Laying the Keel
No foundation can any man lay than that which is
laid by Christ Jesus.
In my Sunday
school class a few years ago some men were talking about changes they’ve seen in
the church over the past 50 years and changes they see taking place in the world
today. The discussion was aimed at discovering a connection if there is one. The
men wanted to know, “Are we doing all we should?”
The only honest
response is, of course, “We are not doing all we should do.”
Jesus made this
clear when He said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.” In
these words Jesus challenges the church today. “Are you doing all you should?”
Sometimes God
uses messages with multiple meanings. This does not make God double-minded, for
a double-minded man uses falsehoods to hide the truth or sometimes uses truth to
hide falsehoods. God is not double-minded, for God only speaks the truth. Yet,
many times the messages God offers us as children have truths we cannot see
until we are matured by life’s trials, lessons we cannot learn until we have
suffered, treasures we cannot take hold of until our minds are transformed by
the work of His grace in faith. As children we hear the Gospel story and receive
its truths. As we get older we see new truths – not that the old truths are
taken away but that they are improved upon, expanded, given greater meaning, and
(as with this example) holding out a challenge only mature hearts can receive.
The original meaning a child can grasp is amplified by a meaning that imposes an
adult duty. Sometimes, as we grow older still, additional truth is discovered in
the same message. The original child’s truth remains, yet deeper truth is
discovered as we mature. This is what our teachers mean when they urge us to let
the Holy Spirit “reveal” hidden messages of scripture to our hearts and minds.
We must dig deeper for diamonds.
So it is with
this statement Jesus made about being lifted up.
For the child
or young Christian (of whatever chronological age) this statement is clearly a
message about the pain of Calvary’s Cross. Jesus was lifted up on that Cross. He
is drawing all men to Him. Even those who reject the teachings of our church are
being drawn to Jesus because of Calvary. They may be intrigued by the empty
tomb, but they are drawn to the Suffering Lamb of Innocence who was lifted up on
that Cruel Cross for all the world to see. It is His Love that draws them, even
as it is His Love that draws us. It is by being lifted up by Pilate’s soldiers
that He draws men even today.
Yet there is
another meaning to this message. Pilate’s soldiers are not the only ones who
“lift” Jesus so He can draw all men to Him. The church lifts Jesus. Some lift
Him high above all things, while others lift Him now and then as their
traditions or the demands of their governing assemblies permit.
How are we
lifting Jesus?
An old man once
remarked to me when he and his wife were being introduced by a friend at church,
“I love my Sally.” I looked at the dear lady standing obediently beside him in
an inexpensive gingham dress that looked as though she’d worn it scrubbing
floors for years. Her bare feet were stuffed into a pair of rubber soled sandals
through which bulged the blue-black traces of overworked varicose veins. She
wore no jewelry but a thin gold wedding band. Her hair was tied carelessly in a
knot on her head. She spoke not a word. She made no gestures as her husband
talked. She looked at me with vacant, silent eyes too long denied the joy of
laughter.
His shoes were
shiny. His crisply creased trousers freshly pressed. His white shirt was clean
and neatly tailored. His soft hands were manicured. In the lapel of his jacket
he proudly displayed a fraternity pin of some sort. On his right hand was a
heavy gold class ring marking him as a man of distinction entitled to the honors
of this world.
How are we like
this man?
How is the
church receiving honor from the world?
What place of
honor have we given Jesus? Do we lift him highly enough? Are we careful to put
Him above our programs and the collective will of our committees? Or are we like
the man in church who said he loved his Sally?
If our human
hearts are deceitful above all things, is it not possible that the heart of our
churches is also deceitful … hiding from the greater truths God wishes us to
learn, refusing to lift Jesus higher so all men will be drawn to Him?
When a great
ship is built, the first part that’s manufactured is the keel. This is the
vessel’s backbone, the part that gives the vessel its greatest strength. The
keel is first laid on the shipyard floor, then the rest of the ship is attached
by bolts and rivets, piece by piece, each part being added until finally the
bell and whistle are attached and the ship is ready for duty. First, however,
the keel is laid. Everything is done decently and in order. First things first.
It’s important
to note that even before the keel is fashioned on the shipyard floor a plan is
drawn on the shipwright’s drafting table. That plan is complete to every detail,
not least of which, of course, is the keel itself. A plan is made for the keel
and for the manner in which all the rest of the parts will be attached. The
length of the keel is planned. The width and shape of the keel are planned. The
manner in which the ribs and plates will be attached to the keel is planned. The
material the keel will be made from is planned. All the ship depends for its
strength upon the keel, the ship’s sure foundation.
Now our Bibles
tell us, “No greater foundation ……”
Are we willing
to ask ourselves, “What does the world see when it sees the church today?” Are
we lifting Jesus high enough? Are we giving other things priority to this? Are
we telling the world we love Jesus, while relegating Him to a position secondary
to our other projects, the building fund, the need for numbers, the compromises
we make to draw the world by lifting other things we think will entice them to
join our ranks?
What is the
backbone of Christ’s Church? Is it money? Is it padded pews? Is it the music
ministry or the Wednesday night supper? Is it doctrine? Is it association with
other ministries, the approval of the world, the satisfaction of members whose
ears itch to hear only what comforts them to hear? What is the keel we are
laying?
When Jesus
says, “If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me,” are we not like
the selfish husband seeking honor for ourselves as we lift other things in
Jesus’ place? Surely “all men” are not yet drawn to Jesus. Are we ready to admit
that we are failing in this? Are we ready to admit that “all men” are not yet
being drawn because we are not “lifting” Jesus as we should?
We can, you
know!
We can lift
Jesus higher.
John the
Baptist said, “I must decrease so He may increase.” Are our churches willing to
decrease so He may increase? Are we willing to examine ourselves? Are we proudly
proclaiming our love, like the selfish husband, while refusing to see the truth
of our failures … truth the world sees more clearly, perhaps, than any of us are
willing to admit. If we were lifting Jesus as we should, wouldn’t more souls be
drawn to Him?
When a ship is
constructed, the decks aren’t built first. The sides aren’t erected then the
bottom put on. The smokestack isn’t hung from the rafters and the rest of the
vessel built under it.
No. That’s not
doing things decently and in order.
When a ship is
built, the keel is laid first, and every last detail of the ship is added to
that fixed and fundamental foundation that gives the vessel its essential
strength.
There is an old
hymn, “The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ the Lord.”
Are we building
castles in the air? Are we striving to do God’s will as the world strives to
make money? Are we failing because we have things out of order?
Though we give
lip service to putting Jesus first, like the selfish husband with his shiny
shoes and gold lapel pin, are we lifting Jesus?
Are we holding
Him up for all the world to see?
Or are we
holding ourselves up as examples of “what a Christian ought to be”?
Are we
foolishly seeking to share His Glory … the Glory that is His alone?
Paul wrote to
the Romans, “Let every one of you admit your faults. Declare that only God is
true. Then you will overcome when you are attacked by your adversaries.”
Are we
overcoming?
Surely not. The
statistics are staggering. Christianity is losing the battle. The old ways are
no longer working. Something needs to be done.
Why not make it
simple?
Why not lay
again that foundation, the keel on which a sturdy ship can be built?
Why not lift
Jesus higher?
Jesus first.
Jesus over all.
Why not press
everything else down? Why not cast aside every weight that does so easily beset
us and press on for the Glory that can only be revealed when He and He alone is
lifted up?
Why not set
aside (at least for a season in which we can see if God will bless us) every
program that does not lift Jesus, giving Him the Glory and not ourselves? Why
not for a season of seeking God’s will make every message, every song, every
prayer, every activity in the church one that lifts Jesus higher?
Jesus taught
us, “No man can come to the Father except by me.” I’ve wondered for years why
the church talks about “God” instead of Jesus. I’ve wondered how those in
positions of leadership have missed this simple message. “No man can come to the
Father except by me.” What’s true is true. What Jesus says is true. There is no
admixture of falsehood in it. Jesus didn’t make a mistake. If the lost do not
come first to Him, they cannot come to “God”. Confusing them with theories of
the trinity is not a good idea.
Why not tell
the lost about Jesus … and save theology for the flock of God who are saved by
their love for the Lamb?
When the church
doors open to the unsaved public, why not draw them to Jesus, instead of trying
to teach them doctrines of the church or obedience to moral principles?
Why not lift
Jesus higher?
Paul said to
the church at Corinth, “I purposed to know nothing among you but Jesus and Him
crucified.”
What saved you?
Were you saved
by doctrine? Were you saved by theories of theology? Were you saved by some
inner human strength by which you turned from your wickedness because you were
told of some moral code you should obey? Were you saved by discussions of how
many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
Or were you
saved by the sorrowful passion of Jesus’ dying on the Cross for you?
What makes us a
church?
The same thing
that makes us one!
We were all
saved in the same way. We were all saved by faith in the Savior, a gift given by
grace … occasionally by the foolishness of preaching, but always by the act of
someone’s lifting Jesus higher.
Jesus is the
author and finisher of our faith … not the church, not its doctrines, not a
moral code, not the fear of hell or the promise of heaven.
Jesus in our
hearts is the hope of Glory … nothing else … and Jesus comes into our hearts
only when He is lifted up.
This is the
church’s job.
If the church
is failing today it is failing in this … nothing else. More programs won’t fix
what’s broken. More pamphlets won’t do it. More Monday night visitation won’t
repair the damage that’s destroying souls all around us. These things may be
good things to do, but unless they are lifting Jesus – unless their primary
purpose is to lift Jesus higher – they are obstructions to the Gospel,
hindrances to God’s eternal purpose.
“Only one thing
is needful,” Jesus told Mary’s sister Martha as she busied herself in the
kitchen one day while Jesus visited the two women. Only one thing is needful.
God does not
give us a challenge God will not also give us the power to perform.
We do not need
to stand idly by while the world waxes worse and worse. We can lift Jesus
higher. We can see more men and women, children and the elderly, being drawn to
Him in these critical days … even as we see the final prophecies being
fulfilled.
We can enjoy
our church more than ever before as multitudes come to share with us in the
glorious mystery of God’s Love in Christ Jesus.
First, however,
we must put aside the things that hinder our lifting Him higher.
One thing is
needful ... Jesus in our hearts and minds today!
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