Are You a Builder?

All of us should be in the spiritual construction business.

From a sermon by Leroy Tonning

If we want good things to happen in our lives, most of the time we have to work for them. We have a saying in Norway: “The swamp develops on its own, but if you want a tower, you have to build it.” There is truth in that, and the concept also applies to our Christian experience.

We do not preach a do-it-yourself religion. We know that we received Christ as our Savior because of the price He paid on Calvary when He gave His holy Blood to save our souls. We also believe in God’s sustaining grace. God can keep us every day, and that is a wonderful thing. Yet, something must be done on our part to maintain what we have received. We are in a spiritual construction process, and we must keep building.

In Luke 14:28-30, we read, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.” We cannot say, “The Lord has saved me, so I can just relax and everything will be fine.” No, we have something to do.

Something to do

Sitting back and doing nothing about what we have received from God is like building a house and not putting on the roof. Before you know it, the construction will start deteriorating. You have to finish the project. You have to keep going. If you don’t, it just won’t work.

In the Norwegian language, we have some words that sound quite similar but mean just the opposite. In English, an example would be the words “constructive” and “destructive.” They sound nearly the same but they certainly mean different things. To be constructive is to be positive, creative, and willing to find new ways to do things. It is a way of thinking and of living. To be destructive, on the other hand, is to tear down, demolish, or do things that are negative.

We know people who are constructive—people who are always willing to be there, to help out, and to make things work. We appreciate them. I have also known people who are destructive in their thinking and in their way of speaking and doing things. If they say something, it is negative or discouraging. It doesn’t edify or build up. I have also known people who do both. They tear down with one hand and build up with the other. What is the result? They just don’t seem to get anywhere. We are thankful for everyone who is constructive in their thoughts and in their ways and who are willing to let the Lord use them to build up.

Tearing down or building up?

When I was a younger man, I was employed as a project manager, so I worked with a lot of contractors. I noticed that they had a common goal: to finish the project as efficiently and as quickly as possible. Of course, they also wanted to earn as much as possible! They knew that if they cooperated with each other, everything would go smoothly and it would be better for everyone. I remember another man we worked with occasionally who was a demolisher. His job was to tear down buildings, and sometimes that has to be done. What I noticed about him was that he was very efficient. What could take several weeks or maybe months to build, he could tear down within hours. It is so much easier to tear down than to build up! But how much more satisfying it is to see a structure rise. That is true in the spiritual sense also.

After the end of World War II, the city council of Stavanger decided that all the buildings in our city were old and small and not very nice. These buildings had not been maintained for several years, so the council decided that everything was to be torn down and then rebuilt. Fortunately, they couldn’t afford to rebuild the whole city, because the buildings which were constructed at that time are not very good today. The quaint, small buildings that were kept from destruction, however, are still there and now there is a new law stating you are not allowed to tear anything down.

Sometimes it is important to recognize value in the things that exist, and this is also true in our spiritual lives. Some people say that there are a lot of things that should be changed in the Gospel. They think they have some good ideas, and that they could do a lot if they just got rid of the old ways. But we can see the value of what we have—principles from the Word of God that have stood the test of time. We know what we have, but we don’t know what we will get if we tear it down.

Biblical examples offer insight

We want to be spiritual builders. We read about people in the Bible who were builders; particularly, altar builders. For instance, we know about the man Noah. He was in the ark for a long time, and when he came out, he had a lot to do. You would think that his first thought would be to build a place to live—some kind of shelter. But, no! That was not his priority. Instead, his first action was to build an altar where he could worship. That is what he felt was most important. We read that as he made his offering on that altar, a sweet savor went up to God. I am sure that Noah was blessed in a special way, because what he had built was a place where he could meet God.

God told the Children of Israel how to build an altar. They were to keep it simple. God told them, “These altars that you build, they are supposed to be simple. Not on a big flight of stairs, lifted up somewhere; not built of hewn stones or anything that is really expensive. Just keep it simple, and think about the offering.” Sometimes people have to be so elaborate in everything they do, including how they worship God. There is a lot of activity, a lot of things going on, everything has to be perfect. Of course, we want our churches to be attractive and our services to be beautiful, but sometimes people get so preoccupied about these things that they forget that they are there simply to worship God.

One time, the prophet Elijah called the people together to Mt. Carmel and built an altar there. We read how he constructed the altar in a simple way, in the name of the Lord. When it was complete, he put the wood in order, put the sacrifice on the altar, and started praying. He didn’t use a match, he didn’t light the fire; that was done by God. The fire fell from Heaven on Elijah’s sacrifice, and a great victory was won for God—all because one man had the courage to build an altar.

While these are all instances of when altars were built to worship God, we also read in the Bible of times when the altars to God were torn down. In place of worshipping God, the people chose to worship Baals, animals, the stars and moon, and other things. Oh, they still had all kinds of altars, but they were not altars built for the worship of God. In our day, we experience the same thing. The altars to the true God are being torn down. People worship everywhere else.

A possibility for everyone

Thank God, all of us have the possibility of being spiritual builders. Each of us can build an altar—not physically, but spiritually—by giving God our lives and offering to Him the sacrifice that is needed. God will help us build this altar, build the place that is necessary so we can worship Him in Spirit and in truth.

A structure that is built can be seen. You cannot hide it. We want to be a tower of strength in the Lord. We want people to recognize that we have been building spiritually. We don’t want them to see that what we have built is only half done, that it is deteriorating or falling down. We know that the devil wants our tower to become a pile of debris, but we want the Lord to help us to build something that will stand and be a testimony to those around us, so everyone can see that we belong to the Lord, and we worship Him in Spirit and in truth.

It is not too late to start building!

Leroy Tonning is District Supervisor of the Apostolic Faith work in Scandinavia and pastor of our church in Stavanger, Norway.