Christ the foundation. Or is there more to it?

[Aussie Pete]

"On Christ the solid Rock I stand....." so says the old hymn. Is that all? No. So what do we stand on?
1. Christ is the corner stone, the one that the builders rejected (1 Peter 2:6) The corner stone was an accurately cut stone by which the whole building referenced. If the stone was badly cut, the building would be misaligned as well. So the starting point is Christ, the corner stone.
2. Christians have their part to play as well. The Christian life is not automatic. Lord Jesus did not say, "Go and make converts". He told the apostles to make disciples. And teach them! Teach them what? All that Lord Jesus had taught the apostles. (Matthew 28:19)
3. What is the rock then? Luke 6:46-47 tells us. The rock is hearing the word of the Lord Jesus and putting them into practice.

So we have two aspects of the Christian life. Without the "corner stone" we have nothing to go on to build correctly. Without obedience to the revealed word of Christ, we have no foundations.

When people say that they are struggling in their Christian life, it is often because they have no real fellowship with God. Satan does his best to hinder us. How easy to watch a movie for two hours, how hard to pray for half that time. Some churches are saying that the Bible is not important. That is Satan's whispered suggestion that leads to devastation of God's people.

Christians who desire stability and progress as disciples must work at it. This seems contrary to "by grace you are saved", I know. I also know that not eating eventually causes the body to break down. To change the analogy, Lord Jesus is the Living "Bread", the heavenly bread that is God's living word. We need spiritual food if we are to avoid spiritual malnutrition. That's for us as individuals. We need God's word to be preached and taught if we are to see the Church built up as Lord Jesus promised. Lord Jesus is building His church. That is happening, whatever the circumstances appear to be. The question is, are we cooperating with Lord Jesus or too busy living for self?

 

[Gregory Thompson]

Ephesians 2:20 comes to mind when I read the subject/thread title.

 

[Aussie Pete]

Ephesians 2:20 comes to mind when I read the subject/thread title.

Yes. The problem I see is that not enough churches see the leadership role as equipping the saints for the work of ministry. The Reformation changed many things for the better, but the pyramid leadership structure remains. No wonder pastors burn out. God never intended for them to bear the load alone. They should not spend their lives teaching spiritual babies. Christians have to grow up sometime. The sooner the better. The present structure inhibits, not promotes, spiritual maturity.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

Yes. The problem I see is that not enough churches see the leadership role as equipping the saints for the work of ministry. The Reformation changed many things for the better, but the pyramid leadership structure remains. No wonder pastors burn out. God never intended for them to bear the load alone. They should not spend their lives teaching spiritual babies. Christians have to grow up sometime. The sooner the better. The present structure inhibits, not promotes, spiritual maturity.

Quite often, that guy fresh out of seminary hired to speak at the front of the church "needs to put his game face on" because most of the people there are already more spiritually mature. Having a hierarchy is kind of against what Jesus taught anyway.

People are great based on service provided, yet the example is a trinity of three equally great persons. Having one person at the "top" definitely paints the wrong picture.

 

[Aussie Pete]

Quite often, that guy fresh out of seminary hired to speak at the front of the church "needs to put his game face on" because most of the people there are already more spiritually mature. Having a hierarchy is kind of against what Jesus taught anyway.

People are great based on service provided, yet the example is a trinity of three equally great persons. Having one person at the "top" definitely paints the wrong picture.

Agreed. There is definitely a hierarchy, but not in human terms and not they way most churches are structured. Watchman Nee taught on this subject extensively ("The Normal Christian Church Life" is excellent). He founded thousands of fellowships all over China, who were well prepared to withstand the onslaught on Communism when Mao came to power. I've seen estimates as high as 500,000 people in W. Nee's "Little Flock". And not one megachurch among them.