1 Corinthians 3: 10-23

There’s an old story that’s told about a teacher, a scientist, and a politician who are arguing about which of their professions has had the longest and most profound effect on human history.

First the teacher chimes in and says, “Without teachers humanity would never learn and grow and be challenged to seek bigger and better things, so my profession has clearly had the greatest impact on human history.”

Then the scientist replies, “You wouldn’t have had anything to teach if scientists hadn’t first worked so hard to figure out the mysteries of the universe. Before we came along the world was complete chaos, but our discoveries brought order from this chaos. So clearly my profession has had the biggest impact.”

But then the politician chimed in, “True. But who do you think created the chaos?”

Over the past few weeks as we’ve been diving into the book of 1 Corinthians, I’ve used the word “chaos” a lot.

My argument has been that this book of the bible has a lot to say to people living in chaotic circumstances, and you and I certainly are living that right now.

I talked about the nature of Corinth, a hustling and bustling port city that was known for its pagan influences and decadent lifestyles, and we’ve examined a bit what it means to be the people of God in the midst of such a hostile environment.

But the chaos that we’ve seen in this letter isn’t just coming from the world outside the church, we’ve also seen how it’s something coming from inside, as the people in the Corinthian church are fighting amongst themselves and doing great harm to their mission by being so divided and contentious.

And through it all Paul is trying very hard to refocus the Corinthians people. He’s seeking to bring them back to the centrality of the gospel and the work of the Spirit.

Last week we were introduced to a couple of metaphors that Paul uses to talk about the church: an agricultural metaphor and a construction metaphor.

He uses the agricultural metaphor to reframe how the Corinthians see their leaders in the church.

Remember, they’ve gotten way too attached to the various teachers and leaders, and have formed these little loyalty camps that are threatening the unity of the church.

Paul says, “No. You’re looking at this all wrong. Apollos, Peter, me…we each have a part to play, like workers in the field. One works the ground, one sows the seed, another waters the field…but it’s God who makes things grow.”

What a good reminder for us in the church today.

Because I can’t begin to tell you how many different ideas for church growth I have heard in my 25 years as a pastor. I have been to countless conferences and presentations, I have read articles and books I can’t even begin to count…

…and it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the key to making your church grow is found in a new program, or a new worship style…or even a new pastor.

All of those can be helpful, but Paul reminds us that the kind of growth we want to see in our church is something that is, at its very heart, supernatural.

It’s a work of the Holy Spirit. Anything else…and you’re settling for less than the church can truly be.

When Sharon and I first went to Redeemer Covenant Church in Michigan to serve as their pastors, it was a congregation that was going through a really rough time.

Their pastor had left suddenly…without warning. So had many of the church members.

They were basically in shock.

At the time I was an associate pastor in a larger sister church across town, and what started as a regular pulpit supply opportunity quickly turned into something else.

And the next thing I knew, Sharon and I were being invited to come serve that church together, under the supervision of the larger church, who would help us rebuild that struggling congregation.

The very first thing Sharon and I felt led to do in serving that church…was shut everything down except Sunday morning worship.

And we called that church to pray…to pray that God would, by his Spirit, reveal what the next chapter of Redeemer’s journey would be.

Well, the elders at the larger church were not pleased.

They kept coming to us and asking, “What’s your plan? What program are you going to put in place for youth ministry? What’s your childrens’ ministry going to look like? How are you going to attract young families to your church?”

And our reply was always the same, “We’re trusting God to reveal that to us.”

They didn’t like that answer.

In fact, it led to the single most difficult meeting I’ve ever had in a church.

Where the elders of the larger church accused us of setting the smaller church up to fail.

Now I don’t normally share this story, much less share it from the pulpit.

But as I’ve been reflecting on Paul’s words to the Corinthians, I’ve found myself thinking about this idea that stopping to pray, asking God to re-center the church, refocus the church…to reveal his plan for the church…is setting the church up to fail.

I think Paul would have something to say about that.

In fact, I think he kind of says something about it in our passage for today.

In today’s passage he shifts his metaphor from farming to construction.

And in doing so he warns the church to be careful how they build on the foundation Paul laid when he planted the church.

“Jesus is the foundation” he says. “By the grace of God I laid that foundation, and now someone else is building on that.”

“But be careful,” he says, “don’t build on that foundation in ways that diminish the centrality of Jesus.”

Paul even goes so far as to remind the Corinthians that a day is coming when the work they do as a church will be judged by God.

Eugene Peterson, in his translation of this passage, compares it to a building inspection.

“To put it another way, you are God’s house. Using the gift God gave me as a good architect, I designed blueprints; Apollos is putting up the walls. Let each carpenter who comes on the job take care to build on the foundation! Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you’ll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won’t get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn’t, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But you won’t be torn out; you’ll survive—but just barely.”

If you’ve ever had any experience in construction, you know the importance of using the right materials for the job.

Paul says it’s the same in the church.

Jesus is the foundation.

His birth…his life…his death…his resurrection…these are the rock on which we build.

And as we build…we discern. Or at least we should.

As a church, we should always be holding the work we do before God with open hands, asking him to guide us into the things he has for us to do, and to help us let go of the things that aren’t from him.

I think it’s that “letting go” that churches can really struggle with sometimes.

[APOSTLES’ CREED STORY]

That’s such a perfect illustration of a common trap for churches: continuing to do things long after the reason for doing them has completely disappeared.

Paul says “Build on the foundation of Christ with things that have value. Gold…silver…costly stones.”

Now he is not advocating for sanctuaries decked out in precious metals and rubies and diamonds.

He’s saying, “Make sure that the things you do as a church have real value. Kingdom value.”

And as Paul makes this argument, he raises the stakes a bit.

Because we’re not just a building, he says…we’re the temple of God.

VERSE 16:

“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 reminds us here that the church of Christ is not a mere social service agency. We are the very dwelling place of God.

This language of the temple would have been especially meaningful for the Christians in Corinth who came from a Jewish background, but even the Gentile Christians would have at least had an inkling of what Paul is getting at here.

A temple is where God dwells amidst his people.

In the Jewish faith, God resided in the Holy of Holies, a sacred inner room of the temple that only the High Priest was able to enter, and then only once a year.

But now, with the death and resurrection of Jesus, and with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit…we have become the temple of God.

That’s why Paul is so passionate about the church, and why he’s so insistent that we need to purge ourselves of anything that hinders our sacred and holy mission.

That’s why discernment is so key for us as a church.

Everything we do as a church should be covered in prayer, asking God to help us embrace the things that are of him, and to help us let go of the things that are not.

And we might be surprised where he leads.

That’s good. That’s beautiful.

Because the things that we do in our own wisdom, in that “fleshy” mindset we talked about last week…those things will ultimately come to nothing.

That’s the wood, hay, and straw Paul talks about that will ultimately be burned away.

But the things to which God directs us, the things that he then empowers us by his Spirit to do…they are the things that bear fruit in supernatural ways.

And that’s what we want for Gilfillan Memorial Church, isn’t it?

To see this grand, historic church with such a rich history of service led by so many faithful men and women of God…our hope and prayer is that God will build on the foundation by leading us into new and exciting expressions of ministry.

Centered on Jesus. Focused on the cross and the empty tomb. Built up in precious, God-honoring ways that bear fruit for His kingdom.

But as I said earlier, I think at the heart of this pursuit is discernment and prayer.

[HENRY BLACKABY]

That’s my hope and prayer for us as we move into a new adventures as a congregation…that we would be so sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance that it would be like the Spirit is right there in car with us, saying, “Stop here. Turn here. Go there.”

That kind of openness to the Spirit is what keeps us from building with wood, hay, and straw.

Because every step of the journey is saturated in prayer and a receptivity to his guidance.

[TRANSITION TO PRAYER]

1. What is one step forward you could make this week to being even more “in tune” with the Spirit’s work in your own life?

2. What is one prayer you could build into your daily walk with God that would be a way of lifting up Gilfillan Church and her leaders, asking the Spirit to guide us as we seek to build on the foundation of Christ?