the church is a farm and a building?!?!

As our church family works through the book of 1 Corinthians it is fun to look at the imagery that Paul used to explain the church building process to the people in Corinth. FIrst, he says it is a farm, a field that is planted by one type of leader, watered by another but only GOd can make it grow.
This is so true, we invent programs, styles and systems designed to aid in church growth. We see them work somewhat or maybe even see a great increase in numbers and immediately we think that we have done something special. Or, many well planned out well put together programs simply flop. They don't ever gain any momentum or spur any church growth at all, and it is all because of Christ. If we don't realize where the center should be and where the growth comes from we will never see it!
Then, Paul lays out the church as a building. He is not talking about the church building itself but using this illustration to show us how we are to align every piece of church work with it's foundaton, Jesus Christ. If Jesus is the foundaton then we need to make sure each and every piece aligns with that foundaton or else we are just building a building that will topple at the first sign of any fight or fire of any sort. If the church is built with Christ as the foundation and every piece added to that foundaton is in line with Christ then the church will continue not only to grow but to stand up to opposition. Divisions come about when the things we are building on top of Christ our foundation don't line up.
For a church to grow God must be teh center, for a church to stand firm it must have Christ as it's foundation. And in order for the church to be healthy each building material must be part of God's plan for the church.
1 Corinthians 3:9 For you are fellow workers in God's field, God's building.
We wouldn't pour an awesome slab of concrete and start work on a grass hut, but in a sense that is what we do when building churches today. We also wouldn't build a concrete block building solid as a rock on a puddle of mud.
Christ must be our first piece, our true foundation as a church and everything we add to the church must have God at the center of it or we are setting ourselves up for disaster!
Thanks for reading and ahve a great day!