Mark's Blog

“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builder labors in vain” (Psalm 127:1) I love this verse because it expresses absolute dependence on the Almighty while acknowledging that we are not meant to be automatons.

There is, however, a tension there with which we must wrestle!

First, there are two builders in this verse: the Lord and “the builder.” So, who is building the house?  Sherrylee and I once built a house in Oklahoma—that’s the way we talk about it anyway, but the truth is that neither of us poured one cubic foot of concrete, neither of us hammered one nail or laid one shingle on the roof.  So did we really build the house?

Some unknown architect conceived the layout of our house and drew up very detailed plans.  I heard once of a group of church members who were building their own church. They got the walls up about half way when they realized that they had not built a door into the church.  Pretty good metaphor, isn’t it, for what happens when people try to build a church and don’t have a plan made by an architect.

Sherrylee and I hired a general contractor to build our house. Again, he never drove a nail himself, but he hired all the people who did.  He also organized the order of activity because it is totally backwards to have the painters come before the framers have built the walls.  Some people I know have attempted to be their own general contractor in order to save money. I would never do that because I wouldn’t begin to know where to get someone to raise the walls or whether the plumber or the electricians need to come first.

And when our house was finished, we were so proud!  We had chosen the brick, the colors of the rooms, the carpeting, the door knobs, the drawer pulls. We had even made the decision not to put in a half-wall that was in the original plans in order to open up the rooms a little bit more.  I suppose I could argue that the house could have been finished without our input, but we would not have liked it as much.

So who built “our” house?  The architect, the contractor, the carpenters, or did we?

We all played a part—but our roles were not all equal!

Within boundaries, we could change the architect’s plans to fit our taste; within boundaries we could ask the carpenters to adjust walls or doors; within boundaries we could express our own personalities with colors and carpet. But there were boundaries in every direction which we as the “builders” could not change once we had committed to build this house.

Back to our verse:  There is no doubt that God put us here to be builders—but if we think that we are the Builder, then we commit the sin of Babel. They wanted to build a city and a tower to the heavens to make a name for themselves (Genesis 11).

Motivation and purpose seem to be key here.  The men of Babel were building for themselves, building to the heavens to show that they were like God! Creators, Builders!!

Yes, we can—and should build, BUT what is our motivation and what is our purpose?

Those should be easy questions for Christians to answer because we have only a single purpose and motivation in life. Remember Solomon said, ¹³ The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.

Remembering this singleness of motivation and purpose, let’s rephrase David’s psalm to make it even more applicable:

• Unless the Lord builds the church, those who build it labor in vain.
• Unless the Lord builds the family, those who build it labor in vain.
• Unless the Lord builds the business, those who build it labor in vain.
• Unless the Lord builds the ministry, those who build it labor in vain.
• Unless the Lord builds the nation, those who build it labor in vain.

I must build, but I must never forget that the Lord is the Builder!