Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 3:10b, 1 Cor. 3:12-13, 15
In the foregoing message we considered the building work with transformed materials. This is the positive side of Paul’s word about the building work. In this message we shall consider the negative side, the building work with natural things.
Before we consider what it means to build with wood, grass, and stubble (v. 12), we need to point out that over the years 1 Corinthians 3 has not been adequately understood by most believers. The reason for this is that this chapter was written in an experiential way. Since most readers of 1 Corinthians are short of spiritual experience, they are not able to understand this chapter. In many cases they are not even interested in it and prefer other portions of the Bible, such as Proverbs, which suit their natural concept.
First Corinthians 3 is deep and profound. In writing this chapter Paul uses many metaphors: milk, solid food, planting, watering, God’s farm, God’s building, foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, stubble, fire, and temple. Without experience we cannot interpret these metaphors properly or understand their significance. Many readers of this chapter pay attention only to two of the metaphors used by Paul: the foundation and the temple. Few know what it means to build with gold, silver, and precious stones or with wood, grass, and stubble. Therefore, for many readers today, this chapter is almost completely closed.
In reading the Bible many of us have the habit of trying to understand it merely in a doctrinal way or in a theological way. However, when we read any portion of the Bible, we should try to understand it not theologically but experientially. We should seek to know how this portion of the Word relates to our experience with the Lord. Furthermore, in giving messages we need to present our message in an experiential way, not merely in a doctrinal way.
We have pointed out that chapters one and two of 1 Corinthians are deep and profound. These chapters even reveal the depths of God (2:10). Chapter three is also very profound. If Paul had not written this chapter in a metaphorical way, he probably would have needed several more chapters to present what was within him.
As we read this chapter we should not only seek to understand the language; we should also look at all the pictures portrayed in it. Paul’s word about God’s farm, a cultivated land, is not only a metaphor, but also a picture. As we consider what it means for the church to be God’s farm, we can visualize plowing, sowing, planting, watering, growing, producing, and harvesting. To consider the matter in this way is to look at the picture conveyed by the metaphors used by Paul.
In reading this chapter, we should not take things for granted. Rather, we should ask what it means to lay another foundation. We should also inquire what is the significance of gold, silver, and precious stones, and what is the meaning of the wood, grass, and stubble. For example, when we read Paul’s word about not laying another foundation in the light of the background of the Corinthians, we shall realize that Paul means not to lay Greek philosophy or culture as a foundation. It also implies that we should not make our opinions, preferences, or choices a foundation. A brother may say that he is burdened to go to a certain place. That burden, however, may simply be that brother’s personal taste or preference. In reading this chapter we should be serious and desire to understand what Paul means by all the different metaphors. We must find the proper interpretation of these figures.
Wood, grass, and stubble signify the knowledge, realization, and attainments which come from the believers’ background (such as Judaism or other religions, philosophy, or culture) and the natural way of living (which is mostly in the soul and is the natural life). Wood may be in contrast to gold, signifying the nature of the natural man; grass may be in contrast to silver, signifying the fallen man, the man of the flesh (1 Pet. 1:24), unredeemed by Christ; and stubble may be in contrast to precious stones, signifying the work and living which issues from an earthen source, without any transformation by the Holy Spirit. All these worthless materials are the product of the believers’ natural man together with what they have collected from their background. In God’s economy these materials are fit only to be burned (v. 13).
Specifically and practically, wood here refers to the human nature of the Greeks. By nature the Greeks are very philosophical. I believe they even philosophized concerning Christ. Thus, wood refers to their nature, their natural makeup. In the same principle, wood denotes what we are according to our natural makeup. For example, the Chinese have an ethical nature. This is their “wood.” We should not build the church with wood. This means that we should not build it with our nature, with our natural makeup.
We have pointed out that grass signifies the unredeemed man of the flesh. Wood signifies the nature of the Greeks, whereas grass signifies the natural man of the Greeks. To build the church with grass is to build it with what we are in our natural being. For example, the leader of the Brethren assembly I attended in Chefoo was a very slow and steady person. He always walked slowly, carefully, and deliberately. Once in teaching the Bible he said that God always does things slowly. Because of the influence of this leader, almost everyone in that assembly learned to be slow. When they came into the area of the meeting hall, they walked very slowly. Furthermore, all the prayers in the meetings were offered in a very slow way. That entire Brethren assembly was according to the natural being of the leader. This is an illustration of what it means to build the church with grass.
To build with grass is to build with what we are and with what we prefer. Suppose a particular person has a strong preference for speaking in tongues. To seek to promote tongues-speaking is to build with grass. Whenever we build according to what we are in our natural being or according to our natural preference, we build with grass.
Stubble signifies the work and living which issue from an earthen source. Stubble is altogether without life. To build with stubble is even worse than building with wood and grass. Jealousy, strife, envy, gossip, and criticism are all aspects of stubble. Philosophical people are usually very critical. The more they think in a philosophical way, the more they criticize others. Such criticism is stubble.
It is very difficult among Christians today to find the proper building materials. Where can you find gold, silver, and precious stones? However, there is an abundance of wood, grass, and stubble. Everywhere we can see the natural makeup, the natural being, and even such things as jealousy, envy, strife, hatred, murmuring, and complaining. In almost any Christian group you can find wood, grass, stubble; that is, you can find the building according to the natural makeup, the natural being, and the characteristics of earthly living. In particular, in 1 Corinthians 3 wood, grass, and stubble refer to the Greek nature, the Greek being, and the evil of the Greek way of living, especially as these things were expressed among the believers in Corinth.
In chapter three Paul charges the saints not to lay anything or anyone other than Christ as the unique foundation. This means that we must not exalt anyone or anything in place of Christ. If we exalt someone or something instead of Christ, we lay another foundation. Paul also charges us to take heed how we build upon Christ as the unique foundation. The Corinthians were not to build with their Greek nature, their Greek self, or their Greek jealousy, strife, and criticism. In other words, they were not to build the church with anything Greek.
About fifty years ago there was a prevailing trend among many Christians in China to remove from the Christian churches there any trace of Western culture. The desire of those in this movement was to have everything in the church according to native Chinese culture. They even wanted the chapels and church buildings to be constructed in a native way instead of in a Western way. The Christians in this movement appreciated the Bible, but they rejected the culture brought over by the missionaries. Their goal was to make their church Chinese in every way. The church, however, should be neither Western nor Chinese. It should simply be Christian. This means that the church should be built with Christ in every way and in every aspect. Everything related to the church must be Christ.
Although the church should be built with Christ and Christ alone, virtually every denomination and Christian group seeks to be “native” or natural in some way. To have a native denomination or group is to build with our natural makeup and being, no matter what these may be. Some may desire a church according to the German nature, others according to the French makeup, and still others according to the Chinese constitution. This is to build the church according to what we are and what we do in our natural life, makeup, and being.
Many years ago I was invited to visit a place in England which was famous for the spirituality among the people there. I stayed for a month, and I did find some genuine spirituality. However, what I saw more was their emphasis on the British way of doing things. They unconsciously intended to make others British and even exerted control over places far away. On two occasions the leader of this group came to Taiwan at our invitation to minister to us. His first visit was wonderful and very profitable. However, his second visit was quite damaging, for he sought to impose on the saints certain British habits and customs. For example, during a time of fellowship he remarked, “Why do you brothers who are servicemen put on your caps when you are still in the meeting hall? As soon as the meeting is dismissed, you put on your caps, even before you are outside the building.” According to his opinion, the brothers were wrong in wearing their caps indoors. A certain brother tried to explain the custom among military personnel in the Far East, that it is not the practice for a soldier to remove his cap whether inside or outside. Nevertheless, the military brothers always remove their caps during a meeting. But as soon as the meeting is over, they put on their caps, not caring whether they are inside or outside the meeting hall. Nevertheless, this brother was very strong and asked, “Do you follow human customs, or do you follow the Bible?” After he responded in this way, I said to myself, “Brother, you are not fair. We definitely follow the Bible. According to the Bible, when a brother prays in a church meeting, he should not have any covering on his head. But there certainly is nothing wrong with putting a cap on one’s head when he is still in the meeting hall. To claim that a soldier must wait until he is outside the hall is to follow your Western custom. In Britain this may be your practice. But it is unfair to accuse us of not following the Bible because we do not keep your custom in this matter.”
Realizing the seriousness of using natural things to build up the church, I have earnestly endeavored, by the Lord’s mercy, not to bring Chinese things into the Lord’s recovery in this country. Moreover, I certainly do not want anything of what I am to influence the building of the church. None of us should build the church according to what we are in our natural being. We should not allow anything of our natural being to be put into the church. Concerning this we all need to look to the Lord for His mercy. May the Lord have mercy on us that we will not build the church with what we are by nature. If the church expresses the natural makeup or natural being of the leading ones, this indicates that, at least to some extent, the church has been built with grass. Something of the unredeemed natural man has been put into the church. This is an element which has not been redeemed, terminated, and replaced by Christ. Although I was born a Chinese, I can testify that my desire is to be terminated and replaced. I do not want to build the church with grass, with what I am in my natural being. None of us should build with wood or grass, much less with the stubble of jealousy, strife, and criticism.
If we look at the situation among Christians today, we shall realize that Paul’s word about wood, grass, and stubble is not a mere doctrine. We all must exercise our spirit, look to the Lord, and pray, “O Lord, have mercy on me that I would not build Your church with my natural makeup, with my natural being, or with anything of jealousy, strife, or envy. Lord, I want to build Your church with the gold of the Father’s nature, with the silver of the cross which redeems, terminates, and replaces me, and with the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. I want to build the church in the mingled spirit where I experience the Father’s nature and the Son’s redemption, and eventually have the Spirit’s transformation. Lord, I desire to build the church in this way.”
Now we can understand Paul’s concept concerning the proper materials used in building the church. In chapter three Paul was actually telling the Corinthian believers, “You are plants on God’s farm. Now you need to grow Christ. The more you grow, the more you will become gold, silver, and precious stones for God’s building. Do not lay any foundation other than Christ. Do not exalt anything, anyone, or any doctrine or practice. Simply build upon the all-inclusive Christ as the unique foundation already laid. But take heed not to build upon this Christ with anything Greek; rather build with the Father’s nature and the Son’s redemption which will result in the Spirit’s transformation. Then the church will be golden and full of silver and precious stones.”
In verse 15 Paul issues a word of warning: “If anyone’s work shall be consumed, he shall suffer loss, but he shall be saved, yet so as through fire.” The work of wood, grass, and stubble is fit only to be burned. This is the work which shall be consumed by the Lord’s judging fire at His return.
When Paul says, “he shall suffer loss,” he means loss of reward, not loss of salvation. To suffer loss here absolutely does not mean to perish. The salvation which we have received in Christ is not by our works (Titus 3:5) and is eternal, unchangeable in nature (Heb. 5:9; John 10:28-29). Hence, those believers whose Christian works will not be approved by the judging Lord and who will suffer the loss of reward will still be saved. God’s salvation to all believers as a free gift is for eternity, whereas the Lord’s reward to those whose Christian works are approved by Him is for the Kingdom age. The reward is an incentive for their Christian work, and it is not given to all believers.
Although those believers whose Christian works will not be approved by the Lord at His coming back will be saved, they will be saved so as through fire. Through fire surely indicates punishment. However, it is altogether not the purgatory heretically taught by Catholicism in its superstitious quoting of this verse. Nevertheless, this word should be a solemn warning to us today concerning our Christian works.
