Are You a Builder?

Have you ever played legos with a young child? If so, I am confident you quickly observed that they are much better at tearing down the legos than building them into something constructive. While playing legos with my boys a few years back, I had a profound revelation.

As I would take the individual pieces and build them into a skyscraper, plane or car, they would grab my work of art and smash it into pieces. I received more joy out of building the legos into some type of object, while they found pleasure in destroying my creation. Sitting on the floor watching my boys reap havoc on the legos, I realized mature people build while immature people tear down.

In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Apostle Paul addressed the saints as mere infants in Christ. Why did he call them infants? The saints at Corinth were allowing their issues, selfish agendas and jealousy to cause quarrels, division and strife. Apostle Paul knew they were immature because they were tearing down one another instead of building each other up.

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 Apostle Paul writes, “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?”

Mature people build others up while immature people tear others down.

Apostle Paul knew this firsthand. Before his conversion, Apostle Paul was known as Saul who persecuted Christians and lived to destroy the church of Jesus Christ. Without Jesus, Saul was an immature man who lived to tear others down. After he received Jesus as His Lord and Savior, Apostle Paul grew in the grace and knowledge of his Lord. The new Apostle Paul was now a mature builder of Christ’s church.

In 1 Corinthians 3:10-11 he writes, “By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

Mature people build while immature people tear down. Are you a builder?