In verse 10 Paul says, “But let each one take heed how he builds upon it.” The church must be built with gold, silver, and precious stones. However, there is much possibility that we may build with wood, grass, and stubble. Hence, each of us must take heed how he builds, that is, with what materials he builds.
We must take heed not to build with anything other than Christ. This means that whenever we give a message or a testimony, or whenever we have fellowship with others, we must be careful not to give others anything except Christ. Furthermore, the Christ we share should not be a doctrinal Christ, but a Christ whom we have experienced. We should minister not merely the knowledge of Christ or the doctrine of Christ, but Christ Himself. In everything we do in the church life, we must take heed not to minister anything other than the Christ we have experienced.
In chapter three Paul seems to be telling the Corinthians, “Brothers, be careful how you build on Christ as the foundation. God desires a building, a temple. Take heed that you do not build with your Greek culture, philosophy, and wisdom. Likewise, those with a background in Judaism must be careful not to build with Jewish culture, religion, and concepts. Instead, we all must learn to minister Christ to others.” This is what it means to take heed how we build on the foundation already laid.
It is very easy to build on the foundation with something natural or something of our culture, even though we have no intention to do so and are not aware of what we are doing. For example, we may build with something American, Chinese, or German. Furthermore, we may also build with certain elements common to the culture of our particular region. If we minister to others in this way, we are very careless. We are not taking heed how we build. Although I came from China, I am very careful not to build with anything Chinese, but to build only with Christ. It is crucial for us all to learn to build upon Christ as the foundation with the Christ we have experienced in a practical way. There is a lack of such building among us. I am concerned that many brothers and sisters will simply repeat messages in a doctrinal way. What is urgently needed is the actual, practical, present, and living Christ in our experience. To build with such a Christ is to take heed how we build.
In verse 12 Paul says, “But if anyone builds on the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, stubble.” Gold, silver, and precious stones signify various experiences of Christ in the virtues and attributes of the Triune God. It is with these the apostles and all spiritual believers build the church on the unique foundation of Christ. Gold may signify the divine nature of the Father with all its attributes, silver may signify the redeeming Christ with all the virtues and attributes of His Person and work, and precious stones may signify the transforming work of the Spirit with all its attributes. All these precious materials are the products of our participation in and enjoyment of Christ in our spirit through the Holy Spirit. Only these are good for God’s building.
As God’s farm with planting, watering, and growing, the church should produce plants. But the proper materials for the building up of the church are gold, silver, and precious stones, all of which are minerals. Hence, the thought of transformation is implied here. We need not only to grow in life, but also to be transformed in life, as revealed in 2 Corinthians 3:18 and Romans 12:2. This corresponds to the thought in the Lord’s parables in Matthew 13 concerning wheat, mustard seed, and meal (all of which are botanical) and the treasure hidden in the earth, gold and precious stones (minerals).
The church is a farm which produces gold, silver, and precious stones. These are minerals and are usually mined from the earth. But in chapter three we have a farm that eventually produces gold, silver, and precious stones. This implies that as the plants on God’s farm grow, they eventually become minerals. The plants, of course, are botanical in nature. But as they grow, they are transformed into minerals. Thus, in this chapter, we have both growth in life and transformation. Whatever is grown on God’s farm is eventually transformed in nature. Transformation does not involve mere outward change, but an inward, organic, metabolic change. In the New Testament transformation involves metabolism, a process in which a new element is added into our being to replace the old element. Hence, transformation is a metabolic change. First we are plants, but eventually we become minerals. Those who have the adequate experience of growth and transformation can testify that if we grow properly, transformation follows automatically. Growth produces transformation and even becomes transformation. The more we grow as plants, the more we become minerals.
Just as a child must have food in order to grow, we as plants on God’s farm must also have something with which to grow. If we would grow, we must have the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. We do not grow by means of doctrine or by outward advice or encouragement; we grow by and with the Triune God. We grow with God as a living Person. If we would build upon Christ as the unique foundation, we need the gold, silver, and precious stones which come as a result of growing with the living Person of the Triune God.