24Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose , and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.
Matthew 7:24–27
While changing planes in Singapore I noticed an ad that had a huge picture of the Leaning Tower of Pisa with the tagline: “Good facade, bad foundations.” The ad reminded me of the sad state of many Christians today. They look ok on the outside—good facade. But they are tilted, dangerously leaning because of bad foundations.
From the moment the Leaning Tower was completed in 1370, it began to gradually lean until it was tilted fifteen feet in the 1980s. The Tower was closed to tourists in 1990 for fear that if one more overweight tourist ascended to the top of the 190 foot tower it would topple. After ten years of work and US$27 million the Tower was permanently anchored with a 13.5 foot lean.
Thinking about the Leaning Tower of Pisa reminds me of the importance of spiritual foundations in the discipleship process. Jesus started his Sermon on the Mount talking to his disciples about character and ended talking about foundations. Here is the conclusion of his famous sermon.
The above verses teach important lessons about discipleship and foundations:
1. Strong foundations enable us to endure the storms of life.
Foundations do not exempt us from the storms of life, but they do enable us to survive the storms. The storms hit both houses. The house with strong foundations survived. The house built on sand was destroyed. As we establish biblical foundations in the lives of the people we disciple, we are building protection for future storms that will eventually hit. If we ignore foundations it is just a matter of time before they are wiped out by a storm.
2. Strong foundations are built by obedience.
Foundations are not established by merely hearing or knowing God’s word and will. Jesus said that those who put them into practice are building foundations. If we hear the word and do nothing, we deceive ourselves into thinking we are what we know. (See James 1:22–25)
3. Jesus is the foundation we must build on.
The wise man built his house on the rock. The storm did not destroy this house because it had its foundation on the rock. Speaking of the Israelites in the days of Moses, Paul tells the Corinthians that they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). As we make disciples we must be careful to help people build their lives on Jesus, not on an experience, a vision or on a church group.
Bottom line: if we want to make disciples who endure to the end, no matter what storms come their way, we must deliberately build spiritual foundations.