Building Codes

At a recent conference the well-respected theologian and pastor, R.C. Sproul, shared what he considered to be the scariest passage in the Bible. As he read the words of Jesus, the Holy Spirit settled them uneasily in my mind; the implication was painful and left its mark on my soul. The message recorded in Matthew 7: 21-23 is an unambiguous judgment; not upon evil emperors, adulterers, and thieves, but on preachers.

It appears the final judgment will include many ministers standing as strangers before Jesus; some will tout outstanding resumes with name recognition. Others will have long lists of accomplishments, decades of ministry, signs and wonders, great songs, teachings, deliverances, and prophetic words. Evidently, a significant number will be shocked and dismayed as they are ordered to depart from the presence of Jesus Christ.

Immediately following this somber unveiling, Jesus continues to unpack the passage by guiding His listeners through some basic building codes everyone understood. A summary might read something like: If you don’t build on a solid foundation your building will fall down and cause no small catastrophe.

Jesus is linking two fundamental truths: the collapse of an unstable building may cause physical injury and death; how much greater the spiritual implications when ministers disregard Kingdom building codes? To quote Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:27, “…great will be the fall.”

The human and spiritual carnage resulting from substandard ministry foundations has been evident and often over the last few decades. Can we understand what is happening? With careful inspection, using scriptural forensics, the damaging evidence emerges and cries out for our verdict. The foundations were flawed.