If the Church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20).
Then “why does so much of the modern Church seem determined to lay that foundation all over again?”
Don’t they this Jesus got it right the first time?
Laying the Foundation Once.
A Bit of a Question for the Modern Church
You know, I went to Caesarea and Jerusalem years ago and have been thinking about when Jesus was having a chat with His disciples out at Caesarea Philippi.
After asking “who do people say I am” and Peter saying eventually say you are the Christ the Messiahs. Jesus made a massive promise to Peter:
“...on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it (Matthew 16:18).
Then, down the track, the Apostle Paul expanded on that whole building blueprint. In Ephesians 2:20, he spells it out clear as day stating that the church is:
"...built on the foundation of the ‘apostles and prophets’ and Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone." The cornerstone is the first block of the structure that is laid.
Now, if you know anything about building a house or a church, for that matter you lay the foundation “once.” You don't keep pouring concrete every couple of weeks. Right at the start, you get down to the bedrock, set the cornerstone, and that’s your base, done.
For the church, that foundational stage belonged to the original Apostles the blokes who actually witnessed Christ’s resurrection and the Prophets speaking Gods word.
Their teachings and eyewitness accounts gave us our fixed standard, the New Testament canon. It was a done deal.
So, it leaves me with a massive question about what in the world we're seeing today.
Did God get it wrong when Paul wrote those words? Did Jesus get it wrong when He prophesied building His church on a bedrock of Peter’s understanding that He was the Messiah?
Because if He didn't, why does so much of the modern Church seem dead set on trying to lay that foundation all over again?
Look at what’s popping up around us lately with the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), some Oneness groups, and plenty of modern Pentecostal movements. They’re claiming that God is actively raising up brand-new governing Apostles and Prophets right now in the 21st century.
But hang on a minute. If that first foundation was finished and sorted, what are we doing trying to introduce new leaders with "fresh, extra-biblical revelations"?
Think about it like a tradie building a house. If you keep going back to the dirt to pour a new slab every few floors, the whole building is going to be completely unstable.
It can’t grow upwards because you’re constantly shifting the base. By insisting we need new apostles and prophets to set modern doctrine, these movements are basically saying the original foundation laid by the early church with Jesus Himself as the cornerstone was somehow half baked or not enough.
If we honestly believe the Bible gets right to the heart of what the church is supposed to be, we've got to take a good, hard look at these trends.
Are we actually building upwards on the rock-solid, historic foundation that's already there? Or are we stuck in a bit of a loop, trying to rebuild what God already declared finished?
And the most devastating thing, if they are so so wrong, then what else are they wrong about?