In Luke 6:46-49 Jesus tells a parable about two men who built homes. You know the tale; one man built on sand and lost his home in a storm, the other dug down to rock, built a foundation and his home stood up to the storm. This story is often used as an illustration contrasting the non-Christian to the Christian; non-Christians build their lives on the shifting sands of worldly values and are ultimately destroyed, while Christians build their lives on The Rock; Jesus and are spared when judgment comes. And I can accept that as one interpretation of that parable, but there is another that has deeper meaning than that.
A Deeper Meaning?
In his book Dug Down Deep Joshua Harris explores the idea that this parable is about two Christians, two believers who take different approaches to their faith in Jesus.
The first thing we need to look at is the question of “Why would any sane person build a house on sand?” Was this fellow an idiot?
We must remember that this parable was told to a civilization living in the arid lands of the Middle East. Sand was plentiful there. Raging rivers and flood waters were not. For them it may well have appeared safe to build a house in a level area where rain is scarce and the nearest river is a good long walk away. This fellow may well have successfully built or helped to build a number of homes in such areas.
Digging through the sand is slow and laborious, especially if you have no idea how deep you will have to dig to find bedrock. Shoring up the sand to keep it out of the trenches and building up a foundation would be expensive. If one does not see an obvious need for all this, why do it?
It is also possible that this fellow lived in his home for a long time in perfect comfort and security before the fateful day the raging river and torrential rains swept it away. I suspect a good many homes were lost on that day – or would have been had it been an actual event.
Jesus was not known for warning us against the obvious. This parable works just as well as an illustration of the Christian life. Let’s look at it again in this light.
Taking the Easy Road
Throughout my life and travels, I have attended a great many different churches. Many of them, no; most of them, seemed focused on the task of saving souls. And that is a good thing, but once these new-born infants in Christ were baptized, they were tossed into a pew and left to fend for themselves. There was no one to “nurse” them in the truths of God. It was easy for these new Christians to sit there, listening, and think, “OK, I’m saved now. I’m going to Heaven, this is all I need to do.” Few understood the deeper meanings of what they were doing because they were not digging deep into God’s word to understand God or Jesus. That made them vulnerable.
To many Christians words like “theology” and “doctrine” are just preacher speak. They think of doctrine as the rules of the church, and the reasons arguments arise and churches split. Like “politics’ something best left to the professionals. Theology means seminary school and high-brow discussions between deep thinkers. But in their basic forms, theology just means studying God, and doctrine is the meaning behind the historical words of the bible. For example, “Suffered under Pontius Pilot, was crucified, dead and buried” is history. ‘He loved me and gave himself for me’ is the doctrine. Without the doctrine, the words are just history with little meaning.
It requires some study to dig out the truths of the bible. A light daily reading of a few bible passages may prove encouraging, but to understand them fully means digging into the meaning behind the words, the conditions and situations of the times, the real meanings of what the writer was saying, not just our own interpretation of them in context of life today. Prayer and meditation upon the words you’ve read allows God to speak directly to your heart and reveal himself and his intentions for your life to you. Proverbs 3:5-6 says (New International Version)
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Salvation is a simple enough concept: belief in and acceptance of Jesus who died as a sacrifice to atone for our sins so that we may have everlasting life. But there is more if we are to become a “child of God”. As God’s truths come to light for us, we need to apply them to our lives – the bible calls it ‘maturing as Christians’, and becoming more Christ-like. This will mean making changes in the way we live, speak and think. Just as digging through sand to find the rock below and building up a solid foundation upon which to build a home insures that the house will stand against flood and rain, building a solid, well founded spiritual house – the way in which to relate to and serve God – insures that when the storms of life come, you will have the understanding, knowledge, and confidence in God to withstand them and to be found standing firm when the storm is over. Isn’t that worth the effort?
