Be careful how you build.

Be careful how you build.

2Co 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.


1Co 3:10 According to the grace of God which is given to me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let every man be careful how he builds on it.

The Lord has been speaking to me from the books of Corinthians and the above two scriptures provide a fascinating juxtaposition. In the first scripture from 2 Corinthians, Paul is speaking of the building which is our heavenly body, and in the second scripture from 1 Corinthians he is speaking also of building, but in this case most christians interpret it as referring to building churches. I would like to enter into the thought of Paul and show how both of these scriptures can be tied together in the broader theology of Paul.

As with much of scripture, there are here layers of meaning, and by the genius of the Holy Spirit scripture can often be opened up like an onion, revealing layer upon layer of divine truth. A scripture which one reads when one is a new christian, can have a deeper significance twenty years later into your walk with God, but that does not mean that the early interpretation is not relevant, it is just that God speaks in his word in different ways according to our capacity to receive it. To him that has, more is given.Our perception differs according to our receptivity.

Now, on the surface, at first glance, I Corinthians is speaking about building churches, and Paul says that as a wise master builder he lays the foundation of Christ in his missionary efforts, and in other parts of scripture we hear of him appointing elders, teaching and organizing so as to build a solid structure which will endure and not be found to be wood , hay and stubble. This interpretation is correct, and has been an inspiration to generations of church builders who have strived to imitate Paul ,the result being the plethora of organizations which we see around us today.

Looking a little deeper, however, we hear Paul referring in this passage to the Temple of God, and tells us that we are part of the Temple that God is building.The context of the passage deals with the carnal way in which christians are understanding the church. Some are saying they are of Apollos, others are saying they are of Paul. Paul is saying that whoever the builders are, whether Paul or Apollos, it is God who is actually doing the building and we are all just stones. There is one heavenly building which is being built by God, in pace with the many earthly structures being built by men,but only the Heavenly building is eternal. And at the moment we do not yet know what it will look like.

The visible stuctures of the church as we see them down here have little relation to the eternal structure which is being constructed in heaven. For one, the heavenly structure is a unity, whereas the earthly stuctures we see around us in the natural world have multiple divisions. Is Christ divided? Says Paul. No of course not.Is the church divided? Yes, and it always will be despite all the attempts at ecumenism.The reason for this is that as long as there is carnality, there will be divisions, and as long as we have people becoming new born christians,there will be many who are still carnal.Why are there divisions?, says Paul, it is “because you are still carnal”. We should not be seeking unity so much as maturity, because maturity is the only way in which unity can be brought about.

Secondly, the structures we see around us now are most often in accordance with the natural world, which has little relation to the eternal. Men build churches as they build businesses, or armies. The talent of a salesman is put to work with great effectivenes in the earthly church structure.The accountant takes care of the books, the natural born leader takes the helm. Who can say that this is not so?Business leaders become elders, not because they are men of God, but because they pay for the buildings. You just have to take an honest look around and the evidence is overwhelming.However, the structure which is being built in Heaven has little resemblence to the organizations that we are part of here. For example,Jesus says: The first will be last and the last will be first. There is going to be a great shake up!

Dont think that the charismatic leader you have now is going to lead worship in Heaven the way it is done now. It is more probable that one of your church who is the least of all now, will be exalted beyond measure , and the ones who are exalted now, will suffer loss. At this point let us return to the subject of this teaching, “Be careful how you build.”

Paul goes on to say in the next chapter, that despite people regarding him and Apollos as something great, he says that he does not judge himself and would prefer if they would just regard him and the other leaders like Apollos as servants, because the reality of what they are has not yet been revealed. No matter how powerful Paul may be in earthly influence, he does not deem himself eternally worthy of a position of eminence. He has no idea where he really stands according to God´s measure. He says “Lets wait to see how God judges, when he reveals the secrets of men´s hearts”. He says that he does not even try to judge himself. The motives of men´s hearts are deep waters.

Now this is key to understanding the configuration of our ranking in the Eternal house which is being constructed in Heaven. There are many things which we can do on earth which are successful, but the motives for why we are doing it have not yet been revealed. Therefore let us be careful how we build. Let us consider our motives,
because He who knows the hearts of men will bring to light the hidden things of
darkness and reveal the motives of hearts, then each will receive recognition from God.

To recap, the first superficial reading of Paul embarks us on a task of busy ministry building, utilizing all our talents and resources to grow our churches and organizations as quickly as possible and give them credibility. The size and the prosperity of a church or organization is mostly what determines its status.

A deeper scrutiny of Paul´s teaching shows us that no matter what we build, the real test of fire will be when God judges the motives of our hearts. This fire will burn up much of the apparent success and leave only the eternal reality.And the eternal reality is not at all about how much we have achieved, but about what we are. The trimmings of what we have done are all too visible here on earth and much jostling goes on to achieve positions which carry esteem. Even just the Title of Pastor carries a lot of weight , never mind the higher categories of Bishop and Apostle. Paul derides these apellations with scathing sarcasm.

“You have become kings without us!” The words bishop and apostle were never
intended to be Titles, they were to describe functions.

He then says, “I wish you had become kings so that we could reign with you.Paul himself will have none of this, he considers himself as a servant.(By the way , this word servant is minister, which is a lowly function,but in some churches the word minister itself has become a title, Minister. As in “I am the Minister of this church”!The strange tortured twists of mans heart are amazing to behold.

So, to get back to the point, it is what we are in Godly character which is of eternal value and not the reputation ascribed to us by carnal minds, whether our own or others. ”Be careful how you build” has more to do with your character than with how much you achieve by earthly standards. I know from experience the pressure that we are under to to perform and achieve according to wordly expectations but not according to God´s purposes.

How much christian work today is inspired not by godly motives but by the same motives as men have in the world. When we become christians we often bring with us our vain aspirations and the church becomes a setting for many to pursue selfish ambitions in the guise of noble ideals. The Lord is not mocked, however, and all will be brought to light. These endeavours may even be useful in the ultimate purposes of God, even though the perpetrators are rejected after having preached to others. (1Co 9:27)

If we can understand this and be freed from the pressing demands of the flesh we will be more fit for God’s service in the true ministry of his word. How many more servants of God who understand this will now rather choose the obscurity of ministry
in some back of beyond place instead of vying for position in the glare of the spotlights! Unfortunately this is not the case at present, when 95 % of ministry is being done in the 5% of the world which is already Christianized and where the pickings are easy. If on the other hand, we want our characters to be transformed, we will choose a path where our lives will be subjected to many tribulations, including rejection and obscurity. This path is diametrically opposed to the path that our flesh would choose.

Paul understood this, and instead of setting himself up as a super apostle over a chain of churches, he moved on into areas where he continued to be considered as the offscouring of the world. Super apostles quickly moved into the power vacuum to elevate themselves over the churches that Paul had founded. Paul had his eyes fixed on the eternal church and therefore did not squabble with them but continued to embrace the sufferings of Christ and declare the eternal truths which would save
his hearers. He knew that the church will always be as a field with wheat and tares, and God will only separate the harvest at the end.

The building we have that God is building, the house not made with hands that Paul refers to in 2 Cor. 5, is the resurrection body which is being constructed for us, the mansion we will dwell in eternally in heaven. This body itself is to be our reward, since not all bodies will be alike.Each in his own rank.(Darby 1Co. 15.23) Some will shine as the moon and others will shine as the distant stars. The shining of our bodies will be directly in proportion to the degree in which our characters have been transformed into the likeness of Christ. No matter how big your church is here on earth, or how many people you have won to Christ, your eternal standing will only be measured by your godliness. An ambitious pastor may have a great reputation on earth because of his excessive labours in ministry, but if the motives have been self-ambition, then the character of Christ is deficient and the resurrection body will shine like a distant star.

A housewife who is not “in the ministry” at all, or a simple worker at a factory whose life has been sown in dishonor, working humbly all his life for his boss, may shine as the sun in its glory. Therefore, be careful how you build. Many may consider the slave or housewife not to have much of an inheritance at all, but on the contrary Paul exhorts slaves to submit to their masters and work for them as if working for the Lord, “knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ” (Eph:3)

John says in his epistle that we are children of God, but what we shall be has not yet been manifested. Jesus has not yet been manifested as he really is, but when he is revealed, then we will be revealed with him as we really are. In this world Jesus was mocked and despised, he was “like a root that comes up out of dry ground, he had no form or comeliness that we should be attracted to him”. His divinity was hidden. In the same way it also behooves us to shun the glamour of the world and that which wins worldly admiration, but pursue rather the hidden qualities of the heart that only God can see.

Everyone who has this hope purifies himself. No amount of ministerial success is of any worth if we do not purify ourselves. It is only purity which is of any eternal value, and the one who understands this will be seeking a path that will purify rather than a path that will gratify. “You receive glory one from another, but you do not seek the glory that comes from God alone.(John 5:44)

The glory which is from God, the glory of our glorified bodies, will be according to our purity and not our prosperity or success. Prosperity and success earn the praise of men, but if we seek for and receive the praise of men then we have received our reward. The body which is raised in glory is the one that has been sown in weakness and dishonour. To the degree we experience the sufferings of Christ we will receive his glory, because it is through suffering that we are purified.

These principles are so clear in the Bible that it is astonishing that they are not understood. There is such a gross misunderstanding of scripture today that people are striving for the very things that rob them of future glory. Riches, fame honor and success have become the primary objective of many Christians as if these are what the Lord promises to those who follow him. On the contrary, the Lord Jesus said that through many tribulations we inherit his Kingdom. It is nothing else but a complete deception that is blinding Christians all over the world and leading them away from following in the way of the cross.

I watched a man a few days ago saying on God TV that the only way the world will listen to us is if we become richer than they are, because no one listens to a poor man. Well, I pray that those who have ears will listen to this message.

“This poor man cried out and the Lord heard him” Psalm 34:6

At least the Lord will listen.