architect of your life is. What materials you build. Whether or not you are reflecting your foundation.