Under Construction…

I am out at our Pocalla Campus building site for a meeting. Outside the job trailer, there is the noise of generators, lifts, and steel being cut. We’ve gone in a few short months from bare ground to a slab, to a steel frame, to framed up walls, and now to insulation siding. In a few months, we will have a building with heat, air conditioning, and running water. But not yet. We can imagine what will be but does not yet exist.

My life and your life are like buildings under construction. It all starts with the foundation. All of us start with a flawed foundation. The phrase “nobody’s perfect” reflects the deeper truth: “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  Our flaws are different. Your parents may have been great, but you discovered how to lie all on your own. Or you might have been neglected or abused. These leave deep wounds on your soul. If you build on this foundation, whatever you put up will be unlevel, it will not be square. Parts of your soul that you need to function will not work right, if at all.

When Jesus offered us the chance to be born again, he offers a new foundation. He is not just asking to fix your flaws; he says to you and me, “Let’s start over. I will forgive your sins; I will heal your wounds.   We won’t build on your past; we will build on my purpose for you.”  This is part of what Paul meant when he said, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 

Once you make the decision to make Jesus your foundation, the building starts. This requires listening to Jesus regularly. Do you really want to tell Jesus he is doing the plumbing wrong? I think this is where I and a lot of other believers mess up. We think we know better than Jesus how to do things. I have taken tools out of Jesus’ hands (metaphorically) and said, “Let me do it.” The results are predictable.

The walls of your life are what people see. Isn’t it funny how some people will point to a crooked wall in their life and say, “I did that on purpose. It makes a statement.”  Yes, it does. It makes a statement that you trusted your own ignorance over the wisdom of God.

I think the electrical and mechanical systems are what energize the building. Sacred time with God energizes your life. You need daily sacred time: time to think about your life and your relationship with God: time to ponder God’s great truths in the Bible; time to talk out your problems and lay out your needs; time to listen to God speak to you.

You also need weekly sacred time. Weekly sacred time means coming together to worship, to bring an offering to God, to be encouraged by God’s people, and to encourage others. Weekly sacred time is needed to put your life in perspective. In other words, your life is not all about you. A building without plumbing or electricity can still keep out the wind and rain, but it falls short of what it could be.

God told his people to take off three weeks every year to worship, celebrate and think about their relationship with him. In a world that had no concept of vacation, imagine God saying, “You need annual sacred time.”  To be properly energized, you too need annual sacred time to be present with God.

The finishes on a building – the paint, carpet, furnishings, etc. – are what people notice. Most of us put our time and energy here. We want other people to think well of us, so we dress ourselves up to look our best. A contractor once told me, “Paint can hide a lot of flaws.”  I think we try to hide our flaws behind lifestyles, performance, knowledge, and social media. Hiding our flaws works for a period of time. But the flaws show up eventually. 

After one building project, we were satisfied that everything was as it should be. Until the first heavy rain. Our brand-new roof leaked. We had meeting after meeting with the contractor and the architect to determine “why?”  Finally, we discovered the roofing sub-contractor had used the wrong nails. The brand-new roof had to be torn off and replaced. It turned out the site superintendent didn’t want to go up on the high roof to inspect the work, and neither did the architect. The reason Psalm 139 invites us to ask God, “To search my heart and see if there is any wicked way in me,” is because God will go places in our soul we do not want to go. You need a soul supervisor to our lives.

Paul also wrote that one day our lives will pass through a fire of judgment. Everything not built according to Jesus’ plan will burn up. It doesn’t pass the test. It fails. One more reason to build according to Jesus’ plan.

Ruth Graham, Billy Graham’s wife, once saw a sign on a highway under construction. The sign read, “End of Construction. Thank you for your patience.”  She said she wanted that inscribed on her tombstone (after her death, her wishes were carried out). I like that thought. Life is about being constructed by Jesus. One day he finishes. Until then, let’s be patient with one another and stick to his plans. After all, he was a carpenter, you know.