How You Build Matters

There is the story of the three little pigs that built their houses, one of straw, one of sticks, and one of bricks. The wolf came to blow them down and was not able to destroy the one built of bricks.

“¹²Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— ¹³each 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.” – 1 Corinthians 3:12-13 (ESV)

Like the three little pigs, we have options when it comes to build the church of God. We can build with quality building materials and build to last, or with cheaper materials that are sure to be destroyed or degrade with time.

“⁹For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. ¹⁰According 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.” – 1 Corinthians 3:9-10 (ESV)

Paul points out to the church at Corinth the need to “take care how” the church is built. Not of physical materials, but of sound doctrine, faith, and obedience. We are to build the church on the foundation of Jesus Christ, not on the words of man. We, the church are “God’s building” and the church is worthy of being built the right way, not with speed and cheap materials to get the structure up, but over time with care, hard work, planning, and with materials that are of substance.

As I type here I cannot help but refer to the buildings that are used for God’s Church. We put a lot of effort into the building of church buildings. The structures are of wonder to behold. Grand and ornate, a visual spectacle. And frankly lots of “money” goes into making them to be just so. Where we are following the lead of our Old Testament ancestors who built temples to be so grand and ornate, are they really “necessary”. Many a church started in a living room, or a schoolhouse (our church was planted and continues, 5 years later to meet in a school), or some other venue. We have to remember that God’s Church is the people and not the building itself.

As Paul noted, when the church is not built on the foundation that is Jesus Christ and should be built with sound doctrine, faith, and obedience through care, hard work, and planning it will be subject to and will be destroyed when it is put to the test. The story of the three little pigs shares this moral. Hard work, careful planning, and diligence pay off, while laziness and taking shortcuts lead to failure and danger. How you build the church of God matters, we should be using only the best materials.

What materials are you using to build God’s Church? Are you throwing things together to get a roof over your head? What if you were to take care and build on the foundation of Jesus Christ with sound doctrine, faith, and obedience through care, hard work, and planning?