I have no construction experience yet I am always fascinated by the way structures go up. A foundation is laid, walls are put up, wiring, plumbing, doors, windows, and a whole host of other minor details that make up the complete house. It takes a great deal of time and effort and a variety of skilled craftsmen to make the whole building come together.
Paul uses this analogy when he writes to the Corinthians regarding their divisions. A plumber cannot do a mason’s job as effectively. A painter cannot be expected to put up the walls and hang the roof efficiently. An electrician might not be the right person to lay the foundation. Each one has a valuable skill that is essential for the building up of the entire house.
I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It’s not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God’s field in which we are working. – 1 Corinthians 3:7-9 (MSG)
I’m loving the message bible lately. It expounds on the word of God using modern language that we can easily relate to and connect with. In this excerpt above, Paul admonishes us against seeing men as the end all in all but rather as servant workers on God’s field. He also admonishes them against sectarianism and giving credit to men for things that only God can do.
Greek culture, like our modern day culture, was filled with expressions of greatness and mythical personalities and figures. They gave us the olympics as a competition of the best against the best. The winner would attain high status in Greek society. Rightly so.
As human beings, we’re created in the image of God and we reflect His image on earth in everything that we do. We’re His ambassadors on the earth and therefore He has endowed us with abilities that make us ‘like’ Him yet none should aspire or even expect to be God. He is eternal and His existence spans all of ours put together. Our lives on the earth are but a blink in light of time in eternity.
I believe it is this perspective that Paul tries to drive home. As ministers of the gospel, we’re simply vessels and not the ones responsible for the end result. What a relief! I don’t have to toil and labor as though I have to make everything happen. All I have to do is remain obedient to the heavenly vision, fulfill my calling for the time I am in the earth, and most importantly, ensure that everything I’m building is laid on the foundation of Christ.
Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 3:11
Viewed in the right context, our lives are also these buildings being raised up by all those who invest in us. We then turn around and invest in others, bit by bit, on the foundation of Christ. I am grateful that God counts us among His servants through whom He can do such work. Glory to God!
Paul caps it off well in his letter to the Ephesians:
In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit. – Ephesians 2:22
Nelson Masinde 