“Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Messiah Yeshua himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.” Ephesians 2: 20-21 (New Living Translation – NLT) adapted with Messianic Jewish terms
We live in a complicated society. The Media is constantly bombarding us with many types of messages. Live this way. Believe this person. Try this philosophy. On and on it goes. How many of us, I wonder, simply absorb and believe what we see and hear without spending a few moments to think about it. If we don’t think it through, then we may find ourselves building our lives on principles that are either shallow or meaningless.
A ministry can fall into the same trap. With a wide range of philosophies, ideas and paths out there, it becomes all too easy to follow the latest wind of “doctrine”. One person has a good idea about children’s ministry; another has a congregational growth strategy. Yet another person thinks the sanctuary should be painted green. Many of these ideas or strategies can be good and used by the Lord to build His kingdom.
It is just that in the process of growing, whether as an individual or a congregation, we may become caught up in too many things. Suddenly our lives or ministries become just as complicated and shallow as the world around us. Even worse, other people may look at you or your congregation and not see anything different from the world. One day you may find yourself looking at your life or ministry and realize that you somehow lost your way.
Do you remember the Hans Christian Anderson story of the “Princess on the Pea” (That is the actual title translation into English). The prince, desiring to get married, was looking for a special person. He came across many princesses but was not satisfied. One day a rain soaked women came to the castle and claimed she was a princess. To test the women’s claim the Old Queen devised a plan. She put a pea underneath 20 feather beds and 20 mattresses. Only a princess with delicate skin could feel the pea under all that bedding. The princess passed the test.
Sometimes, as followers of Yeshua, we inadvertently bury the Kingdom of God under 20 feather beds and 20 mattresses. We add layer upon layer of things to do, places to go, things to believe. We run the risk of getting so caught up in the layers that we forget that the test is in fact to hear the voice of God. In the story, the pea was the focus of the test; the bedding was simply part of the process of testing. In our walk with the Lord, the “still small voice” is the focus of the test. Everything else is a part of the process of testing.
One day we will be judged by what we do with the layers. However, if we lose sight of the foundations and the cornerstone we may find that the cornerstone is saying to us; ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me. . .”
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have-Yeshua the Messiah. 1Corinthians 3:11 (NLT -adapted)
