On someone else’s foundation

“It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.” (Romans 15:20)

 

To build on someone else’s foundation may be done because of one reason among the following. There are these cases, if it is built on rented land, or by an agent instead of the owner, or on illegally occupied land. This text of Bible says about the last case of the three above. The “foundation” in the text means what the evangelical situation is like, that the gospel of Christ is preached there. Today in Korea, it is almost filled with the name of Jesus’ gospel. And yet, the number of Christians is decreasing, and the development of churches is stagnant. The churches is so limited that they cannot accept increasing number of pastors. Even in the situation of church ministry, it has continued to be less innocent than before.

 

At the end of Paul the apostle’s third missionary journey, he in Corinth wrote an epistle to the Christians in Rome. We don’t know exactly when the church was first founded in Rome. But it is clear that the church had already been founded before around the year AD57, when Paul the apostle wrote the epistle to Romans. The names of Christians in the chapter 16 of Romans are the people’s mostly from Near East Asia and the neighborhood. It seems to be some of the people had before joined in Paul’s mission. Those who had served in the gospel of Christ earlier would have gone to Rome ahead of Paul to found a church. Paul had well known the fact that the brothers of the Church in Rome good people as great believers. And he sent a letter them to Rome for encouraging their faith.

Paul had plans to go to Rome before long. His self-consciousness was clear that he had been called an apostle for Gentile, and he was well aware of what the gospel mission had been given by the grace of God. And he was sure of himself in the position of priest for Gentile’s offering, as the servant saved in Christ Jesus. In the Old Testament, Israelite worshiped Jehovah by giving sacrifice with animals. The sacrifice of animals is an offering on behalf of human sins. But the rite of New Testament is a faithful worship of sacred devotion by those who have been born again by the Holy Spirit. Paul said to them, so that the Christians of Rome may be offerings of holy devotion. And he mentioned one important thought for evangelical missionary work.

“It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.” This text gives a teaching it shouldn’t arise any problems that may cause harm to others, in the rightful practice of evangelical work. The sense of duty and pastoral ethics have to be always justly parallel. If there’s a problem with either, it’s an indication that both sides are wrong. A sincere minister of Christ would soundly carry out the pastoral ethic. Also, if a man of pastoral ethics, he should be the evangelist with right sense of duty. Paul had clearly the self-consciousness of apostleship, so he was able to practice the mission in an immovable and correct manner. To tell definitely, those who commit expediency and injustice in the church are false workers.

We can see many kinds of false acts in life. However no falsehood is worthy of the gospel mission of Christ. A trick called rationalization appears in a lie as a cunning thing. In addition to what rationalization is, it’s an act of concealing one’s heart. You have to stop talking others frankly where you don’t know a right answer to teach. If you don’t have faith in yourself, you must not do what you preach. But someone lies in pretending to be a leader. They are the ones who lead the blind as blind. In the end, they will fall into the pit. There are many heresies and self-proclaimed Gods in Korea. They are not right, and they commit deceit by Evil Spirit to steal another’s soul. They don’t know even oneself, and they falsely teach the gospel of Jesus.

 

Why do they want to steal others’ churches? If they want to harvest, they should do it in their own field. Why do they sneak into someone else’s field and steal it? To develop churches and presbytery and the general assembly, don’t cling to the numbers and finances but be sure of the mission and be faithful to the role. Yet how can they snoop around and take it away from someone else’s congregation of presbytery or the general assembly? The reason of that is very simple and obvious. Because they have no sense of duty in Jesus Christ.

 

(Written by Koonoh, Pastor of JDO Presbyterian Church in Korea, on Mar 29th 2020)