Every Christian is building, and in 1 Corinthians 3 he is exhorted to “take heed how he buildeth.” The Spirit of God here uses the figure of building to express the testimony of Christianity in this world. The workmen do not all do good building; some of them evidently build with enthusiasm and zeal, but they put very poor materials into the building. We can easily see that this is not the building that our Lord spoke of in Matthew 16 when He said that upon the rock of Peter’s confession—“Christ, the Son of the living God”—He would build His church. Christ will never place any bad materials into His building, and nothing shall ever destroy what He builds. He is building His church, and that work is entirely in His hands. It is composed of every true believer in Himself, in this age.
Now, there is that other building which men build in the world—Christianity as entrusted to the hands of men. There is no other foundation but Jesus Christ (vs. 11). To depart from that foundation would be to leave Christianity itself. Each believer is within the scope of Christianity in this world, and each is building something into that testimony. We may not have seriously weighed it before, but we are adding something to that building. Now the scripture before us is, “Let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon” (vs. 10). Why should there be any need for such an exhortation? Verse 12 supplies the answer by listing some of the materials being put into the building; these fall into two classes—“gold, silver, precious stones” and “wood, hay, stubble.”
The Test of Fire
The standard by which to test the building materials is a divine standard—the test of fire. Every bit of material that goes into that building is going to pass through the fire, for we read, “The fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is” (vs. 13). So then, only fireproof materials will be of any account.
It is a solemn thought that each of us is, day by day, building something that is going to be tested by fire—God’s fire that will consume everything that is not according to His mind and His Word. Such being the case, we may well inquire how we can build things that will withstand the heat of His discerning judgment in that day. We may ask, Just what are the “gold, silver, precious stones” with which we should build? And what are the very combustible materials which we should avoid placing in this building of Christianity on earth?
In order to answer this, we may notice first that the things that will stand the fire test are—comparatively speaking—very small in bulk. A bale of hay would make a sizeable contribution to any wall. Hay is very good in its place, and some hay is much better and higher priced than other hay, but none of it is suitable fireproof building material. Wood also builds quickly and soon makes an appearance before the eyes of man, but it is no good in this building. Gold, silver and precious stones make little bulk, but after the fire has passed, they will be left, and their builder will receive a reward.
According to His Word
O fellow-Christian, whose approval do we want? Do we want to make a show and impress men, or simply to please God and leave the results with Him? Let us not seek popular appeal or that which has human approval. Let us seek to communicate “spiritual things by spiritual means” (1 Cor. 2:13 JnD). Men may act on the principle that the results justify any means used, but God’s Word says, “A man ... is not crowned, except he strive lawfully,” or in other words, “wood, hay, stubble” will be burned up and only “gold, silver, precious stones” survive the fire. The one who built with the latter will receive a reward, or be “crowned,” as in the illustration of an athlete (see 2 Timothy 2:5).
May the Lord grant us each grace to seek more and more to witness for Him in this world, and in everything to do all according to His Word and in devotedness to His name. Then it will not be a matter of seeking to do great things before men, even ostensibly for His sake, but doing all in view of the day which shall soon declare of what “sort” the work was—not how “much.” Each of us can seek to encourage others and to speak often of Him.
P. Wilson, adapted from Christian Truth, 1:134-139