The Foundation is Christ

For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 3:11)

At the risk of overstating the obvious, for those of us who follow Christ, there can be only one foundation: Jesus himself.

One might ask, if this is so obvious, why write a blog post about it? Along those same lines, one could ask why Paul felt compelled to state it in his letter to the Corinthians.

The reality is this: We are very nearsighted and have spiritual alzheimers. We too quickly forget how we got where we are and where we are going. We need a frequent (dare I say constant?) reminder that we are the branches and Jesus is the vine.

I think one of the dangers of not continually stressing and reminding ourselves that Jesus is the foundation is that without it we simply assume He is the foundation. Unfortunately, assuming doesn't make it so. Assume Jesus is the foundation long enough and we will end up people, churches, even denominations that have Christ in their label but not in their blood. And if we take just a moment to pause, we can see the potential (or even reality) of this slide in our own lives, our own families and our own churches.

The solution? That is the easy / hard part. It is as easy and as hard as always going back to the foundation of Christ. God wants us to build and to grow. Personally and corporately. But we must build and grow explicitly on the foundation of Christ. It is easy because the gospel is simple, Jesus is always available to any who call on him and He is interceding for us even now. But it is hard because dependence on Christ requires giving up dependence on ourselves. Glory to God means giving up glory for ourselves. Making sure the foundation is true means calling into question and clarifying the foundation of others who may not share this core belief and value.

Remember, in the end, only what is done for Christ will last.

To God Alone be the Glory