Deeper Roots – A Firm Foundation
What makes a tree truly impressive? Is it how tall it is or how amazing its leaves are? No. It’s how healthy the roots are. Our lives are like this. We are all building on a foundation and growing like a tree. Like foundations and roots, whatever is on top of them is only as solid or valuable as what’s underneath them.
We need a foundation beyond our times, wisdom, and ourselves. We need to be deeply rooted, especially in the place and moment we live.
1 Corinthians
1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
This is kind of like saying the nice thing before the hard thing. It reminds the other person and us of what’s true – having the conversations and confrontations we have to, while maintaining the relationship.
1 Corinthians
10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas (Peter)”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
So, what’s going on here?
Paul is saying we identify ourselves by our allegiances – relational, sports, political, and even religious. We value ourselves by our allegiances. We gain a sense of value from who or what we associate with. It makes us feel better, more important, and even more valuable.
Small versions of this are similar to fandom for a team or celebrity. We don’t stake our lives on them but consider them allegiance. However, there are bigger versions of this where we build portions of our lives around them. We become rooted there.
In the New Testament, Corinth was a wealthy, large, economically powerful, and culturally influential city. The Romans destroyed it in their war against the Greeks but then rebuilt it completely, a testimony to the Roman Empire’s power.
But the things you aspire to are the places where you start building your life on. They become your foundation and roots. And like foundations and roots, whatever is on top is only as strong as what’s underneath them.
The depth of your root will determine the strength of what’s above it because the more deeply rooted you are, the more authentically you can live.
Social media influencers are famous literally because they’re famous. Something caused them to pick up momentum (go viral) and now they have this platform. It’s a snowball effect.
It’s tempting for us to try our own version of this in the rush of the world around us. We have celebrity pastors and musicians. We secretly celebrate whenever a sports figure, media personality, or politician identifies as a Christian. It makes us feel more credible. But we’re just borrowing their credibility. Those roots don’t go very deep, they don’t last very long.
Paul says two important things:
The thing that trips us up is that Jesus is the opposite of this, not His own version of it.
Look at how Paul says it in verse 21:
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
This sounds important but doesn’t make any sense.
Paul isn’t saying they’re stupid or we’re stupid. He’s saying that the way God does it seems foolish. We expect our salvation to come in the way we don’t expect because we’re okay when God works in mysterious ways, but we live our lives the way we expect.
God wants to use the way we don’t expect to accomplish what we would never expect.
The root determines the shoot, which determines the fruit. There’s this disconnect between where we root ourselves, how we’re going to grow, and the fruit we think it will ultimately bear in our lives.
Where are you rooted? Where is that going to take you? What happens if the wind starts blowing or the ground feels like it’s going to give way?
What is the thing that if it crumbled, you would crumble?
For more LHC content, subscribe to our newsletter below or follow us on Instagram.
Want to play catch-up, or are you looking for a specific topic? Check out our collection of sermons here.
We need a foundation beyond our times, wisdom, and ourselves. We need to be deeply rooted, especially in the place and moment we live.
1 Corinthians
1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
This is kind of like saying the nice thing before the hard thing. It reminds the other person and us of what’s true – having the conversations and confrontations we have to, while maintaining the relationship.
1 Corinthians
10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas (Peter)”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
So, what’s going on here?
Paul is saying we identify ourselves by our allegiances – relational, sports, political, and even religious. We value ourselves by our allegiances. We gain a sense of value from who or what we associate with. It makes us feel better, more important, and even more valuable.
Small versions of this are similar to fandom for a team or celebrity. We don’t stake our lives on them but consider them allegiance. However, there are bigger versions of this where we build portions of our lives around them. We become rooted there.
In the New Testament, Corinth was a wealthy, large, economically powerful, and culturally influential city. The Romans destroyed it in their war against the Greeks but then rebuilt it completely, a testimony to the Roman Empire’s power.
But the things you aspire to are the places where you start building your life on. They become your foundation and roots. And like foundations and roots, whatever is on top is only as strong as what’s underneath them.
The depth of your root will determine the strength of what’s above it because the more deeply rooted you are, the more authentically you can live.
Social media influencers are famous literally because they’re famous. Something caused them to pick up momentum (go viral) and now they have this platform. It’s a snowball effect.
It’s tempting for us to try our own version of this in the rush of the world around us. We have celebrity pastors and musicians. We secretly celebrate whenever a sports figure, media personality, or politician identifies as a Christian. It makes us feel more credible. But we’re just borrowing their credibility. Those roots don’t go very deep, they don’t last very long.
Paul says two important things:
- You’re not as impressive as you think you are.
- Those people aren’t leading you anywhere that lasts.
The thing that trips us up is that Jesus is the opposite of this, not His own version of it.
Look at how Paul says it in verse 21:
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
This sounds important but doesn’t make any sense.
- Send his son. God becomes human.
- Fulfill all these prophecies.
- To walk the earth for 3 ½ years and then die.
- But then to rise again.
Paul isn’t saying they’re stupid or we’re stupid. He’s saying that the way God does it seems foolish. We expect our salvation to come in the way we don’t expect because we’re okay when God works in mysterious ways, but we live our lives the way we expect.
God wants to use the way we don’t expect to accomplish what we would never expect.
The root determines the shoot, which determines the fruit. There’s this disconnect between where we root ourselves, how we’re going to grow, and the fruit we think it will ultimately bear in our lives.
Where are you rooted? Where is that going to take you? What happens if the wind starts blowing or the ground feels like it’s going to give way?
What is the thing that if it crumbled, you would crumble?
For more LHC content, subscribe to our newsletter below or follow us on Instagram.
Want to play catch-up, or are you looking for a specific topic? Check out our collection of sermons here.
Recent
Archive
2024
May
June
July
August
September