Pastor’s Corner: “God’s Beautiful Building”
Corinthians 3:8-10 (NLT) – 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9 For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building. 10 Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder.
Three men working on a building site were doing the same kind of work. One day, they were asked to describe their work. One said, “I shovel dirt into a wheelbarrow, push it across the site, and empty it.” The second said, “I come to work to make a living, to put food on the table and a roof over my kids’ heads. Then I go home.” The third said, “I’m privileged to be building a cathedral.” The first saw work as drudgery; the second as a means to an end. The third, however, had a sense of grandeur and purpose in what he was doing.
When Paul talked about his work and that of his companions, he said, “[We] work as a team with the same purpose.” That purpose was to build “God’s building” (1 Cor. 3:8-9). He could have described his work as getting on a ship, sailing to a new city, preaching, getting beaten up and thrown in jail, and then moving on. But he saw the grand picture—he was building “God’s building”—the church. Paul wanted the Corinthians to recognize and revere the church. He told them, “Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?” (3:16).
1 Thessalonians 5:11 (AMP) – 11 Therefore encourage and comfort one another and build up one another, just as you are doing. Often our focus as followers of Christ is in building up ourselves and learning to grow. While there is value in this, we can miss the point altogether. Our greatest personal growth in faith happens not when we focus only on ourselves, but rather when we focus on JESUS and serving and building up “GOD’S BUILDING” – His Beautiful Building, the Church! Don’t only work on your own spiritual life, also build up the spiritual lives of those around you! The Bible is full of guidance on how we can grow much faster if we share in each others’ spiritual growth. When we get together with other believers, we can play a major part in helping them walk more closely with the Lord.
God wants you to learn to use your times with your brothers and sisters in Christ to encourage them spiritually and to motivate them in their times with God and in prayer. We are to discuss ways to more effectively share Christ with others, and to serve them and help them. We miss out on so much potential growth when we only ever just “hang out” together. Hanging out can be very restorative and stress relieving. But if we simply add a relaxed spiritual discussion to our hanging out, we will leave that time together encouraged in the Lord. And if we add a brief prayer time at the end, we will deepen our spiritual relationship with each other and the Lord even more. Who will you see today that you could ask about what God is teaching them, or pray together, or share about what you got from the Word today? Ask God to use you when you get together to strengthen them spiritually.
Church life is neither mundane nor routine—it is God’s work. We’re building God’s Beautiful Building, and he expects quality workmanship. Heavenly Father, help us to sharpen our brothers and sisters like iron. May we all grow in spirit together, encouraging one another with your words. Amen!
In His Grace,
Pastor Hamilton