ODJ: our sure foundation

October 21, 2015 

READ: 1 Corinthians 3:10-17 

No one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ (v.11).

The workers knew something wasn’t right. A crack in the exterior wall of an 8 story building in Bangladesh was a tell-tale sign that the edifice, still under construction, was pretty sketchy. Sadly the structure tumbled down the next day, resulting in the death of more than 150 people and injuring more than a thousand others. Eventually, it was determined that a faulty foundation contributed to the big collapse.

Paul once wrote a letter to the church at Corinth, warning them of the dangers of a faulty faith foundation. The church had some cracks in their spiritual state, including a problem with playing favourites. Some went ga-ga over Paul’s teaching, while others were really into Apollos’ instruction (1 Corinthians 3:4). So the apostle brought down the hammer on their false foundations, making it clear that teachers (including himself!) were just men with faults and deficiencies of their own (v.5).

His point? The mouthpiece isn’t important—the message is. And the message has to be all about Jesus. Paul wrote, “No one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ” (v.11). If we build our life on anyone or anything other than Christ, we’re headed for disaster and a future ‘structural review’ from God that will identify us as people “barely escaping through a wall of flames” (v.15). Judgement day will not be pretty for poor “builders” (v.13).

—Tom Felten

365-day-plan: Acts 9:20-31