a)Altering and thereby improving the state, nature, design, condition, character, structure and shape of a thing through identifying and correcting the errors that exist, including any defects.

b)The elimination of abuse along with immoral, unethical or unscriptural practices.

c)The dismantling of that which is false or contrary to God’s divine will, order and intent.

 

There are numerous mentalities, ideologies, doctrines, traditions and practices that we have inherited or adopted for decades, or even centuries, from religious Christianity that are presently under revision by the Spirit of God. Although many of the aforementioned may seem “normal” to us, they are really abnormal or foreign to the Kingdom of God.

 

For instance, “church” today is structured in such a way that an elite clergy is responsible for the majority of the public or even private ministry. We have created a Hollywood or superstar model of ministry that is strongly promoted in our “church services” or meetings that makes the congregation in attendance mostly an audience of consumers waiting to invest in or “buy” what we have to present. The level of genuine engagement is minimal at best as we watch the “professionals” perform most of the work (except for the “menial” tasks of ushering, greeting or general hospitality, which none of the “professionals” will ever engage in). However, the Kingdom model is much different from this. Even though the evidence points to established leadership teams functioning within the ekklēsía, there was a level of integration and participation among all the members – rather than just a select few – that is quite profound when compared with what we have become accustomed to today (1 Cor. 14:26; Col. 3:16).

 

Somewhere along the line we have forgotten who the true architect of God’s Kingdom Community is, and as a result of this we have many human empires or religious denominations being built with little to no connection to what is truly God’s Kingdom. If Jesus is the Owner as well as the Architect of what is being built, then it must be His intent, His desire and Hisdesign. We can’t just superimpose our will over His and then expect Jesus to accept it or retain ownership by identifying Himself with it. Jesus clearly distinguished the ekklēsía He was building as singular and separate from everything else, because He understood that just like the Pharisees and religious rulers of His day, religious people (in any era) have the tendency to build their own structures and create their own rules “in the name of God!”

 

Jesus never commissioned or charged Peter – or any of the other twelve apostles for that matter – with the responsibility of building His Ekklesia. That responsibility He kept for Himself! Even though the apostle Paul clearly refers to himself in an apostolic capacity as “a wise master builder”, it must be taken within the context and parameters described in the text.

 

9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are (1 Cor. 3:9-17).

 

There are several key issues that qualify Paul’s use of the term “wise master builder” in this text.

 

1)There is a clear recognition that it is God’s building and that it is made up of people (v.9).

2)There is a clear confession that Paul’s ability to build does not come by his own wisdom, skill or initiative, but by God’s grace (v. 10).

3)There is a clear acknowledgment that Jesus laid the original (and only) foundation, thus providing clearly defined parameters or boundaries for building (v. 11).

4)There is a clear understanding that everything built upon this foundation will be tested in due season (vs. 12-13).

5)There is an awareness that God examines, scrutinizes and sits in judgment over what is being built, dispensing either rewards or penalties (vs. 14-15).

 

The warning that follows (v. 17) is what really scares me. God promises to destroy anyone who defiles the temple of God. The words destroy and defiles are translated from the same Greek word phtheírō meaning to ruin, corrupt, destroy or bring to a worse state. In other words, anyone who builds inaccurately, causing God’s ekklēsía and His original pattern to somehow become skewed, corrupted, ruined or brought into a worse state will be destroyed, ruined or brought into a worse state also. Now if that does not put the fear of the Lord in you nothing will!

 

The issue here is that while Paul refers to himself as a “wise master builder”, it is clearly in recognition and complete submission to The Builder – Jesus! Paul wasn’t contradicting Jesus when he referred to himself as a “wise master builder”, because he recognized who the true builder and owner is. And there are serious consequences involved for any architectural digression.

 

The whole purpose of this reformation is to bring us back to God’s original order. What we have at present is a seriously flawed, ruined and corrupt building. We have focused on building “churches” of brick and mortar buildings, increasing our numerical numbers through “church growth programs”, increasing our visibility through television programs, inventing better marketing strategies to lure people into our conferences or buildings, concocted a user-friendly gospel that appeals to man’s base nature and selfishness, ascribed to motivational type preaching, created systems of extraction and exploitation in the name of “prosperity”, and have invested ourselves in creating or maintaining “church services”, conferences, seminars as well as other forms of religious activity. We have pursued our own visions, our own ministries and our own kingdoms. And now God is sending His fire to test and is sitting in judgment over that which we have built.

 

New revelation and insight is coming forth as a new generation of apostles and prophets are emerging who have been given insight into the architectural patterns and blueprints of God. They are boldly challenging the status-quo of religious Christianity and have boldly rejected everything that man has built. What we are going to see emerge in this hour is not going to be like anything we are accustomed to. From deep internal reconfiguration to massive structural change shall rise an Ekklesia that is built according to pattern, crafted by the hands of Jesus Christ Himself.

 

Many of us will be tempted to reject what is presently emerging in the earth because it will contradict much of what we have known. As new technology emerges and becomes integrated into this new reformation thrust, many will be unable to determine any connection between mainstream Christianity and God’s true Kingdom Community at all. And, as always, you can expect some to persecute this new ekklēsía, because people generally tend to reject or persecute what they don’t understand.