Where do I find stability in life? How do I build a secure and prosperous future for myself and my family? When everything around me seems shaky and uncertain, how can I find something trustworthy and reliable to guide my decisions? These are primal questions to which we all seek answers, and the conclusions we come to about these questions have a snowball effect in our lives. Not having answers to these questions can be a source of great anxiety and fear. Answers that seem unrealistic or unattainable can bring depression, hopelessness and despair.
For a Christian, the obvious answer to these questions is Jesus. Jesus is our rock and our firm foundation. He is the one upon which we build a secure future. How many songs that we sing at church declare this truth?
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand…
Jesus, you’re my firm foundation,
I know I can stand secure…
Christ is my firm foundation,
The Rock on which I stand…
But, what does this mean that Jesus is my Rock? For most of my life, when I’ve sung these kinds of songs at church, I’ve tended to think of this “Rock” and the “Firm Foundation” as referring to a confession of faith in Christ. My profession of faith in Christ makes my present and future life secure in Him. While I believe that is a true statement, I have come to realize that it only captures one part of what is a dynamic, lengthy and scary process of building and rebuilding to find stability on the Rock of Jesus Christ.
While a confession of faith is a critically important starting point, it is just that: a starting point. And this important starting point cannot be separated from the actions that naturally flow out of a sincere confession. The confession of Jesus as Messiah is the firmest foundation upon which I can start to build, but it is the actions that naturally flow out of that confession that will make my life strong and durable over the long haul.
Jesus was very clear about this. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7, Jesus told a short parable about two kinds of builders in life. One was wise, and the other was foolish. The difference between the wise and foolish builders was not that one listened to Jesus and the other did not. They both listened, but it was the wise builder who listened and put into practice what Jesus taught. Strength, security and stability in life comes to those who do their best to put into practice the things that Jesus says to do. Stability is found in the doing, not the hearing or the thinking or even the speaking.
This distinction between words and actions wouldn’t be much of an issue for me except that so many of Jesus’s teachings counter ways in which I tend to think that I will build a secure future for myself.
The disciple, Peter, is a perfect illustration of this struggle. In Matthew 16, Jesus changed Peter’s name from Simon, which means “listen” or “hearing,” to Peter, which means “rock.” It is Peter’s confession of faith in Jesus as “the Messiah, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16)” that leads Jesus to change Peter’s name. Upon changing his name, Jesus uses a play on words to make a prophetic statement about Peter’s future: “Upon this rock I will build my church.” Peter’s confession is the rock. His confession of Jesus as Messiah and Lord is a starting point upon which Jesus can build a strong church. But, it is only a starting point. Peter immediately struggles to follow through on his confession. In the very next exchange, Jesus tells his disciples about how he must go to Jerusalem and suffer and die, and Peter responds by rebuking Jesus: “No way! May it never be!” Peter can’t understand how suffering and death could possibly be the will of God for the Messiah. Peter’s rebuke leads Jesus to call him another kind of rock: a stumbling block! One minute Peter is the strong rock upon which the church is built. The next he is a rock that is aligned with Satan and getting in the way of Jesus’s mission and calling. Can you relate to this? I sure can!
The importance of actions that align with words is profoundly illustrated in the exchange between Peter and Jesus. A confession of faith in Christ only produces stability in our lives over the long haul as we do our best to adjust and make changes to align our lives to Jesus, even when His way seems odd or strange or unsettling to us. This is the true cost of discipleship – learning to submit our usual ways of seeking security and stability for ourselves (through things like hoarding possessions, military power, social position, and economic independence) to God’s ways (vulnerability, peacekeeping, servanthood, and generosity). It is through a willingness and commitment to take simple, daily actions consistent with those principles that Jesus taught and lived, even when they might seem like utter foolishness and ”a stumbling block” on the path of wise living (1 Cor 1:20-25), that makes Jesus a firm foundation in the inevitable storms of our lives.
About the Author
Aaron is a passionate seeker of God and truth, and he enjoys encouraging others in their own pursuits of the same. He especially likes to think about how God is at work in the most ordinary and mundane aspects of our existence. He loves going on adventures to new places with his wife, Heather, and four kids and his perfect day would involve an excellent cup of coffee (or two!), a hike to somewhere beautiful and serene, and some good conversation over a pint at a warm pub. He currently serves as an adjunct instructor at Portland Seminary and co-leads the CitySalt Kids’ Ministry along with his wife, Heather.