1 Timothy 6:19 – Foundation Laying with Christ
17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 18 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, 19 storing up for themselves a good foundation…
Dwight Macdonald connects in his profile of Dorothy Day in the October 4 and 11th issue of the New Yorker that the essence of her movement was "the union of the everyday and the ultimate."
That is a synthesis much older than Day and much broader than her Catholic Worker movement. The apostle Paul endorses it to a startling degree with his word choice in 1 Timothy 6:19, saying that in the now repurposed good work now do for Christ, the rich are storing up for themselves a good foundation. I'm bristling to object.
If such a metaphor can from someone whose theology I have reason to suspect, I would be ready to aim a fusillade of inspired Paul at this human-centered notion. Did not the old apostle insist in 1 Corinthians 3:11 that there can be no foundation other than the one which is already laid, Christ Jesus? Did not the Lord Himself remind in likewise inspired Luke 6:49 that building on the wrong foundation is fatal folly?
Already, if we believe in the continuity of Scripture's Gospel message, there is a lesson for us to allow grace in the limits and multiple meanings of metaphor. If we crank up our own internal outrage machine and assume the most idolatrous implications from word choice from the outset, we missed other angles which might affirm the glory of God – given time.
To be a Berean and diligently test a teacher's faithfulness to God's revealed Word is not insistence or license to take the shortest route to calling someone a heretic. We can't justifiably affix that label to Paul here or in the verse preceding 1 Corinthians 3:11, where Paul actually says he lays a foundation.
So in what sense could Paul be encouraging the rich to use their riches and their skills to store up a distinctly Christian foundation? A foundation, in faith or in ordinary business, shows patience and planning, and he could be calling the previously misdirected rich to this kind of a steady, discerning attitude. This possibility is especially compelling given how much these had previously invested in their old lifestyle.
After years of chasing money and becoming rich, it would be easy for them, now operating under the principles of Christ's Kingdom, to expect the kind of immediate results they were now reaping from their money-chasing habits. The idea of laying a foundation, a different one, could be a summons to go back to first principles.
Yes, there are parallels, Paul might be saying as he tells the wealthy to now be rich in good works, but the rules are different here. Learn Christ's ways humbly and expect fruit in HIS time rather than the more immediate gratification you are used to.
Any notion of going back to the beginning, of doing the speed work of re-examining assumptions for people who have been previously successful according to the world's measures, could have been immensely discouraging. Yet, if Paul is issuing a summons back to elementary and elemental humility, it comes with a glorious, alluring accompaniment.
Who is standing back at start but Christ? Who is ready to reteach but Him Who reminds us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light? Who came to Earth expressly to remind us that His Father will provide at precisely the time when we are on learning the necessity of chasing after our own provision, protection, and prominence? Who, but Christ!
Advance to Glory where the gold is debased as asphalt, and Christ is there. Get held back for remediation in His school of Money, and He is there also. He is faithful however like Him or unlike Him we discern ourselves by comparison in the latest setting. Christ is ready to teach, and reteach, the way of faith. He Who laid the foundations of the Earth, the unsettling of which would topple any construction, invites us to humbly imitate Him.
Anchored in His foundation, we are able to build in our Earthly activities that which will outlast Earth. We can store up for ourselves, He says, treasure in Heaven. The best, the most Christ-like of our progress here will continue for ages and ages in His very Presence
Dwight Macdonald connects in his profile of Dorothy Day in the October 4 and 11th issue of the New Yorker that the essence of her movement was "the union of the everyday and the ultimate."
That is a synthesis much older than Day and much broader than her Catholic Worker movement. The apostle Paul endorses it to a startling degree with his word choice in 1 Timothy 6:19, saying that in the now repurposed good work now do for Christ, the rich are storing up for themselves a good foundation. I'm bristling to object.
If such a metaphor can from someone whose theology I have reason to suspect, I would be ready to aim a fusillade of inspired Paul at this human-centered notion. Did not the old apostle insist in 1 Corinthians 3:11 that there can be no foundation other than the one which is already laid, Christ Jesus? Did not the Lord Himself remind in likewise inspired Luke 6:49 that building on the wrong foundation is fatal folly?
Already, if we believe in the continuity of Scripture's Gospel message, there is a lesson for us to allow grace in the limits and multiple meanings of metaphor. If we crank up our own internal outrage machine and assume the most idolatrous implications from word choice from the outset, we missed other angles which might affirm the glory of God – given time.
To be a Berean and diligently test a teacher's faithfulness to God's revealed Word is not insistence or license to take the shortest route to calling someone a heretic. We can't justifiably affix that label to Paul here or in the verse preceding 1 Corinthians 3:11, where Paul actually says he lays a foundation.
So in what sense could Paul be encouraging the rich to use their riches and their skills to store up a distinctly Christian foundation? A foundation, in faith or in ordinary business, shows patience and planning, and he could be calling the previously misdirected rich to this kind of a steady, discerning attitude. This possibility is especially compelling given how much these had previously invested in their old lifestyle.
After years of chasing money and becoming rich, it would be easy for them, now operating under the principles of Christ's Kingdom, to expect the kind of immediate results they were now reaping from their money-chasing habits. The idea of laying a foundation, a different one, could be a summons to go back to first principles.
Yes, there are parallels, Paul might be saying as he tells the wealthy to now be rich in good works, but the rules are different here. Learn Christ's ways humbly and expect fruit in HIS time rather than the more immediate gratification you are used to.
Any notion of going back to the beginning, of doing the speed work of re-examining assumptions for people who have been previously successful according to the world's measures, could have been immensely discouraging. Yet, if Paul is issuing a summons back to elementary and elemental humility, it comes with a glorious, alluring accompaniment.
Who is standing back at start but Christ? Who is ready to reteach but Him Who reminds us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light? Who came to Earth expressly to remind us that His Father will provide at precisely the time when we are on learning the necessity of chasing after our own provision, protection, and prominence? Who, but Christ!
Advance to Glory where the gold is debased as asphalt, and Christ is there. Get held back for remediation in His school of Money, and He is there also. He is faithful however like Him or unlike Him we discern ourselves by comparison in the latest setting. Christ is ready to teach, and reteach, the way of faith. He Who laid the foundations of the Earth, the unsettling of which would topple any construction, invites us to humbly imitate Him.
Anchored in His foundation, we are able to build in our Earthly activities that which will outlast Earth. We can store up for ourselves, He says, treasure in Heaven. The best, the most Christ-like of our progress here will continue for ages and ages in His very Presence
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