Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Is God Building With Bricks Or Stones?

Last night at Bible Study we got talking about the subject of fellowship, a common theme I've noticed bouncing around quite frequently lately. I'll try to briefly sum up what came of last night's discussion. By the way, please note that this isn't my original "message," I'm simply blogging my notes on other people's ideas (especially my dad's, he brought the main core of this to our group last night).
Genesis 11 tells the story of the tower of Babel. The tower is an image of forced fellowship, a group of people united under the concept of man-made glory, the deification of self, ambition based on pride and selfishness. The tower of Babel was built with bricks. "'Let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.' And they used brick for stone...."(v. 3)
Bricks are man made, they are made by a process of crushing, stirring, compressing, and ultimately, burning. The bricks were then glued into place with tar. In the same way, when the Holy Spirit is not the one building the Church, our purpose as the stones that build this fellowship becomes a process that crushes us, compresses us, glues us in place so that we can no longer breathe, and causes us to ultimately burn out.
Let's face it, we're not meant to be bricks! We're not meant to look the same!
Throughout the course of the Bible we see that God has always desired his dwelling place to be made of natural stones, first in a literal sense in the old testament stone altars, and later in the new testament where we are called Living Stones (1 Peter 2:4-6).
My dad builds stone walls from found stones he takes from the forest. He never cuts them and never uses cement or any kind of mortar, but simply takes the time to look at them one-by-one and finds the perfect space where they'll fit. These stones have a special unique shape, color, and size, but somehow he finds a place for them to be useful for the purpose of making a complete and beautiful stone wall. In the same way, when God builds us into something, he doesn't need mortar to stick us there and make us stay put. The shape that we are, however unique it may be, is the perfect shape for one particular place. Alone, a stone is just a stone, but together, the different stones create something that is both natural and unique.
In light of this, it's good to know that we're all equals, we're simply stones. While we each have a specific purpose and gifting of our own, in the end we're only pieces of rock until Jesus places us in any position. This should help us rid our minds of the mentality that is so pervasive in modern Christianity which condemns those who don't prophecy in front of thousands, heal tens of thousands, or have a million dollar ministry. Our place is only for the support of the whole body, not just to sit on top of the other stones and say "Look, I'm in a higher spot than you, therefore I'm more special to God!" Our gifts are not for flaunting, not for condemnation, for self-inflation or pride, they're tools God has given us to build up our neighbors! Some helpful passages that show this concept are found in Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, 1 Corinthians 13, 2 Corinthians 10:8 (where Paul really puts AUTHORITY in perspective...), 2 Corinthians 12:17-20, Romans 14:19, Ephesians 5:15-21, John 15:13, 1 Peter 4:7-11... There is pretty much an endless supply where those few passages come from...
The only stone that should stand out above the others isn't the stone that's the pastor, youth leader, the worship leader, the missionary, the teacher, the prophet. It is our Cornerstone, Jesus, (1 Peter 2:7) around which He is building a foundation for his Church. Can we get back to the perspective that our Father has? Our whole focus should be Christ glorified! The thing God our Father is building is not made with human hands. It is a dwelling for his Holy Spirit. It is the Church: The Body of Christ.

1 comment:

  1. thanks for making this valuable word available to others--just one of the many ways God is breaking you and pouring you out so that others may taste and see that He is good!
    I love you!

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