This in from Sophia Tulip, the Bible Study leader:
On June 1, 2008, the reading for the bible study was Matthew 7:21-29 and the theme was “building our house upon the rock.” As usual the discussion flowed easily as people gave insight and opinion about the text and the questions asked. We were discussing this question from the lesson plan, Beginning with verses 26-27
But 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.The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.
We discussed some of the “sand” we might find ourselves building our houses upon. Participants listed the usual things we put foremost in our lives: money, pop culture, being “cool”, having neat toys, careers, possessions, and even family.
But, a change in direction occurred when DanielJohn Luik asked, “Maybe we should ask ourselves is Second Life made from sand?” Most of us jokingly agreed that since SL originates from silicon chips, it is basically sand. A faithful attendee, Grizzy Griswold, put this question succinctly into perspective with the following:
[11:31] Grizzy Griswold: Well, I think its what you do in sl.
[11:31] Grizzy Griswold: Some things that you do in sl are made from sand
[11:31] Grizzy Griswold: and some are not
and then she wrapped up when she referred to Epiphany Island, the home of the Anglican Cathedral,
[11:31] Grizzy Griswold: I do not think this particular sim is made from sand.
Here in SL at the Anglican Cathedral, we have built a home, with Christ as our rock and sure foundation.
June 14, 2008 at 12:57 am
Ah the solid rock…such a lovely image, and so useful to Christian evangelism. It’s how Jesus ends his masterwork of rhetoric and oral composition and so many other arts and sits so complete as an image and so ready to pick up and use. The wise man builds on rock; the fool builds on sand. It is simple, portable and whole. Sadly, this means that it gets taken on its own far too often.
The “Solid Rock” seems to have become a shorthand for certain Evangelical theologies. I’ll briefly point readers to a few examples
http://www.solidrockweb.org/statement%20of%20faith.html
http://www.solidrock.ca/doctrine.htm
http://www.solidrockchapel.com/ab_solidrock/core_values.html
And others…this is not an indictment of these theologies, but it is important to note the use of “Solid Rock” to mean “The Bible,” or “Jesus.”
This is important because if these terms are equivalent in value, then they can be replaced. That is to say, one can state that “The wise man builds his house on Jesus” or “The Bible.” Where the “house” is taken to mean faith, or life, or what-not.
Again, this is not valueless, I would never say one should not build a faith or life or what-not upon the Bible or Jesus. This is important to note because of the reading style it indicates.
This indicates a reading style that is not uncomfortable with taking a concluding tautology away from that which it concludes. And *this* is dangerous.
Jesus here concludes His three-chapter oration with an exhortation to act upon what He has said: what He has said for three chapters. He does not here tell us to have faith in Him. He does not here say that the Bible is inerrant. He says that the wise hear this counsel and act, and that the unwise hear this counsel and do not act.
He does not tell us to build our houses on abstractions, ideas, doctrines or dogmas. He, referring to the very place on which He stands, tells us how to live well, and then, quite rightly, calls us fools if we do not do it.
Happy to not be right,
Wil A. Watchorn