Shifting from foundation, Whittier (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A House without Foundation

Everyone knows that a house with a faulty foundation is a house in serious trouble. In the midst of a storm or a trembling of the ground there is great danger to the house. It may shake violently. What was once a small crack may dramatically increase in size. The house may shift in one direction or another. Any of these occurrences means danger for the residents. The house is no longer safe.

Is it the fault of the wind or the tremor that the house is in peril? Or is it the fault of whatever made the foundation faulty to begin with? This is a question worth considering when we look at conflict within our lives and that within the church. Our human tendency is to shake our fist and curse the wind when the house falters. But the real issue at hand is what lead to the faulty foundation in the first place?

When we as individuals or we corporately as part of the church, turn away from Christ our foundation becomes weak and cracks. The tragedy is that most often this is insidious and we don’t even realize that it has happened. Those who can see the cracks in the foundation raise appeals for it to be fixed. Sadly, these are often ignored. No one wants to address the problems and issues which lead to the cracks forming in the first place. Fixing a foundation of a house is very difficult, expensive, and time consuming. It is easier to ignore the problem, hope that the weather will hold, or just deny that the cracks are serious enough to warrant fixing. This “head in the sand” approach does nothing to address the problems with the house and ignores the dangers to the residents. The risk, of course, is that the house will one day collapse and destroy the relationship or the institution. May we be humble enough and wise enough to acknowledge when our house has cracks in it’s foundation. May we earnestly seek the One who can repair all things and make them new again. Amen.