A Lego Masterpiece

There are two types of people who build legos. There are those who open a box of Legos, grab the instructions, and carefully create what the company wanted them to create.

Then there are those who take the box of Legos, open them up, and then dump them in the huge reservoir of Lego….to build whatever they want to build.

I’m sure there are other types of people who build with Legos. But, generalizations are too much fun to make.

Which type of builder are you? Every single person is a builder. Even if you do not like Legos. Everyone, if left in a room with just Legos, will build with those Legos.

Now, you say, why in the world is Pastor talking so long about Legos. Because Paul says that we are God’s builders. So, let us build.

Read

1 Corinthians 3:5–17 NIV

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

Paul has been teaching the Corinthians what it means to have unity based upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not on teachers or minor points of theology.

We have spent several weeks discussing the Gospel again, how it is based upon what God has said, not on what man has said. It is based on God’s wisdom, not man’s. Therefore, we should we trying to share with others what God has done, rather than our own understanding.

Now, Paul is circling back around, after discussing the Gospel, to talk about unity again. He does this by reminding the Corinthians who he as a servant of God is and by reminding the Corinthians how they should view servants of God.

Several weeks ago, I talked about how we should passionately be sharing the truths of God, because something with no outlet grows stagnant. This week, based on these verses, we are going to discuss who we are as servants of God. Next week, we will discuss how we we are to view other servants of God.

Pray

Paul says we are God’s builders, so let us build!

1A. The Identity of the Builder

First, let us look at the identity of the builder. Who are we?

We are God’s

Paul writes:

1 Corinthians 3:9 NIV

For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

We are God’s. Each one of us.

Later in this letter, Paul is going to say:

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 NIV

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

We believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He earned our forgiveness and reconciled us with the Creator of the universe, so that we can have a personal relationship with him. We believe that this salvation is a free gift for anyone who believes in Jesus alone. However, we believe that this gift is a not a free license to do whatever we want.

When we turn to Jesus in faith, we are joining his team. We are replacing our master of sin with our new master, Jesus Christ. We seek to serve him.

Paul, in 1 Corinthians 3, uses language like an employer and an employee. We are workers in God’s service, and he gives us rewards based upon what we do.

1 Corinthians 3:8 NIV

The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.

We will talk about what those rewards look like later.

But, Paul uses the illustration that we are working for God, promised wages based upon our labor.

We could apply this in so many ways, such as: work well for the Lord. When he calls us to do something, we should do it with all ourselves, without grumbling or complaining. We could talk about this and other applications.

But, Paul is focusing on something very specific. If he as a servant of God is working for God and drawing wages from God, the Corinthians have no hold over him. He is not working for them. Neither is Apollos. Neither is Peter.

The same is true for us. We are God’s. Our goal is to please him, not the person sitting next to us. Yes, in pleasing him, we are to show love to the person sitting next to us. But, the goal is God’s glory, alone.

We are God’s. When we have the choice of speaking truth or being liked, we are to speak truth, because we are God’s.

Who are we? We are God’s.

We are coworkers

Not only are we God’s, but we are coworkers.

Paul said:

1 Corinthians 3:9 NIV

For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Every single person who is a follower of Jesus Christ is a coworker in God’s service. That means, under God, we are all the same.

Yes, I am a pastor, and we believe that God gave pastors to churches for a specific reason:

Ephesians 4:12 NIV

to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

Did you hear that? Perhaps I need to read that again. God gave pastors to church

Ephesians 4:12 NIV

to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

We are all coworkers in God’s service. No matter who we are.

God has given us different giftings and talents to use in his service, but not one of us is higher in that food chain than another.

Paul is going to write

1 Corinthians 12:21–26 NIV

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

We are all coworkers in God’s service, no matter who we are, no matter what we do.

Sometimes, we can get into hero worship in the Christian church. We can say: “Oh, there goes Pastor Peter. Wow, he is such a great Christian. He does such amazing things for God. I wish that I could be like him.”

Well, maybe I should use a more realistic example. Who says that?

We could look at John MacArthur, John Piper, Chuck Swindoll, David Jeremiah, Greg Laurie, and we think: Wow! They are such great Christians. They teach things so well. They do amazing things for God.” We go to services by them, and we get that flutter in our stomach because we are so close to them. Maybe we want their autograph.

But, through all of this, we forget that we are coworkers with them. We are all under God to serve together, each in our own field, each on our building, for the increase of the Kingdom and the glory of God.

We shouldn’t let hero worship get in the way of our service for God.

Who are we? We are God’s. We are coworkers.

We are responsible

We are responsible.

Responsible is such a big word. And it is a word that few people want to truly accept as applying to themselves.

Responsible means that we have an obligation to do something. As coworkers under God, we do have an obligation to do something.

Paul wrote:

1 Corinthians 3:5 NIV

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.

God has assigned to everyone a task. I used to be the evening manager at a Chick-fil-A. I loved it. I was in charge of 12-15 high schoolers, making sure that all the customers were served and no machine blew up. Sometime, you can ask me about when the highschoolers forced me to drink a hot sauce concoction that they invented.

When each person clocked in, I met them and told them what position they would be performing. And, I told them what tasks I expected to complete before they clock out. They had a responsibility to me to accomplish that task. When they didn’t, there were consequences.

Paul uses agricultural imagery for the tasks that he and Apollos were assigned.

1 Corinthians 3:6 NIV

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.

Paul planted the seeds of the Gospel. He was the first to share the truths of God in their lives. Apollos came later and discipled them, explaining more fully what it means to follow Christ, through what we believe and what we do.

Neither ones task was more important than the other. Neither one’s task gave boasting ability for, as Paul says:

1 Corinthians 3:7 NIV

So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

God is the one who is in charge. We do these things for him, and he is the one who ultimately brings the fruit of everything. We just do the tasks.

I guess the question is: are we doing the tasks? If we have placed our faith in Jesus Christ, declaring ourselves on his team, we have clocked in and have been given tasks to do.

Are we doing them? A responsibility has been placed on our shoulders. Unfortunately, too often we act like high school students, continually looking to get out of our responsibility.

I should apologize for completely trashing high school students, but I was one back in the day. I remember what it was like.

You might say: I don’t know the task God has given me. Well, come and talk to me, and I’ll let you know. There is plenty for everyone to do. There is more to do than we have people.

Who are we? We are God’s. We are coworkers. We are responsible.

We bring things of value

Last, we bring things of value.

Paul says in verse 8

1 Corinthians 3:8 NIV

The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.

The things we do for God have value. Now, the world will tell us differently, but Scripture consistently declares that God places value on work done for him.

Jesus talked about it in the Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 6:19–21 NIV

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What we do for God has value, even more than what we do for our own depraved desires and passions.

The treasure the Jesus speaks of, Paul calls rewards. He also speaks of crowns later in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 9:25 NIV

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

Peter and James also speak of crowns given to people based on their labor.

Paul speaks of an award or prize in Philippians 3:14

Philippians 3:14 NIV

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

The Bible is not clear what these rewards are. We know that we are coworkers, which means that we have the same status. When we get to Heaven, we will not have different levels. God will give us something in relation to our labor, according to its nature, authenticity, motivation, and quality.

I truly believe that when we get to eternity, and we receive whatever reward that God gives us, we are going to follow the example of the 24 elders in Revelation:

Revelation 4:10–11 NIV

the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

We will realize that anything we have been able to do has been because of Jesus Christ. He alone is worthy of these honors and rewards. Apart from him, we are able to do nothing.

In a sense, as we give our crowns to Jesus, and we turn around to glory in eternity, we might experience what one person gave as an illustration.

An amateur musician who has slaved over a piece of music may gain more from hearing the same music played by a top-rank professional than a child invited to the same performance

Those who work under God for the good of his kingdom will get something more out of eternity as they give all glory to Jesus Christ, the Savior of our souls.

What is our identity as the builder? We are God’s. We are coworkers. We are responsible. We bring things of value.

2A. The Responsibility of the Builder

Paul, then gives us our responsibility.

You say, “But didn’t you already talk about our responsibility?” No, I talked about how we are responsible, we have an obligation to accomplish a task.

Responsibility builds off of that. It speaks of being accountable for something. We have a task to complete. We must complete that task according to the right guidelines.

So, which Lego builder are you? Do you build according to the guidelines, or do you make up your own thing?

Spiritually, we must always build according to the guidelines.

Lay the right foundation

First, Paul says that we must lay the right foundation.

1 Corinthians 3:10–11 NIV

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Paul has switched from an agricultural and an employee illustration to a builder illustration. When we serve, when we interact with people, we are building a spiritual foundation in people’s lives and we have a choice of which foundation we want to build.

The only foundation which lasts is Jesus Christ.

Jesus told the parable of the man who built his house on stone versus the man who built his house on sand.

So many people in Sunday school know this parable, but how often do we take it to heart when we interact with others?

Jesus said:

Matthew 7:24–27 NIV

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

We are called to lay the right foundation in our lives and the lives of those around us. We are called to urge people to build their entire lives on who Jesus is and what he said.

If we, because of any misplaced conception of what love or friendship is, allow any other foundation in someones life, that person’s life is going to fall apart. This speaks of priorities, motivations, excuses, what they spend their time on and why, choices.

As I say this, I reflect on friends in my past. How I held my tongue for the sake of friendship, knowing that they were building on a foundation other than Jesus Christ, and I wish that I hadn’t held my tongue.

We must lay the right foundation.

Use the right materials

Second, we must use the right materials.

Okay, if we weren’t in murky water before, here we go. Look at what Paul says:

1 Corinthians 3:12–13 NIV

If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.

There are so many theories about what theses materials mean. Some teachers go so far as to assign a specific type of work or task to each material. Rather than diving into the little details. Let’s focus on the big picture.

Paul says that some things that we use to build people spiritually or things that we do for the good of the local church have eternal value and some things do not.

Some of those things that do not have eternal value could be elements of self-interest or works for applause or self-gain.

Some things could be beliefs that we have, things that we teach to others that are not actually true, but we just think they are.

It’s telling that some of the elements won’t be revealed for what they truly are until Judgment Day. There are somethings that we are doing here as a church that we think are amazing, building up the body of Christ in an amazing way. But, when we stand before the judgment seat of God, those things that we thought were great will be revealed as just wood, hay or straw.

This knowledge should keep us humble. Because we are not God. We don’t know everything. We don’t have the right theology. We don’t have the right words. We don’t have the right plans for outreach. We have the wrong priorities.

To use right materials, we must seek God’s wisdom. That’s why our Wednesday night prayer is so important. We need God’s help to build with the correct tools in the tasks he has given us as a church. It is arrogant to say that we can know the right materials on our own. We must seek his wisdom, and when he reveals it, we humbly take that material and place it on the foundation in front of us.

We have a responsibility to lay the right foundation and to use the correct materials.

3A. The warning to the builder

We have talked about our identity and our responsibility. The last point is our warning.

Paul asks two questions for the warning.

What materials are you using?

First, what materials are you using?

We talked about things of eternal value and things that are not of eternal value. We talked about how the material will be revealed at the judgment day. Well, Paul talks about how that will happen:

1 Corinthians 3:13–15 NIV

their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

Paul talks about our building materials being placed into a fire. The worthless stuff will be burnt up, as we would expect. The eternal stuff will be purified and shine even brighter. Great image!

The Corinthians understand this image, because it hits home to them.

This town was burned, destroyed by the Romans back in the day. Julius Caesar rebuilt the town. But, the buildings weren’t completely rebuilt. They patched broken stone structures with wood, hay, and straw, then painted over them. Everything looked fine from the outside. But if a fire came through, each building would be revealed as to how it was made. All the flaws and impurities would be shown, and those buildings who were just scrapped together would completely fall.

Yes, we have a responsibility to the task which God has given us. We must understand that judgment is coming to reveal the quality of our work. How do we want things to go in that final day? Do we want to stand with everything burned up? Our salvation is secure. But we will stand, surviving only by the skin of our teeth, and the blood of Jesus Christ.

Men, how do we want our work to be recieved? How are we leading in the church and in the family? Are we building with materials that last? Or are we just throwing things together? Is our leadership one of drawing people to God. Or possibly, we have abdicated, allowing someone else to build when it was our task.

Women, how is your work? How are you supporting and lifting up the ministries of the church and your family? Are you encouraging spirituality or carnality?

Friends and family members, how is our attitudes? our interactions? our speech? Are we those dependent on Jesus Christ and living accordingly or are we those trying to live each day on our own? Are we those who are constantly praising God with our actions and with our words, or are we caught up in the worries of this world?

What are the materials that we are using? Will we who are God’s and called to a task have our work completely obliterated?

How are we helping the building

Second, Paul asks: How are we helping the building?

He says:

1 Corinthians 3:16–17 NIV

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

Now, in Northern English, we don’t have a different word for you, as in one person, and you, as in a group of people. In the south, they have you, ya’ll, and all ya’ll.

In Paul’s language, there is a difference between you, singular, and you, plural. Here Paul is using you, plural. Ya’ll.

He says, Ya’ll are God’s temple. He is not speaking of individual believers, but the church as a whole. He says that God’s spirit dwells in the midst of the local church and everyone should take care not to destroy the local church, because it is God’s temple.

I must point out, that he is not speaking of the literal building of the church. We can destroy those all we want to. He is speaking of the people. He says, God will destroy the person who destroys the local temple.

A building can be destroyed actively or passively.

I have been to plenty of buildings that are falling apart because no one is taking care of them. They are not being cleaned, repaired, updated. Finally, the building just crumbles. It is destroyed due to apathy.

There are plenty of churches, where no one does anything. They expect the pastor to do everything. Those churches are slowly being destroyed by the people who do nothing. Those people have taken their tasks from the hand of God, stuck those tasks in their pocket, and are sitting on the front porch, sipping tea while the church crumbles around them.

God says, that he will destroy that person. Harsh, yes, but God cares about his church that much. Do we?

A building can also be destroyed, not just through neglect, but through a wrecking ball.

The Corinthians were using a wrecking ball on their church. They were fighting, considering themselves more spiritual than the other. Thinking that some people should not be allowed to serve. Refusing to fellowship with others. Squabbling over small points in doctrine. Declaring that someone wasn’t saved because there was disagreement over something Paul said.

So many churches have been destroyed because of wrecking balls in the congregation. God says, he will destroy that person who wrecks his church.

You see, instead of destroying God’s church, we are to be actively building it. We should be constantly asking the question: How can I build up the church? How can I encourage the person who is sitting across from me? Does the person I am near know who God is better because of my interaction with them?

Paul gives us a warning. We should heed it.

We stand before a box of Legos. A Half-built creation beside it. And an instruction manual. Will we live according to our identity, humbly taking our responsibility, and courageously heeding the warning?