Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 3:10-11

At the weekly men’s Bible study I attend we have been working our way through pretty much the entire Bible. We are now exploring Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, written around 56 CE, while he was living in Ephesus during his third missionary journey.

This is very early in the evolution of the Christian religion, yet Paul is already needing to address a tendency for people to look somewhere other than Jesus when defining their faith. But, if Jesus is not the foundation then what we have is not even vaguely sound.

This is why Rebekah always frames her theology around this simple confession: “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”

Paul’s concerns bring to mind people and organizations and ideologies that try to co-opt Jesus and the power of His name and the allegiance of His followers – when the foundation of their cause is very much something else. But when the element that has the most strength is not the foundation then collapse is inevitable.

We often see this play out when toddlers learn how to build a tower or a house with blocks. They are fine until the critical mass moves from the foundation to a level even just a few inches up.

In our lives, our ideologies, our churches especially, Jesus must be the sure foundation. When the foundation is anything else we are quite literally undermining Jesus.

• A church built on social justice and good deeds? Wrong foundation! Build the church on Jesus, then justice and good deeds will flourish.
• A church built on love of country? Wrong foundation! Build on Jesus and your love of country will reach out with love for all people, and not become nationalism.
• Church built on your preferences in the culture wars? Either way, left or right, this is the wrong foundation! Follow Jesus, love everybody.
• A church built around a strong charismatic personality? Wrong foundation!
• Political movements claiming Jesus as a supporter or key ally? Stop it! Jesus does not work for you!
• Religion where rules and adherence to “correct” doctrine stand between anyone and the generous grace and unconditional love of Jesus? Again, wrong foundation!

When everything else is stripped away there must be Jesus. Not one of our priorities, not a backup plan, not on the sidelines, not an allegiance we make because our agenda could get a boost from Christ’s implied endorsement. But Jesus as Lord, Jesus as the filter through which we pour every other thought and initiative we value. Jesus the foundation, the cornerstone.

To me, this is the answer to all the questions struggling faith communities have about their future – and the caution for those who believe their “success” is about anything other than Jesus. It’s not about finding some magic pill that will “attract” the people you want. It’s about Jesus. When everything else is built on the foundational fact that Jesus invites us to follow in The Way, and to live in and from his grace-saturated love, then we will stand.

Okay, so maybe that sounded a little preachy. But, as Paul pointed out in Philippians: “Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him” (3:8-9)

The Good News is as simple as that – DEREK