Trial by Fire

1 Corinthians 3:9–15 ESV

9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. 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. 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. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

The Foundation

I am reminded of the parable in Matthew 7 where Jesus tells the story of a wise man and a foolish man who both build houses. One on the rock and the other on the sand. One day a storm came through and the only house that remained standing was the one built on the rock. Jesus told them that the foundation of rock was made up of the word of God. In John 1 we learn that Jesus is the word made flesh so if we do our holy math we can solve the equation that Jesus is the foundation, and obedience to his word is what allows us to build on him.

Paul tells us right here that there is no other foundation that you can build on other than Christ. Many have tried to build their life on other things but every one of them has failed. It matters so much how we build our lives. We are quick to give careful effort to build so many other things using the best materials and foundations. Nobody wants to buy a house with a crumbling foundation where your house could shift and collapse. Nobody wants to live in a house made of materials that are going to rot or fall apart easily. So why do we not put that same care into our spiritual lives?

The foundation of Christ provides stability and security in all aspects of our life. We live in a world that is hungry to discover identity, our identity is stable and secure in Christ. We want good relationships, good finances, good families, good careers, then we should build those things on Christ.

The most sure way to make sure your life falls apart, is to disregard Christ as the foundation that we build on.

The Materials

Not all materials are created equal. If you look over the list of materials in the scripture we read today you will find a wide variety. Now some of these materials may stand up to some rain, and provide some shade on a hot day but when a real storm comes…When a real fire comes, only certain materials can stand. The materials represent the time and effort, the quality of the work and the care put into the work of building the building. According to verse 9 we are that building.

These good materials are not just fire proof but they are time proof. The cheap shabby materials will wear out and fade over time, but the gold and precious stones will last forever. When we build cheap our faith will wear out over time. When we invest in the best materials (prayer, studying the word, worship) we build a faith that will last.

Finally those materials vary in value. The quality of the building reveals the value that your faith holds in your life. I can tell how important Christ is to you by the materials and the quality of effort you put into building this life of faith.

The trial by Fire

When the fire comes, there is no hiding the materials. There is no mistaking what the house has been built with. The fire will reveal the material. The true character of a person is revealed when they walk through a difficult season. The faith of a person is exposed when the fire comes. The fire will expose you and your faith to see who you really are.

The good news is that Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:15 “15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”. You may be exposed by the fire, the work may be burned up, but you yourself can be saved. When the fire reveals the cheap materials it provides the opportunity to learn from that fire and try again. The trial by fire is what allows us to grow because we never really know what we are made of until we walk through something.

James 1:2–4 ESV

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

The fire may feel like it is destroying you but in reality it is just refining you.