City Life Starter

Word: 1 Corinthians 3:9-17 (NIV)

9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.

11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,

13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.

14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.

15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?

17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

By Stefan Johnsson

We, as the church, cannot live as individuals without a community. God calls us to live together, to worship as a congregation. At the same time, we as humans have a need for community, we seek belonging, which is something God has put into each and every person’s heart. We are not meant to live alone. As Christians, it is even more important that we meet together because it is with the support of our fellow brothers and sisters that we can stay strong and help each other grow in faith. A rope is its strongest if three cords are tied together, it cannot hold alone. This stands for each of us and why we need one another and the church.

Paul, in Corinthians, stresses the importance of building each other up and that we need each other. He speaks on this through other letters that he wrote as well.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

Ephesians 4:29

“Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.”

It is vital that we do not tear others down. There is a major difference between condemning a person of sin and judging them versus encouraging them to live a better life and to follow Christ more closely.  The key to all this is love. Love your brother and sister. It is through love that what comes out of your mouth is encouraging and brings grace, the opposite is gossip, unwholesome talk, and judgment.

The second part of this passage is how Paul stresses the importance of Jesus Christ being the foundation. We cannot build up people with false promises that do not focus on Christ. The prosperity gospel is one of these. This thinking tells believers that if you only had more faith, God will bless you with wealth. This is a foundation that is built on gold, silver, and costly stones. If we build people up in this way, they will not last through the trials that life brings. The fire will destroy their faith in God instead of making it grow stronger.

There is no foundation or building material that we can lay that will last except that which points to Jesus. There will be trials and sorrows in this age, but only if the foundation is Jesus will it last through any fire and any trial. We cannot divert from this. Do not be someone that causes a house to fall, for God takes pride in his temple, and we are all this temple.

So let us focus on building houses that will last, believers that can stand any trial in life through which they can be refined and grow stronger. Encourage and say and do what is helpful rather than bringing false promises and hope that is not found in the Bible. Nothing except Jesus can bring us eternal life.