Defective Foundations

For some time I have been so disturbed by the level of unreliability and undependability I find in so many Christian ministers.

When I read the Bible one clear quality of spirituality is dependability. Like Elijah a man of God can be trusted even when they say crazy things as they will come to pass anyway due to their connection with the divine.

And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. (1Kings 17:1)

How can someone say it would not rain until he said so? How can one be so daring? Suppose he died before it rained?

That is the quality that is screamingly glaring in its absence, especially amongst very visible carriers of God’s message.

The Holy Spirit produces … faithfulness (Galatians 5: 22). This means that I cannot be filled with the Spirit if my word carries no weight, however filled I feel. You see filling with the Spirit simply means allowing the Spirit to reproduce God’s character in us continually. It is therefore impossible for me to be close to God and be lacking in the manifestation of His character.

I could be talking to nominal Christians and still be on point. But it is sad that I am talking about highly visible and influential ministers. I am talking about ministers probably millions are looking up to for inspiration and direction who at the personal level are as shifting as the desert sands. What kind of spirit are they passing on to those they minister to?

I remember countless times I have been called for meetings by these when on arrival realize that they have not honored the appointment of their own arrangement and need. On calling I am asked to give them a few minutes which at times have stretched beyond the next day. Yet they were the ones who needed me!

I have been solemnly promised things, and not at my prompting, things that I have not got years later. In fact I do not know whether the issuer of the promise still remembers. I wonder why they needed to promise anyway.

‘Take a loan and I will sort you out tomorrow’ has stretched years and never was I sorted.

If it was one or two incidences or persons I won’t have minded as I would have attributed it to a few rotten apples. But it actually appears the other way round. The whole basket is full of rotten apples that it is a surprise when you get one good one.

A few times God has prompted me to write a distress message. I really do not know why because I have seen a demonstration of unreliability from the people He directs me write to. But God has prompted me to write a message like, ‘I do not have food at home.’ I have got a message similar to, ‘I am looking into it. I will get to you shortly’. And they have not seen anything yet, many years down the line.

I have been called by friends and told, ‘I admire your ministry and want to be part of it. Will you allow you to support you?’ Of course I do not refuse as I know these are believers. It is interesting that that is where it ends. I have never received any support from them or even an explanation as to why the promise has not materialized many years later. Yet it originated with them.

Punctuality, or the lack of it is the single most irritating sin I encounter when I interact with these superstars. It many times appears that their days are composed of only ten hours unlike the rest of us. It is also interesting they do not have a problem having you waiting for them for hours yet they will really have a problem waiting for you for three minutes. They do not have a problem when you wait for them to clear their stuff yet they will disappear if you decide to extend the same toward them. Patience is so only when it is the others who are practicing it.

Truth is another quality that can really be stretched. With the advent of the cell phone it has been possible to say you are anywhere you can imagine, not are. And I am sorry to say it is not constrained to the unbelievers. It is probably more rampant with the very visible ministers. I say that because I have been in meetings and public transport with them and can hear the conversations happening when they receive those calls, at least from their side. You will hear a very spiritual conversation being accentuated by a lie so big it would require Noah’s ark to carry. Yet this person is ‘clearly’ ministering to another in Christ’s name.

But I am not talking about you. I am talking about the vast majority of ministers who are not as dependable as you are. Allow me to continue bashing them anyway.

When you hear a pastor hiding from creditors you are tempted to think the fault is with the creditor as the pastor is a man of God. I have talked to some of these creditors and realized that some of these pastors could as well be conmen. They will use their position in society to take loans they are not able or willing to pay. I have walked with some and heard such stretching of the truth (exaggeration) I have not even heard a hypocrite (actor) speak.

Some lyrics from some so called Gospel singers are demonic, even blasphemous. Some have nothing that will identify them with Christ, the one they pretend to sing about. Some are simply sharing a waste of breath (spiritual stench) as they bear no message relevant to Christ. Most would have been more positive if they had simply played tracks or instruments and left it at that. Some have praise sessions in bars where the entrance is a few beers. Who is being praised there?

Most sermons are self centred instead of cross centred.  In fact Mammon enjoys greater opportunity in many pulpits than Christ. And we are not ashamed of saying we are the church of Christ.

But I think it is more needful for me to look at the cause of all these symptoms. Where is all this sin coming from? What fuels it? How can we deal with it?

Foundations! That is what God told me.

A foundation determines not only the size of a house. It also determines the kind of house to come up. The reality is that the building has no capacity to overgrow or outgrow its foundation.

We hear of a building coming down on its own volition and many are at a loss as to why. Some other times we hear of a house sinking or leaning in one direction. Some houses develop cracks that can never be conclusively dealt with. What is the common problem? Of course the foundation is at fault. How can those buildings be improved? The only solution is demolition and starting afresh with a new foundation. This is because it will go down anyway.

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7: 24 – 27)

Christ brings up this aspect of foundations in the context of His doctrine. It is related to our connecting to His word in our intake and obedience.

What do we mean when we say foundations? What kind of foundations are we talking about?

How did you receive salvation? Who between you and Christ received the other?

You see with the kind of Gospel we present it is no surprise that the life we lead after salvation leaves a lot to be desired.

What do I mean? Some preachers really plead with people to make the decision. From their preaching it appears that one is doing Jesus a great favor to get saved.

You see if Jesus is out in the cold softly knocking on your door to accept him into your heart (Revelation 3: 20) so that he does not freeze from the cold outside it is no surprise when nothing He says moves you. Since you pitied Him to get saved you live right for the same reason, to keep Him from feeling bad. This is no motivation for right living.

If you accepted Christ so that the angels can have a party as they do when one sinner repents, you really did heaven a favor by giving them something to celebrate about. On the same vein living for God is along the same lines. I am doing God a favor and am in no one’s debt and so will do it at my pleasure.

If every eye was closed so that I do not get embarrassed as I make the decision or was actually ambushed to make the decision, if the preacher presented a gospel that made you king instead of Christ, do not be surprised when God’s word becomes a list of suggestions that you can keep at your leisure. Sadly some Bible translations have even converted the ten commandments into the ten suggestions.

At the level of salvation these and many such are the faulty foundations I am talking about. This is what Christ meant when He talked about someone entering through other than the door.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. (John 10:1)

Simply saying the salvation you received or entered into was the back door kind. You therefore are in the house wrongly. Though you are inside, you really belong outside because you broke through the fence. You might be feeling very much inside but the truth is that you are a gatecrasher in the house. In other words you are a stranger in the house.

And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 22:11)

Though the king had compelled his servants to fetch people from far and wide in this story, there were standards to be followed. The fact that one was compelled to attend was not enough reason to flout the rules by dressing as he wished.

Simply saying, though salvation is free and available to all, there are standards God has set for the acquisition of the same. We do not decide how we should get saved. God does.

That is the first foundation we need to establish if we have the right one or that we are comfortably on the wrong one.

How did you get saved? What prompted you to accept Christ and why? On what terms did you receive salvation if you did?

Some may have gotten through a door but into the wrong sheepfold. They got into a sheepfold with the wrong shepherd.

Again which Jesus did you connect to? Which Christ was presented to you? What are the characteristics of the one who saved you?

Probably you entered the fold of ‘gentle Jesus meek and mild’. Probably you entered into the fold of the romantic Jesus so aggressively marketed. Probably you entered into the fold of the Jesus who makes people billionaires without caring for their souls. Probably you joined the marketplace Jesus who is all for making you rich without making you spiritual.

Again that is a faulty foundation, a foundation that has no capacity of giving you sufficient spiritual muscle to be like Christ because you are not joined to Him. Any attempt at real spirituality falls flat in the face of your basic instincts. Simply saying the seed sprouting in your heart is not the seed of Christ.

And no wonder keeping a promise is impossible. No wonder following through your promise is impossible. No wonder small white lies and exaggerations are the normal conversation. Thinking outside self interest becomes the hardest of assignments as one is receiving the orders of a shepherd they have no actual connection with. They will try to listen but He speaks a strange language to what they know. Though they are physically in the fold and are even speaking the language of the sheepfold, they are sheep that wandered into another fold and thought it was the right one.

Another faulty foundation is in discipleship. For some time I have wanted to write about discipleship but God has not released me to do so. I am convinced that He wanted to give me this fuller message as it tackles foundations from the beginning.

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:19, 20)

Discipleship is the process whereby a new Christian is slowly introduced to the doctrines of Christ by being taught who Christ is and how he needs to relate with Him.

How complete is our discipleship? What is the scope of our discipleship? What constitutes our discipleship? Where does our discipleship lead the disciples we make?

Who do we point our disciples to? Are we content to direct them simply to a ‘personal’ savior instead of the Lord? Do we direct them to the denomination we belong by choosing only verses that emphasize our doctrinal position?

Who determines what we teach our disciples? Is it the big man of our structure or is the Bible sufficient? Does the understanding of the Bible we teach dependent on the boss or do we make the disciples access the Bible on their own?

Do we seek to be indispensable to the disciples (or at least our structures) or are we excited when they can question those doctrines we prize using the Bible we are teaching them?

The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. (Matthew 10:24)

We can take the disciples we make at best where we are. And that is the reason I am talking foundations. I will not teach lordship when I have lordship issues in my life. I cannot teach honesty if I have honesty issues. I cannot teach sacrifice when my life is not sacrificed to anything.

In other words, in discipleship I am transferring my life to my disciple. Forget about the materials however good and relevant they are. (And I am not despising materials. I have prepared materials over the years. In fact I need some finances to publish a discipleship book for the mission field even as I am writing this).

I have severally said that lessons produce professors. Discipleship reproduces life, and the life of the disciple maker. And that is the limitation we experience when we place a greater premium on the material than the disciple.

There are materials that are so rich and transformational. Yet you will see people who not only have gone through the same materials but are even taking others through them who can’t be farther from what the material teaches. Some that should produce immense ministry produce such an overflow of pride that one wonders whether the same person has even read, let alone studied the material.

But let us go back to foundations. The discipler becomes the foundation on which a disciple starts building his Christian life. It is therefore essential that this discipler is stably on a better foundation. A disciple who only toes the denominational line in his discipleship is a faulty foundation. A disciple who follows only what the pastor says however spiritual that pastor may be provides a shaky foundation for the believer he is growing.

After the discipleship I want us to look at another kind of foundation which is a key cause of much of the unreliability we see with many Christian leaders today. But it gains currency easier when these other foundations I have talked about are shaky.

Where do you receive your spiritual nourishment? Where does the one who provides that nourishment get his from?

My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. (James 3:1)

The reason the Bible warns us against jumping at opportunities of teaching and instructing is primarily because they become foundations on which people will build their lives. Taking that responsibility without a clear call could very easily open you to direct judgment as He addresses the faulty foundation you become for God’s people.

Does your preacher build your life towards godliness? Does he address sin in your life? Does he excite you to pursue a higher spirituality? Are you scared of listening to him preach if you have unresolved sin issues in your life? Does his preaching expose the things you have hidden in your spiritual closet? Does his preaching paint sin as vile and leading to hell? Does his preaching leave you no option but to be consistent in your intake of the word of God? Does his preaching make you not only desire to pray but gets you praying consistently?

On the other hand is your preacher the encyclopedia of current affairs? Is he the comedian extraordinaire? Does his preaching leave you so high yet without a clear strategy to advance in your spiritual growth? Is his preaching so full of the here and now that the concept of heaven almost disappears from your consciousness? Does his preaching make you feel so nice even if you are living with sin in your life? Does his preaching leave you feeling as if you have received enough Bible to last you the whole week? Is he the prophet who speaks to your life even more powerfully than the scriptures?

Such foundations not only produce results, they bear fruit whichever way. But I will not have completed the message if I do not point to the end of shaky foundations. They so offend God that He deals with them in a way that almost appears brutal. I want us to look at a few instances in the scriptures.

Jonathan was more spiritually alert than David. From what we see in the scriptures he was the ideal king of Israel as we see him even building and prophesying to David. He was actually the king in waiting. I believe Jonathan could have made a great king. Why did God not kill Saul and have Jonathan take over the kingdom?

Why did God have Jonathan killed? Saul had laid a faulty foundation which Jonathan even with all his spirituality could not have been able to change. God had to remove Saul and his foundation, and that so completely. No spirituality is adequate to deal with a faulty foundation. You realize that Jonathan’s name remained because of the covenant he made with David. Simply speaking Saul and the foundation he laid had to be uprooted, even the very spiritual offspring in it.

Eli allowed his sons to play with the priesthood and we see his whole lineage condemned to death, simply because he allowed a faulty foundation be laid on an office he occupied.

The clearest is Jeroboam son of Nebat and the first king of Israel after it broke away from Judah. We see a few attempts of revival in Israel but it is clear that none was able was able to touch, leave alone demolish the foundation that he laid. Again we see God clearing his whole posterity due to that faulty foundation he laid. It is interesting that even the ministries of these powerful prophets Elijah and Elisha could do nothing to demolish that foundation. Even the zeal of Jehu who single-handed dealt Baal worship a death blow was not able to do anything to the foundation Jeroboam laid.

Ahab was dealt with in a similar manner where all males were cleared. It is interesting that even the dynasty of David was almost cleared by Ahab’s daughter who was married by the king of Judah.

Again look at the nations God cleared completely from the face of the earth, from Amalekites to the Canaanites and you will realize that there was a faulty foundation at the beginning of those nations. That is what closed their files as far as God was concerned. Nothing they did could undo those faulty foundations.

That is why you are in mortal danger when your preaching has no capacity of making your hearers keep their private parts to themselves. Your whole posterity is in danger if your preaching or teaching does not create a tug heavenward in those you are ministering. Everything you have and are is subject to the judgment of heaven if your ministry keeps people content with the here and now and especially on the ambitions created by the present.

You see foundations that are faulty must be uprooted. There are no two ways about it.

But I also need to say that the same applies to good foundations. Abraham was such and he is still called the father of faith. David was another where even the depravity and sin of many of his sons, beginning with Solomon could not bring the structure down. This was because the foundation he laid was strong enough to allow for revival once the right person appears.

What is a right foundation? I am sure many are asking. The right foundation is one that is built on the right ground. You see however good a foundation is, unless it is being built on the right surface it is as bad as a faulty foundation. However good a vehicle is it will never be able to drive on a swamp because the ground is not solid enough for a car to drive on.

Paul talks about there being one foundation that can be laid which is Christ. That is the only ground on which a good foundation can be laid. Which Christ then is He? You see there are enough christs. In fact He Himself said that many christs will come

For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. (Mark 13:22)

How do we know the right Christ from these other ones?

The key trait these others do not have is holiness. They simply do not require any holiness from those submitted to them.

But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying, (Daniel 4:8)

There was a clear distinction between the God Daniel worshipped and the gods of Chaldea. But even more important is that the distinction was not power or wisdom, though He possessed more, but in His holy nature. The other gods were more or less attuned to the foibles of the men that worshipped them whereas the God of Daniel was completely separate from the people who worshipped Him.

We see the same with Egypt when Joseph was there. Magic and wisdom became vain until there comes a man who ascribed his wisdom to God. But even more important was that all Egypt was able to see that this same God was in Joseph. And like Daniel this God was different from all the gods of Egypt. We are able to see the holy aspect in this God when an opportunity for fleshy gratification appears. Though I suspect even the husband was behind his wife wanting to sleep with Joseph, he brings in God and His holy nature in his defeating this temptation.

And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? (Genesis 41:38)

There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? (Genesis 39:9)

That is the holiness that draws a clear distinction between these christs and the Christ of God. And this is the reason I am saying that if your salvation does not draw you toward that holiness you really need to examine it. That is why if your discipleship has no capacity to lead to that kind of holiness you really need to examine it. That is the reason your preacher, pastor or teacher is suspect if his preaching does not inspire such holiness.

One excuse Muslims use to hate and kill Christians is sin and wickedness. USA is called the great satan because of the decadence in their lifestyles. And it is sad that all this sin and wickedness is being connected to the Christian connection of the nation. Is that Christianity?

Can a Christian live a homosexual life? Can a Christian be a serial divorcee? Can a Christian be a sexual experimenter? Can a Christian fight for the homosexual agenda? Can a Christian be an abortionist?

Where do we get our moral foundations? Do they proceed from our whims or is there some solid ground that is unshakeable enough to build on? What is it?

For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (Matthew 5:18)

Why did God give us the Bible if our minds were reliable guides on our choices? Is common sense a reliable guide on our morals? Is our feeling dependable to guide us into doing the right things?

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. (1John 2: 15 – 17)

The Bible is the only reliable guide to our morals. Any other source guides us to hell, even for those who deny its existence.

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:13, 14)

The Bible is the safest foundation on which to build our doctrine. But I need to state that it is not the Bible as taught by our favorite preachers but as written by the inspiration of God. Simply speaking it is the Bible as we read and understand guided by the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us; that is if we are regenerate. By this I mean if we entered by the gate and were or are being discipled using the same Bible and having obedience to the same Bible as the expectation.

On the same foundation we will develop disciplines that are guided by the Bible sorely. This means that the Bible will be the final authority on my life concerning everything. I will not look at popular culture for guidance. I will not look at the media for direction. I will not even look at the pastor, denomination or church I so value unless they will place a high premium on what the Bible says.

But it gets even deeper.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (John 10:27)

The same Bible will lead me to be able to isolate the voice of Christ from that of all the other christs. You see as the author of the scriptures, He is the one our immersion into that scripture will guide us to. We cannot take in the scriptures properly and fail to know the voice of their author.

For example there are many people who read my books and blog that I have never met. Yet they will very easily isolate me in a crowd in a conversation. I have had people I never met call me aside from a group and ask me very meekly whether I am the one who wrote this or the other book. Yet they heard me probably commenting on something in a group setting, something not even related to the book they read.

That is what I mean when I talk about our immersing ourselves in the Bible. We will never fail to isolate the voice of the author from any other voice. And this is one giveaway when we come to foundations. A faulty foundation will want to interpret the Bible for you. They will want to teach you the Bible without requiring you to read the same for yourself. They will not entertain any interpretation of the Bible that does not agree with theirs. And they will never want you to imagine getting to their level of spiritual virility.

A spirituality that does not lead you to connect directly to the voice of the Master could very easily be counterfeit. A preacher who does not lift my expectation to the point that I MUST hear from Christ for myself is laying a faulty foundation, a foundation that will be uprooted. A teacher who does not lift my heart to a greater fear of God and hatred of sin has a real problem.

But then what do I do when I realize that I am on a wrong foundation. Am I condemned to be uprooted without recourse? Suppose I have been involved in laying the wrong foundation? Is there any hope for me even as the foundation I laid and the house I built is uprooted?

Again I want us to look at the scriptures. There were people who were material to be uprooted who were able to reverse that judgment and it is instructive that we looked at them.

The world was condemned, the whole world. Yet we find Noah finding grace with God. Why was that? He was the only person the whole wide world who agreed to connect to the voice of God in faith and obedience. His obedience bordered on folly, probably insanity but he went on anyway. Imagine building a box longer than a football pitch and taller than a seven storey building to prepare for a flood when it had never rained in the history of the world till then! Like the Bible states, by that act he condemned the world.

Rahab was a harlot in a condemned city, Jericho. She was the last person one would expect to be rescued, even from Jericho’s standards. How was she able to not only be saved but to also join the mainstream in Israel? She realized that she was on a shaky foundation, a foundation that ws about to be uprooted. But she also realized that there was another foundation. She renounced all her security to join the God of Israel.

Cornelius was not only a gentile but also a Roman, an oppressor of Israel. We would not expect him to access any favors from the God of the people his people had sent him to oppress. Yet we see God sending him an angel because his life was such that he touched God’s heart. That was the reason God sent an angel with instructions to fetch Peter to share the Gospel with him (Acts 10).

Zacchaeus was the epitome of corruption of greed. His foundation was shakier than most as not only did he serve the oppressor but he also stole from his people.  Yet we also see him reconnecting with the right foundation (Luke 19)

But what if I am the one who has been building the wrong foundations? is there any hope for me?

I will state that that foundation must be uprooted. You will either uproot it or God will uproot it and you. But it is the abundance of grace that makes it possible to escape the full judgment that is due to laying a faulty foundation. But I think there is judgment whether we demolish the foundation or not. Again it is grace that is able to soften the blow that the uprooting of the foundation occasions.

Paul was a Pharisee and a practicing spreader of what he believed. In the course f practicing what he believed he really went down hard on these heretics called Christians. But then he realized that he was on a faulty foundation and demolished it. though he was forgiven we see him never able to forget the pain his faulty foundation caused on those on the right foundation.

David ordered Israel numbered which was a sin. He realizes that that was a really shaky foundation he had put up and repented. Though God forgave him seventy thousand died due to that ‘small error’.

I would really want to advice that we consider examining our foundations before going much farther even in our faith as we could be very confident about where we are yet later discover too late that we have to be uprooted.

For example a perfect parent might be an obstacle to the faith of his children. Why do I say so? I can be so complete that my faith disappears in the eyes of my children. How much of God do my children see in my life? Am I everything that my children need to the extent that God becomes like just another word my family uses often? That is a shaky foundation.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. (Matthew 19:23, 24)

It becomes harder because the foundation becomes resources instead of God and His word.

A self made man is an abomination to God. This is because he is independent of God.

A person who looks down on others is on a foundation that must be uprooted. A person who despises himself is on a similar foundation because he finds fault with the doings of God.

But the absolute test on my foundation is whether there is that upward pull to holiness. It is whether I really love the word of God and being obedient to it even when I do not really understand it. It is the pull toward what God loves as revealed in His word that I love reading and meditating on. It is a great hatred of sin in me and others, yet a hatred that has a healthy love for the people God created.

On which foundation are you? Is it among the many that will need to be uprooted?