Building on the Churchs One Foundation Part Two

Building on the Church’s One Foundation Part Two

Pastor Allen Snapp  2/22/15

1 Cor. 3:10-17 

We are working our way through Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, and this morning we come to a section regarding destroying God’s temple that has frequently been misinterpreted and misapplied by the church. One of the reasons for this misapplication is that in chapter six, in his warning against prostitution and sexual immorality, Paul says to the Corinthians, do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Taking that description of our bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit, it has been common practice to read that meaning backwards into this passage in chapter 3. And so this passage has been used to warn people not to abuse their bodies: don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t eat junk food, etc, because your body is the temple of God…

…except that if you finish out Paul’s statement, it gets a little awkward. If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. Nutritionally it could be argued that eating too many Twinkies can, eventually, destroy the body. But, if you do slip into a sugar coma and die, in what way is God then going to destroy you? Is this passage saying that if you mess up your body physically, God will then destroy you eternally? That makes about as much sense as telling your child as they embark on something physically dangerous, don’t you dare die or I’ll kill you! 

So, without denying that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and that we should therefore take care of them, in this passage Paul isn’t talking about our bodies as the temple of God. And that becomes very clear when drop these two verses back into their context: 

In vs. 9 forward, Paul shifts into a metaphor of the church as God’s building. Paul says that like a master builder he laid a foundation (that foundation being Jesus Christ), and that Apollos and others will continue to build on that foundation. Last week we talked about how all of us have a part in the building up of the church. But Paul then warns us to be careful about what materials we use in the building up of the church because there is coming a Day of Judgment when the quality of what we contributed will be tested. If we build with materials that have eternal worth, we will have a reward. If we build with materials that burn up like wood, hay, and straw, then we will suffer loss, though we will be saved. 

And so in this context of building: laying a foundation, building on that foundation, choosing materials carefully, he then reveals what it is that’s being built: a temple for God to dwell in. God’s people are God’s temple. Verse 16 says Do you not know that you (plural – all of you together as the church of God) are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? It isn’t talking about them individually or their bodies, it’s talking about them corporately as a church. Together as a church, they are being built into a temple in which God dwells by His Holy Spirit. It is the same imagery that is found in Eph. 2:

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22

So while it is certainly true that the Holy Spirit resides in every believer and therefore we are all individually temples of the Lord, this verse is talking about how, as each of us do our part to build the local church, we are together being built into a temple where God’s Spirit dwells and works. 

A strong warning: Don’t destroy the church!

So this isn’t a warning to treat your body right, it’s a strong warning not to destroy the church. We know that no one could ever destroy the universal church – not even the gates of hell can prevail against the church Jesus is building. But local expressions of the universal church can be seriously damaged and even destroyed by individuals and that is exactly what’s at stake in the Corinthian church. 

There are instigators in the Corinthian church who are fueling the divisions that are tearing the church apart. There are others who are teaching that immorality is no big deal to God. Still others are teaching that there is no resurrection, which is a direct attack on the foundation of Christian faith. Paul will says in chapter 15:16: For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. If that teaching takes hold, the church in Corinth will be destroyed.  

To all these Paul says, be careful. When you mess with the church, you mess with God. The Greek sentence structure of verse 16 reveals a powerful symmetrical word play:  If it is God’s temple that someone destroys, destroy that person will God. This is the most serious of warnings, especially when we look at the flow of the entire passage, how there is coming a Judgment Day and those who built with good materials will be eternally rewarded, those who built with worthless materials will suffer loss but will themselves be saved, and those who destroyed that building will be destroyed. In context it seems to be speaking of more than God making life difficult for someone who destroys the church; in the flow of the passage consistency would point to it being an eternal consequence. 

We can disagree, differ, share deep concerns, and even depart –but don’t destroy

Because of the weightiness of this warning, because it has the potential to be misapplied, I want to unpack this a little more. The overarching point of this passage is to get the eyes of the Corinthians off of man and onto God, and a big part of that is for them to remember the church belongs to God, not man. If a person works to destroy a church, they are working to demolish that which belongs to God, whose foundation is Christ. So we always need to be careful never to be party to a destructive influence on the church.

At the same time, it needs to be pointed out that Paul is very slow and cautious about how he frames this warning. There are people who are doing foolish and potentially destructive things in the Corinthian church, and yet Paul doesn’t point this gun directly at anyone and say, if you destroy God’s temple, God will destroy you. No, what he points directly at them is grace: you are God’s temple and God’s Spirit dwells in you?...For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. The warning is there for anyone who would foolishly persist in destructive behavior, but he hasn’t put that label prematurely on anyone.

We need to be careful in the church, not only never to come close to destroying the church, but also not to prematurely put that label on someone. In the course of healthy church life, there will be times when good people will differ. When sincere believers will disagree with one another. There may even be occasion when someone has deep moral or ethical concerns about a church action or a church leader and to act on those concerns is a sign of love, not intent to harm. We want to be careful, on the one hand, to be careful how we walk these things out, because any one of these things can be walked out in a way that does damage to a church, and one the other hand, we need to be very careful that we don’t point this warning at people lightly. It’s not a light warning, it’s not to be pointed at people lightly.

So, with that in mind, let’s briefly consider a few honest questions that can arise. Questions like, what do I do when I disagree with a church position or practice? How do I walk through differences without doing damage to a church? What if it goes deeper than a disagreement, what if I have a deep moral, ethical, or safety concerns about someone or something within the church? How should church leadership walk through differences, disagreements, and so on, with someone in the church? Obviously there’s too much for us to cover everything, but here are a few overarching principles that can help us navigate these things in a healthy way.

1.  Discern the nature of the issue 

If you have an issue, take time to carefully discern the nature of that issue. Is it just a difference of perspective? Is it a matter of disagreement? Is it a concern about matters carrying ethical and moral ramifications? Discerning the nature of the issue helps us better understand the appropriate action to take and avoid taking the wrong steps. 

A malfunctioning dipstick

Many years ago I was driving home one night when my little Mazda just didn’t feel right. It hesitated as I put my foot on the gas. As I was driving it seemed to sputter and shudder a little bit. It was running but I didn’t like the way it felt so finally I pulled over to see what was wrong. My suspicion was that the car was low on oil mainly because the oil level was the only thing I knew how to check. So I pulled the dipstick out and it read full. That worried me even more because I concluded that the dipstick was malfunctioning. So I poured 3 quarts of oil into the car. It didn’t fix the problem. 

The next day when my mechanic looked at the car, he was able to figure out what was wrong, but as I was leaving he said, “Oh, by the way, there is way too much oil in the crankcase. Oil is leaking everywhere. We had to drain nearly 3 quarts out.” I tried to look as puzzled as he did. I never did ask him to check to see if the dipstick was working properly.

When we’re dealing with an issue in the church, if we don’t give sufficient thought and prayer to what the nature of that issue is, if when we lift the hood, we assume the problem is always one thing, we run the risk of taking steps that just make things worse. 

• Differences – the truth is every church is going to be different from the next. The Lord gives different churches different visions, different methods, different styles, even different personalities. One church might be “seeker driven” and heavily tailor the services to the unchurched. Another church might be stronger on teaching, and still another might emphasize practical application and inspiration. One church might sing contemporary worship songs, another only hymns. Not talking right or wrong, just differences. Differences are important things to consider when you’re looking for a church to call home, but it’s a lot like going into a marriage – don’t go in assuming that you will change the church. Respect and appreciate the differences, and ask the Lord what church family best fits your shape and gift and burden and needs.
• Disagreement – by this I mean more substantial disagreements based on biblical understanding or conviction. My brother in law and family were in a church for a while, and they liked the people in the church and felt the pastor was sincere, but almost every Sunday the pastor would say, “I just want to see you make heaven” as if their eternal destiny rested on their obedience to whatever message he was preaching that week. To my brother in law Bill, this was more than a difference in approach; it represented a deep theological disagreement. 
• Moral, ethical, and spiritual concerns – and then there are concerns that are of a more ethical or moral nature. Is there something less than honest going on? Something immoral that’s being covered over? Has someone been physically or spiritually abused? 

The point is that when we open the hood, each of these problems will require a different approach. If we approach minor differences as if they were ethical violations, we are probably going to make things a lot worse and can actually do damage in a church – something we never want to do. Discern the nature of the issue. 

2.  Let there be graciously honest communication

One of the ways the Lord wants to work His sanctifying grace into our lives is in how we communicate, and this is especially vital when we disagree or have a difference with someone – whether it be with our spouse, co-worker, or someone in the church. We all know that differences and disagreements can lead to heated and ungodly exchanges and in the heat of the moment we can use angry, hurtful words that can do a lot of damage. Even if the original issue is eventually worked through, you’ve got three quarts of wounding words that you need to drain from the other person’s heart and that’s not easy to do. Paul says in Eph 4:29: Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29 ESV

The church needs to be a place of honest communication, but not brutal honesty, gracious honesty. A lot of damage and destruction can be done in the name of “honesty” and we need to make sure we have combined the oil of grace with our honesty. We need to avoid being divisive and careful not to gossip in our communication. These are real biblical categories that are harmful and God’s word warns us not to engage in these practices. But on the other hand, we don’t want to gag honest communication by quickly labeling it divisive or gossip. Differences, disagreements, and concerns need to have an outlet for being talked about in the church. 

As a rule of thumb, I think the intensity of communication needs to match the intensity of the nature of the issue. If it’s a minor difference where there is no biblical command – like whether a church uses hymnals or projects the words on a screen, or whether a church believes Jesus is coming pre-rapture or post-rapture – the communication should be very un-intense. More serious biblical disagreements should be able to be discussed and even debated in the proper context – and it can be a little more intense, but without divisiveness or rancor. And when there is a concern that something unethical, immoral, or spiritually abusive is taking place, then a more intense degree of communication is appropriate and in fact, I would say is necessary. Where there are ethical or safety concerns of a more serious nature, there is a moral and spiritual obligation to share those concerns with the church leadership. If there is a credible concern that someone’s safety is at risk, as in the case of child abuse, then the authorities need to be contacted as well. In the extreme case where the reporting of these concerns has a damaging effect on the church, that is not the consequence of the reporting, that is a consequence of the wrong done, and we need to leave that in God’s hands.  

I know I am speaking for Grace Community’s leadership team, which consists of Mike Rawleigh, Walt Bieser, James Epp, Jeff Perry, and myself, we are committed to listen and hear if you have a concern. We always want to foster an environment where members and visitors can come and share with us and be safe, and cared for, and heard. I can’t guarantee that we’ll always agree with you, but we won’t hide behind that either. We will hear and pray and consider. More than once the direction of this church has been affected by one person coming with an idea or a suggestion or a concern. So let there be graciously honest communication in the church. 

3.  There is a time to leave a church – but we should be careful to leave well

Sometimes differences will result in leaving a church. I remember the first time I had to tell a pastor I was leaving his church because my heart was being drawn to another church. Pastor John accepted it well, but it was a small church and I’m sure it was a little hard for him to hear. But it was clearly what God was calling me to do. Sometimes differences are God’s way of moving someone on. We have people who have come here from other churches because they feel they fit better here right now. And we have people who are very dear to us who have left us and are attending other nearby churches. I’ve been on the receiving end of my conversation with Pastor John. It is hard, but it doesn’t hurt our relationship or our love for one another. We’re still brothers and sisters in Christ, and still part of his universal church! No damage, no destruction, no guilt.

Two years ago this month GCC formally decided to leave SGM. We left with gratefulness in our hearts for the many blessings we received from SGM over the years and dear relationships we had and still have, but we had a strong enough disagreement over direction and handling – really a combination of difference and disagreement – that as a church we felt the Lord was calling us to depart. But I still love and appreciate the friends I have in SGM and pray that God blesses them. 

Let’s take it to an extreme. What if you find yourself in a church that is so far off the deep end that it’s actually a spiritually dangerous place to be? Even a cult? With the warning in this passage in mind, let me tell you what I believe. If I found myself in a situation where I thought things were seriously off, I’d try to talk to the pastor and leaders about it. If they weren’t receptive and I could see nothing was going to change, I wouldn’t try to divide or destroy the church. If Jesus is going to judge a local church and take their lampstand away from them, I don’t need to be a part of that process. I will quietly leave with my family and pray for them. 

Conclusion

The church belongs to God. You belong to God. We belong to God. Let’s walk in the assurance, and the purpose of that truth. He has called some of us to lay foundations, all of us to build in different ways on those foundations, but none of us to be on His demolition crew. Let’s build in the fear of God and for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ!