The Consequences of a Faulty Foundation
A healthy church has a solid foundation. However, if the foundation of any building is faulty, there are consequences. Let me offer an example. In June 2021, shockingly, part of a high-rise condo building in Surfside, Florida dropped into the parking garage below. The condominium tower was designed in the late 1970s and marketed as luxury living. During the investigation, engineers discovered that key decisions made during construction, while legal in the 1970s, compromised the building’s foundation and integrity. Did you hear that? The foundation … was compromised.
A Wall Street Journal article reported the problems this way:
[The original builders] skipped waterproofing in areas where saltwater could seep into concrete […] They put the building’s structural slabs on thin columns without the support of beams in some places. They installed too few of the special heavy walls that help keep buildings from toppling […] And they appeared to have put too little concrete over rebar in some places and not enough rebar in others.[1]
I’m no building expert, but that sounds like a lot of missed problems to me. Problems which, had they been inspected over the years, could have been repaired. But the condo board failed to act. As a result, the consequences were severe. This tragic collapse caused the death of 98 people. It was a disaster without modern precedent in the US. If you have ever lived in a condominium complex … can you imagine?
The reason for the breathtaking tragedy … was a faulty foundation.
And this faulty foundation led to catastrophic results. Do you see the spiritual implications for the church of Jesus Christ? In the surfside condominium, people lost their lives. Likewise, the church has the ability to impact the eternal destiny of hundreds, maybe even thousands of people. If we build our church on the wrong foundation … lives could be lost … forever.
Reception of God’s Mercy
What is the foundation of a healthy church? First, healthy churches are filled with people who have received God’s mercy. More precisely, healthy churches produce Christians who understand and live out the implications of God’s mercy in their lives. God’s grace and mercy is undeserved. And yet God, through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ, offers us this transformative gift, not because we have performed the right rituals or lived a good life in the eyes of the world. Rather, we are saved by a sheer act of God’s underserved mercy.
Friends, God’s mercy found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the foundation of the church. As we continue in 1 Timothy 1, Paul shares his own encounter with God’s mercy …
I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, (1 Timothy 1:12, ESV)
This verse is juxtaposed again our ending from last week. In 1:8-10 Paul is offering a justification for the law and it’s purpose. He speaks about the Gospel being entrusted to him in his mission. Now, he outlines three blessings from the Lord: (1) First, strength. He says, “God gave me strength through Jesus Christ.” (2) Second, faithfulness. More than strength, God judged him faithful to the mission of the Gospel message. (3) Finally, calling. God called Paul into vocational ministry service, and we are the benefactor of that work thousands of years later. But now comes the mercy—look how he continues:
though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 1:13-14, ESV)
Wow. That is a transformed life! Notice he says, “I received mercy …” he will repeat that phrase twice in this section. It can be translated, “I was shown mercy,” or as Puritan Thomas Goodwin wrote, “I was be-mercified.” I love it. Have you been be-mercified? I think this a moment to turn to your neighbor and say, “I was be-mercified!” Paul was man who experienced the reception of God’s underserved mercy.
Friends, when you understand and experience mercy you will help create a grace-shaped ministry in the church. However, if you don’t understand this central reality of the Gospel—it’s likely you will bring worldly habits into the church. The Gospel of Grace is the foundation for the church.
Why? Because of the Gospel—and that is what he outlines next:
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. (1 Timothy 1:15, ESV)
There is it my friends—this is the Gospel message in a nutshell. Paul says, “I was the worst of sinners! If there was a captain of the sinning team … I would be it! Any sin you can do I can do better!” Notice also that his statement is in the present tense. “I am the foremost” of sinners. He does say he “was the foremost.” Paul is acutely aware of his sinfulness. And that is a mark of maturity—the closer we get to Jesus, the more sin gets exposed. It offers us a chance to repent more and turn from that sin. Paul is a sinner. We are sinners.
And yet, why did Jesus Christ come? To save sinners. To save sinners. To save sinners. That is why Jesus came. Jesus did not come to walk around Israel for 3 years and get some exercise. Jesus did not come to be a self-help guru who talked to people from a boat. Jesus did not come to teach Peter who to improve his fishing technique. Jesus Christ came … to inaugurate the Kingdom of God on earth by living as a human being and hanging on a cross to appease the wrath of the father against sin, give us his righteousness and adopt us into his family!
Jesus Centered Worship.
Paul writes this in 1 Timothy 1:17:
To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:17, ESV)
Amen. Here is the quick summary of this verse: Jesus is worthy of all our worship. A healthy church … worships Jesus with their whole life. But you don’t worship Jesus with you whole life … unless you know what it’s like to receive his mercy. I heard a pastor say one time, “you know if someone is really and truly saved by how they sing Amazing Grace.” If you are singing with you hands in your pockets looking bored, one might ask, “do you get it? Did Jesus make any difference?” But if you are crying out to God with tears, no caring what anyone thinks, because you know, you know what Jesus did and the change it made … you’ll sing differently. You’ll live differently.
But what does it mean to be Gospel Centered? In his new book, Lest We Drift, author Jared Wilson offers a history and critique of the recent “Gospel Centered Movement.” Still, he argues we should make the Gospel central. Paul tells us, in 1 Corinthians 15, that the Gospel message is of “first importance.” Wilson defines these parameters for Gospel centrality:
- The whole Bible is about Jesus. The Biblical story leads to and flows from the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is king and our worship must center on him.
- People change by grace, not law. As Pastor Dave said last week, the law has it’s place and purpose. But people really and truly change … when we understand that we don’t deserve God’s mercy. Then, we live thankful lives full of worship.
- Our ultimate validation is found not in our performance, but in Christ’s. This is the point that many people don’t quite get. It is hard wired into our American mentality … that we must perform to be accepted and successful. We think it works the same way with God. We think we have to earn his favor through good works. However, I want you to ask yourself, who then are you really trusting for your salvation and security? If it is about your performance … aren’t you trusting in yourself? If that is the case … does Jesus’ work on the cross really mean anything?
Friends … the Gospel of Jesus Christ tells us that we are saved by Christ’s performance on our behalf. As a result you can rest … and worship him. Is your life marked by Jesus Centered worship? This statement is very true: we all worship something. This week, I would encourage you to take an inventory of your life and ask, am I worshipping Jesus with my whole life?
Faith Driven Warfare
Finally, Paul does not leave this section without giving Timothy a case study to think about. He outlines a scenario where hard leadership decisions were required. Look at vv. 19-20:
By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. (1 Timothy 1:19-20, ESV)
In these last two verses, we encounter the sad case of Hymenaeus and Alexander. We don’t get much more information about these two men, but what we are told is not flattering. In the first half of v. 19, Paul tells Timothy to hold onto his faith and a good conscious … but then he says that “some have rejected this…” specifically these two men. What was the result? Their faith was shipwrecked.
It is hard to capture this in the English, but if you look at the original language, the Greek word for “rejection” is very strong. It means to push something away … to repudiate it. John Stott notes the word implies, “violent and deliberate rejection.” This example is the equivalent of two church leaders, perhaps even a pastor or elder, not just leaving the church but strongly pushing away the Gospel or even advocating against Jesus.
These examples are to show a contrast to Timothy who is charged to keep the faith throughout the letter. It is like Paul is screaming, “Don’t be like these guys!” What are the consequences of their actions? Excommunication. This is also an example of what we would call church discipline. Paul says that these men were “handed over to Satan,” which sounds extremely harsh. This is same language he used in 1 Corinthians 5, and it referred to removing someone from the church and placing them back into the world. Paul was very concerned with protecting the church from false teaching. They were handed over so they “may learn not to blaspheme.”
Let me say a word about Church Discipline: Yes, this passage may sound harsh, but let me explain the purpose of discipline as the church has understood it. We also have a position paper that our elders crafted to guide how we operate as a church.
Church discipline is faith driven warfare in action. Why? Because it is about protecting the foundation of the church from people who seek to do harm to the bride of Christ. It should not be viewed negatively. Church Discipline, guided by Scriptures like Matthew 18 and 1 Cor. 5, is done for two main reasons: (1) It is to protect the flock from people who would cause the destruction of the church. Some people are a threat to the foundation of the church—false teachers, for example, can take people away from the one true Gospel. This is why the church is given ELDERS, overseers of the church to protect the flock. Paul will speak to that in chapter 3. (2) Second, Church discipline is meant, not primarily for punishment, but for restoration. When someone comes under church discipline, the Elders of the church are saying, “We can no longer validate this person’s profession of faith … because they are no longer acting like a Christian. We have confronted them about their sin … but they have not repented. And because they have not repented … we are treating them like an unbeliever.”
The end goal of the discipline is not to punish the person … it is to show them the error of their ways … and bring them back to the mercy seat of God. It is about fighting for the heart’s of God’s people! Let me share with you a story of church discipline going really well … and how it can illustrate the mercy of God:
Pastor Mark Dever once shared a powerful story from Capitol Hill Baptist Church. A husband in the congregation had been unfaithful to his wife and remained unrepentant. In accordance with Scripture and after much counsel, the elders placed him under church discipline.
Over time, however, the man came to genuine repentance and sought restoration. At a members’ meeting, Pastor Mark invited him to speak. The man humbly confessed his sin, explained how the Lord had brought him to repentance, and asked for the forgiveness of the church and restoration to fellowship.
After he spoke, Mark gently dismissed him from the room and turned to the members. He asked them to vote on whether they believed this brother should be restored to the fellowship. Every hand in the room went up. Then Pastor Mark said, “I’d like to take that vote again—this time with him in the room.”
They invited the man back in, and with tears streaming down his face, he stood before the congregation as they all raised their hands once again to welcome him home. He was restored to his church—and ultimately, to his marriage.
That’s the redemptive power of biblical church discipline—grace, truth, and restoration in action. Church discipline is spiritual warfare because it is about protecting the foundation and restoring people to the mercy of God.
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[1] Konrad Putzier, “Behind the Florida Condo Collapse: Rampant Corner-Cutting,” The Wall Street Journal (8-24-21)
