Are We Building On The Wrong Foundation
In the 1957 film, The Bridge on the River Kwai, a contingent of British prisoners of war, held in a Japanese prison camp in Burma during the latter part of WWII, are forced by their captors to build the bridge that will complete a strategic railroad supply line. After initially resisting, and even sabotaging the Japanese efforts to build the bridge, eventually the British soldiers, inspired by the leadership of one of their officers, Colonel Nicholson, begin to see it as a point of pride to take over the project and build the best structure possible, even going beyond what the Japanese originally had in mind. In the dramatic final scene of the film, Colonel Nicholson (played superbly by Sir Alec Guinness) finds himself confronted by a special forces team sent by the allied forces to destroy the bridge. Initially upon encountering this team, Colonel Nicholson starts fighting them, but at a certain point during the exchange, he is finally jolted into reality and instantly understands that all his sincere labors, leadership, discipline and even the men he has inspired to work alongside him, have been engaged in a vanity project that has served the purposes of the enemy. When he finally turns and decides to destroy the bridge, he is cut down with enemy fire before he can complete his goal, and yet somehow, as he is dying, still manages to fall on the plunger, destroying the bridge at the last possible moment. [This summary doesn’t do the film justice. If you haven’t seen it, please do so.]
Reflecting on this film as an adult has been a much different experience than when I first saw it as a twelve-year old. This time around it made me think about the state of the church in the West and wonder if much of Christendom wasn’t a sincere, but vain exercise of building structures. It has made me pause and consider whether the structures that were built along the way might have been a distraction from Christ’s plan, or possibly at times, God forbid, an assist for the enemy. If that’s the case, then I wonder, what will it take for us to be “jolted into reality”. Will that happen before our own end comes? What can our generation do to recapture Jesus’ compelling vision and mission? And how can we pass that on to the next generation, rather than just handing them a bunch of dusty institutions?
In 1 Corinthians 14:19, Paul gives his central thought for the chapter when he clarifies that… in a church assembly gathering, I would rather speak a few things with my mind engaged, than mindlessly repeat (or sing) 10,000 religious sentiments that merely result in a therapeutic moment for "insiders” but have no chance of actually building anyone up.
When you place 1 Corinthians in its context of the early letters of Paul, it can then be understood as intending to address their internal disputes, helping them to fully grasp the gospel and be able to use it effectively and flexibly in their situation to solve these sorts of problems and partner with Paul and his team in the progress of the gospel. Paul is writing to the Corinthian church because they aren’t practicing what he taught them, they are still being driven by social status, and it is creating all sorts of divisions, preventing them from becoming a mature base for the progress of the gospel in their region and beyond. Then in chapters 11:17-14:40 Paul focuses in on the dissension they were experiencing, and how those divisions were being reflected in their weekly meal-gatherings, which they, ironically, referred to as feasts marked by love. After pointing out that irony, and reminding them of what he had taught them, Paul clarifies how they should behave in their gatherings. Then, addressing the issue of their emphasis on “religious activities” and “spiritual talk” he models for them how to solve these sorts of problems using principle-based thinking around the gospel (rather than just having a set of rules). In effect, he is telling them to stop engaging in "religious activities" or using "spiritual talk" because it is fruitless and gives a false sense of being spiritual without the transformative power of actually following Christ's plan, which is what will ignite the work of His Spirit. This emphasis on religious activity and spiritual talk does not build up anyone other than the person/people speaking. It doesn't edify those in the church, and it is nonsense to any outsiders present in the gathering. In other words, it doesn't express love, which is exactly what they were supposed to be known for.
Paul is explaining things to the Corinthian church in such a way that they will realize they should stop trying to “be spiritual”, which they felt gave them status with God and in their community, and instead live together as a family that builds one another up. Notice though, how Paul deals with this issue without a direct command, but by clearly pointing out how incompatible it is with truly loving one another and living together as Jesus’ family. He puts “spiritual talk” last on every list, with strict instructions to pause and explain that sort of speech if it does occur, so that no one present in the gathering is confused; and so that, if it was just spiritual babble, it would become obvious to everyone, and the offending parties would stop engaging in it. He was giving them instructions, explaining it all carefully, and expecting them to make the connection between the gospel and the reality of living together as a family of families (churches). In doing so, he is helping them realize that a move toward maturity, is a move away from this practice. Paul describes how engaging in these sorts of religious activities has become a replacement for true religion. All of that is getting in the way of what the Spirit would do in and through them, if only they would engage in building one another up. He is trying to establish them in the ability to use the gospel flexibly, so they won’t remain stuck in their self-interested “spirituality”.
Note the use of the music metaphor in the passage. Paul is saying that if they engage in "speaking in tongues" (which he describes as spiritual talk that is only good for superficially edifying the person speaking) then it's like someone picking up an instrument they've never practiced on before and trying to play music with it. The result is just a lot of meaningless sounds & random noise. We are meant to intentionally practice edifying one another, so that our hearts can sing out beautiful melodies; not just repeat church-speak or engage in religious activities in an attempt to attain a momentary emotional high or attempt to conjure up the Spirit in order to have a personal spiritual experience.
We cannot conjure up the Spirit in a specific moment of worship. (God is not a god that can be conjured!) Worship is meant to involve our entire lives, not a momentary posturing (Romans 12:1-2). We are supposed to make melodies from our hearts. That takes time and practice… together. In Ephesians 5, Paul returns to this issue. Once again using a music metaphor, he tells the church they should not go to their weekly meal-gatherings, and then engage in activities that are only self-interested.[1] By using this music metaphor, he is not telling them they should sing songs whenever they gather together. He is saying that if everyone fully gives their lives to prioritizing their relationships with one another, building one another up, and developing a deep understanding of and engagement in Christ's plan, then their hearts will “sing out” beautiful "melodies" or "expressions" that engage and encourage one-another and begin to influence those in their sphere of relationships, resulting in them shaping the culture around them. Those expressions might be community habits or projects, a paper or teaching that edifies, households developing their own plans for being a mission center and sharing those plans with their church, or artistic expressions, including music, poetry, etc. That is what making melodies with our hearts is about – not some religious speech or song that we repeat in a formal service.
We need to recover the concept of being gospel-shaped communities that sacrificially care for and build each other up, and together figure out how to meet needs in our neighborhoods and cities. But none of this will be possible for us until we stop prioritizing religious activities and spiritual talk and give ourselves fully to understanding His plan and living that out together (the plan made evident in Acts which was passed on through the traditioning of Paul[2], which Jesus specifically commissioned him for – Ephesians 3:8-10).
Christendom, particularly Protestantism, has taken the idea of "religious practices" and created entire systems, services, syllabi and songbooks around them, which may provide a rudimentary level of meaningful experience for individuals who grew up with them, but which do not effectively engage churches in learning how to use the implications of the gospel to think at a principle level and shape their lives around the apostles’ teaching. These religious practices prevent churches from becoming mature and prevent them from being able to solve problems flexibly using principle-based thinking, since those practices manifest themselves primarily in collections of rules to be followed, rites to be observed and propositions to be acknowledged. They sidetrack Christ's mission by subdividing Jesus’ church and its mission into a thousand specialties. Churches become stuck in shallow sentimentality. Traditions & denominations become stuck in practices that have nothing to do with Christ's plan for building His global family. Churches lose sight of their role and end up outsourcing the development of their leaders to seminaries (whichever one promotes their specific tradition). Christ's mission is outsourced to agencies and institutions. And the role of seeking the welfare of their neighborhoods and cities to NGO's and non-profit organizations. These religious structures (that we've built with our own hands) have become sacred to us. Like Jeroboam after the kingdom of Israel was divided (1 Kings 12:25-13:10), we think we can design and build our own systems and structures for worshipping the one true God. It's the same attribute that Jesus harshly critiqued in the pharisees of His day (Matthew 23:1-13). When will we break this cycle that has so effectively stunted the progress of the gospel (Paul’s term that describes what the churches are to be participating in with regards to Christ’s mission, which carries the context and attributes of how that mission is to be carried out according to Christ’s plan), and instead shape ourselves around Christ's plan? The plan He died to enact. The plan He was resurrected to make a reality. The grand strategy that He commissioned Paul to make known and set in motion perpetually until He returns.[3] Jesus is building His global family that He himself will dwell with forever in new creation.
He is building a new temple that will fill the whole earth. He is the cornerstone of that building project and his apostles laid the foundation. If we don't continue building on the same foundation that they laid, even though we work hard and sincerely, then we are working on some other building project, and the things we build will eventually get tossed on the burn pile. Will we join Him in the triumphal march toward the kingdom He is building? Or will we continue to erect structures in an attempt to reach heaven on our own terms? Will we follow His plan, or just continue to do our own thing, and call it "being the church"?
Scott Canion is based out of the NYC area and is part of the METRO team, a network of global leaders who are establishing churches that are families who are patterned after Acts.
[1] In Ephesians 5:15-21 Paul uses getting drunk as an example of the sort of selfish behavior that prevents them from being a one-minded base for the progress of the gospel (which was also an example he used when correcting the Corinthian gatherings – 15:17-22). Notice Paul’s ability to think at a principle-level here. He’s not giving them a rule about not overeating or not having alcohol at their meals. He’s saying their priority should be serving and building one another up, not just filling their own bellies. It’s not the menu, or the excess he’s critiquing, but their selfish orientation, when they should be defined by their constant love and care for one another, which should then be spilling over into their gatherings as Jesus’ family and spilling out into their sphere of relationship in their neighborhoods and cities.
[2] The traditioning of Paul refers to Paul’s process of establishing churches that is made clear by understanding that there is a unified Pauline collection of New Testament writings that give shape to his process, and make it clear that Jesus uniquely commissioned Paul to set these things in order and reveal Jesus’ grand strategy, so that those patterns, principles, processes and practices would be practiced perpetually in the churches until Jesus returns to fully establish His kingdom. [Apologies for the accidental alliteration.]
[3] Jesus’ grand strategy refers to the idea communicated in Ephesians 3:10, where Paul states that Jesus gave him a unique stewardship to do two things: make known Jesus’ master plan or grand strategy for His unfolding kingdom and to initiate that plan in a way that specifically brings Gentiles into Jesus’ global family and unites that family as one, both Jews and Gentiles.