Please note that the content and viewpoints of Mr. Hansen are his own and are not necessarily those of the C.S. Lewis Foundation. We have not edited his writing in any substantial way and have permission from him to post his content.
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I traveled to Vermont recently for a meeting for the boards of an insurance company and a self-insured professional liability trust that I serve as counsel. These are faith-based organizations and they open their meetings with a devotional and prayer.
I was asked to give the devotional the first day of the meeting. Given the mission of these organizations and the purpose of the meeting, I sought to offer a message related to risk management. I am sharing the same message with you.
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The Apostle Paul compared the Christian life to a building in his First Letter to the Corinthians.
Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already haveJesus Christ. (1 Cor 3:10-11, NLT).
Paul is writing to the Corinthian believers about a basic truth. A building is only as solid as its foundation. If one builds without a foundation, there is a lack of structural integrity. Contact with the damp earth will lead to rot and infestation. If one builds on unstable soil, there will be cracking, sagging and ultimately a break-up and loss of the structure. Suffice it to say that a bank will not fund a mortgage on a building with no foundation.
The foundation of the Christian life is Jesus Christ. He is our base, our reason for being and the “footprint” for the building of our lives. If we are Christ-followers, everything we are and do must fit into the pattern that is Jesus Christ. When the winds, fires, floods and earthquakes inevitably come, it is the foundation that has to last if we are to hold on.
This is basic stuff. It doesn’t require a degree in engineering or architecture, but how many of us are willing to submit to the truth? How many of us seek to build on a wealth that can be depleted overnight, a human approval that can always be withheld, relationships that take but never give, a security that can crumble as fast as an illness or a tragedy, a performance that never seems to be enough no matter how hard we try, or a success that is fickle?
Paul says that God’s grace–the empowerment of God to live the life of peace and joy that is his fondest intention for us-is what leads one to build on Jesus Christ who says, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and also trust in me . . . I am going to prepare a place for you . . . No, I will not abandon you as orphans-I will come to you” (Jn 14:1, 2, 18)
Are you building on the only real and lasting foundation or on something else? What is the structural integrity of your life? What is your reason for living?
These are profound questions and they must be asked. As the philosopher Socrates said, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Will an examination of your life show its fitness for living through eternity? For the Christian believer, Paul said, this question is answered by the foundation of one’s life in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Relationships, possessions, principles, and perspectives that do not honor and glorify Christ lack the integrity of the original Creator and will crumble away when enough stress is placed upon them.
There is a beautiful place on the Oregon coast. It is a sand spit between the normally smooth waters of the Siletz River estuary forming a lagoon fringed with marshes on the inshore side and the ceaseless towering combers rolling down the North Pacific unimpeded from Alaska to crash against the spit on the ocean side.
An enterprising developer obtained the rights to the spit and constructed a road down its length. He sold off lots to wealthy vacationers from Portland and Eugene. They began to build beach houses.
The sea and the river are likely to take a notion to take back what they’ve given when they get riled up in winter storms. The waves and currents surge against the sand and wash it out from under the logs. The loosened logs can set sail for California or Hawaii. One storm can restructure the whole spit. The developer neglected to pass this piece of geological information on to the buyers of the lots.
The houses were only as stable as the sand and logs under them. When the winter storms lifted waves to earth-pounding strength and turned the river into a churning sluice, the houses began to fall down.
The homeowners sued the developer claiming fraud and negligence for failing to tell them about the instability of the spit. The developer defended on the long-standing legal doctrine of caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) meaning that the raw land was sold “as-is” and it was up to the buyer to determine if it was safe and suitable for building.
The case was argued in the Oregon Supreme Court across the street from my law school. I saw it listed on the court calendar and went over to hear the arguments.
Growing up on the coast of California, I knew that beach sand will shift dramatically in the winter. Anyone with a lick of common sense should figure this out and take precautions. My dad built beach houses along the sand and anchored them on thick foundations and cement piers sunk deep to the bedrock to keep them safe.
The attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that their clients were city-dwellers who had no knowledge of the hazardous conditions of the spit. The attorneys contended that the seller had a duty to inform the buyers of known hazards that could make their houses unstable. It was the plaintiff’s position that every residential lot sold should carry an implied warranty of habitability–that is if a lot is sold and the seller knows that the buyer intends to build a home on it, the seller should guarantee that the lot is safe for building.
The developer’s attorney argued that the buyers assumed the risk and bore the responsibility to identify the problems with the property and decide if those problems could be overcome to safely build their vacation homes.
In a split decision, the developer won.
The plaintiffs could have saved anguish and money if they knew the teachings of Jesus. He told a story of a wise man who built his house on rock. The house held up under torrential rains, floods and hurricane-force winds. He contrasted this with a foolish man who built his house on sand. In the same storm, his house was demolished.
Jesus wasn’t a real estate developer selling vacation lots. He was talking about how to build a life that lasts forever. He said, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like the wise man who built his house on the rock…Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand” (Mt. 7:24, 26).
There is a radical truth in Jesus’ parable. He says nothing about the respective efforts of the builders or the quality of their construction. So much of our human, religious effort is focused on making plans, adopting special techniques and using the right materials. We spend a great deal of time, effort and treasure on the decor, the furnishings and the landscaping, and pay too little attention to the strength of our foundation.
A religious life of performance rather than faith in Christ can follow the pattern of the people who built the houses on the spit. They coveted the beautiful 360 degree views of ocean, lagoon and mountains. They seized the opportunity to reward their hard work and display their success by building stunning vacation retreats, architectural masterpieces of shining glass and cedar with big decks to entertain beside the sea. They prized the gate that guaranteed their exclusivity from the world driving past on U.S. 101. In the popular vernacular of affluence, “They had it made.” That is, they had it made until the storms blew in.
Mark Buchanan, a Canadian pastor and author, writes about the problem–
. The lasting value of [the] house is disguised until a storm hits. And storms do come. Not all houses, not all lives, of course, are built in the hurricane corridor or the typhoon alley [or the sand spit], but no house is immune lifelong to a tempest. Storms do come. Illnesses. Betrayals. Church splits, Corporate downsizing. Financial setbacks. Divorce. Child, or two, gone tragically astray. An old temptation flowing up after years of dormancy.
. Storms do come. The rain falls, the wind blows, the river rises.
. And then even the best-built houses, if the foundation lacks integrity, collapse. And even modest houses, if the foundation is solid stand.
Storms reveal it. Adversity tests foundations. And if those are inherently unstable, all we buildregardless of how hard we worked to build it [or how much we paid for it], or what skill and diligence we applied-collapses (Spiritual Rhythms: Being with Jesus Every Season of Your Soul [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010], pp 296-297).
The rock foundation that lasts in spiritual terms can only be an honest personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As the old hymn sings it-
My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
— Edward Mote
No matter where you are or what conditions you face when you choose to build, Jesus has only one building plan and it is grace. He said everything depends on the selection of a building site. You can establish your life on the rock of Christ in total dependence on his strength. Or, you can take the chance that the life of your own making will be strong enough to withstand the effect of the gale-force winds, the pounding waves and surging floods on the shifting sands upon which you build.
Being a loving God, Jesus Christ offers himself to you as the foundation and warns of the hazards of other building sites, but he leaves the choice up to you.
Make it wisely.
Listen again to the words of the Apostle Paul
Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already haveJesus Christ. (1 Cor 3:10-11, NLT).
“O taste and see that the Lord is good. Happy are those who take refuge in him” (Ps 34:8).
Under the mercy of Christ,
Kent
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Kent Hansen is a Christian attorney, author and speaker. He practices corporate law and is the managing attorney of the firm of Clayson, Mann, Yaeger & Hansen in Corona, California. Kent also serves as the general counsel of Loma Linda University and Medical Center in Loma Linda, California.
Finding God’s grace revealed in the ordinary experiences of life, spiritual renewal in Christ and prayer are Kent’s passions. He has written two books, Grace at 30,000 Feet and Other Unexpected Places published by Review & Herald in 2002 and Cleansing Fire, Healing Streams: Experiencing God’s Love Through Prayer, published by Pacific Press in spring 2007. Many of his stories and essays about God’s encompassing love have been published in magazines and journals. Kent is often found on the hiking trails of the southern California mountains, following major league baseball, playing the piano or writing his weekly email devotional, “A Word of Grace for Your Monday” that is read by men and women from Alaska to Zimbabwe.
Kent and his beloved Patricia are enjoying their 31st year of marriage. They are the proud parents of Andrew, a college student.