The
Temple – Quality
1 Cor. 3:9-23
July
2010
The usual explanation of this passage is that it
describes the building of the Christian life.
We all build on Christ, but some people use good materials while others
use poor materials. The kind of material
you use determines the kind of reward you will get. It is just like building a house; you get
what you put into it. Also, involved in
that house is the quality of the builder.
While this is a good application, it is not the basic
interpretation. Paul is discussing the
building of the local church, the temple of God.
According to 1 Cor. 6:19-20, the individual believer is
God’s temple; but here it is the local assembly that he is speaking
of. Paul, writing in Eph.
2:19-22, says the whole church is compared to a temple of God.
Paul also points out that one day God will judge our labors as related to
the local assembly. “The fire will test
the quality of each man’s work” (1 Cor
3:13).
God is concerned about the quality of our
construction. The church does NOT belong
to the preacher or to the congregation.
This is GOD’S Church! “You are
God’s building” (1 Cor. 3:9). If we are going to build the local church the
way God wants it built, we MUST meet certain conditions and here they
are.
First,
we MUST build on the right foundation (vv. 10-11)
I do hope you know what foundation I am speaking about.
The foundation, the only good and right foundation, is Jesus Christ, the solid
rock. Back in chapter 1, Paul determined
that when he went to Corinth, he would preach only Christ and Him
crucified (vv. 1-2). When Paul laid a
foundation, it would last! Paul’s
emphasis was on Christ while the Corinthian’s emphasis was on personalities like
Peter and Paul and Apollos.
I’ve been in the building business long enough to know
that the foundation is the most important part of the building, because it
determines the size, shape, and strength of the house. Many a ministry looks good for a while but if
it is not founded on Jesus Christ, it will eventually collapse and
disappear.
Second, we MUST build
with the right materials (vv. 12-17)
Paul described two opposite kinds of materials; Gold,
Silver, Precious stones and Wood, Hay, and Stubble. I had this happen to me some months back in
buying a set of tires for my van. You
truly get what you pay for (most of the time).
What is Paul talking about here? First, he is NOT talking about people,
because Christians are the “living stones” that make up God’s temple (1 Peter
2:5). I personally believe Paul is
referring to the doctrines of the Word of God.
Going back to our family, field, and temple, the Word is food for the
family, seed for the field, and materials for the temple.
The Book of Proverbs presents the wisdom of the Word of
God as treasure to be sought, protected, and invested in daily life. (Turn to Proverbs
3:13-15a, 2:1-5, and 8:10-11)
The Corinthians were trying to
build their church by man’s wisdom, the wisdom of this world, when they should
have been depending on the wisdom of God as found in the Word. As I read this, it says to me that ministers
of the Word MUST dig deep into the Scriptures and mine out the precious gold,
silver, and jewels, and then build these truths into the lives of the
people. D.L. Moody, one of my heroes,
used to say that converts should be weighed as well as counted. God is interested in quality as well as
quantity, and Paul makes it clear that it is possible to have both. The faithful minister can work in the field
and see increase, and he can build with the Word of God and see beauty and
lasting blessings.
Using good materials for you temple is very important to
God. In verses 16-17 Paul warns that if
we destroy (defile) God’s temple by using cheap materials, God will destroy
us! That, my friend, is serious! You will still get to heaven but there will
be no reward. I don’t want my ministry
or the ministry of this church to go up in smoke at the final judgment as if it
were hay, wood, and stubble. The key to
a successful ministry, as G. Campbell Morgan use to say is “work; hard work; and
again, work!” Morgan was in his study
every morning before 6am, digging for treasure.
You can find hay, wood, and stubble in your back yard and just pick it up
but you have to dig for treasures of gold, silver, and precious stones. We MUST build on the right
foundation.
Third,
we must build according to the right plan (vv.
18-20)
It comes as a shock to some church members that you
cannot manage a local church the same way you run a business. This does not mean we should not follow good
business principles, but the operation is totally different. There is a wisdom of
this world that works for the world, but it will not work for the
church.
The world depends on promotion, prestige, and the
influence of money and important people.
The church depends on prayer, the power of the Spirit, humility,
sacrifice, and service. The church that
imitates the world may seem to succeed in time, but it will turn to ashes in
eternity. The church in the Book of Acts
had none of the “secrets of success” that seem to be important today. They owned no property; they had no influence
in government; they had no treasury; their leaders were ordinary men without
special education in the accepted schools; they held no attendance contest; they
brought in no celebrities; and yet they turned the whole world upside
down!
God has a specific plan for each local church (Phil.
2:12-13). Each pastor and church leader
must seek the mind of God for His wisdom.
Verse 19 warns that man’s wisdom will only trap him (a quotation from
Job 5:13); and verse 20 warns
that man’s wisdom only leads to vanity and futility (a quote from Psalm
94:11). The church MUST be identified
with the needs of the world but it MUST NOT imitate the wisdom of the
world.
Finally,
we MUST build with the right motive (vv. 21-23)
The motive MUST be to glorify God and God alone. Remember our definition for glorify: to make
God look good. The members of the church
at Corinth were
glorying in men and that was wrong and still is today. They were comparing men and dividing the
church by such carnal deeds. Had they
been seeking to glorify God alone, there would have been harmony in the
assembly.
Paul closed this appeal by pointing out that each
believer possesses all things in Christ.
This is another of those mysteries that are almost impossible for the
immature believer to comprehend. We all
belong to each other equally. Maybe we
cannot help having our personal preferences when it comes to the way different
men minister the Word. However, we MUST
not let our personal preferences become divisive or prejudice. I have discovered that many times, the
preacher I enjoy the least may be the one I need the most.
Another mystery is that we are rich in Christ. “All are yours” is what Paul says referring
to the world, life, death, things present, and things to come. And if all things belong to all believers,
then why should there be competition and rivalry? To sum up what Paul is saying: “Get you eyes
off of men! Keep your eyes on Christ,
and work with Him in the building of the church!”
“You are Christ’s”.
There is your balance. But be
careful! We MUST not become careless or
use our freedom unwisely. “All things
are yours” – that is Christian liberty.
“And you are Christ’s” – that is Christian responsibility. Liberty and responsibility are the gold and
silver and precious stone that we must build with.
As I closed this study for myself, I noticed how many
time I used the word “MUST” and I realized, afresh and anew, that there are
absolutes in the world today, in God’s world.
We certainly do need to be praying for our preacher and
all the other ministers of the Word!
Pray that they feed the family of God and bring the children of God to
maturity. They MUST sow the seed in the
field and pray for an increase. They
MUST mine the treasures of the Word and build these treasures into the
temple. No wonder Paul cried, “And who
is sufficient for these things?” But he
also gave the answer: “Our sufficiency is of God” (2 Cor. 2:16; 3:5).