“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
The Basket Case Chronicles #26
“According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:10-11).
The word here for master builder is the word from which we get architect. And Paul describes himself not just as this kind of a builder, but as a wise one. This is the passage that sets up the famous description in the next few verses about the person who makes it into Heaven with his coat tails burning—but the import of this is often missed. Those verses are not talking, in the first instance, about an average Christian living an average Christian life, but rather talking about ministers and ministries. Some ministries withstand the fire, and are glorified in it. Others are consumed, although the minister himself is saved. Billy Bob is in glory, but Billy Bob’s Worldwide Global Outreach . . . isn’t. Poof, and it was just gone.
The essential thing that a master builder must remember here has two aspects. The first is that he must not build where there is no foundation, or try to substitute some other foundation (v. 11). The second, made more evident in the following section, is that the materials used to build upon Christ must be the right kind of material. The master builder must build in line with the existing foundation, which is Christ, and he must build with material that is consistent with that foundation. Excellent materials must not be erected in a bog, with no foundation beneath, and pathetic materials must not be used on the excellent foundation.