The Pillar & Buttress of the Truth
WHAT IS THE CHURCH?
On Sunday we learned that the church is God’s very own household. God’s place where he’s truly present with his people. The people he’s gathered and caught up in his own blessed and eternal life. A life in which we join God in his grand purpose of living for his glory.
WHAT IS HER PURPOSE?
According to 1 Tim 3:15, the shape, structure, and significance of our life with God has everything to do with the truth of God. As the church we exist, first, to delight in and then to declare and defend the goodness of life with God and life God’s way. To promote and protect the reality of who God is, what he’s done, and how he’s made the world to be by living out our purpose as “a pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15). The church doesn’t define, decide, or decree the truth. But we perform the function of upholding the truth that God has revealed in his word. So how does this work?
WHAT DO PILLARS & BUTTRESSES DO?
After speaking of the church as those who live within the household of God, Paul advances his metaphor by speaking of the church in structural terms as the house itself. The gathered people of God are a pillar and buttress. But not all of us are architects. So to get some further insight, we reached out to one. Our resident architect-theologian, Keiren Mora helps us wrap our minds around what this means:
Just as pillars hold up a roof, the church lifts high the truth for all the world to see. Just as buttresses stabilize the walls of a building, the church serves to hold the truth steady in a world full of falsehood, confusion, and opposition to what God has revealed. In our worship, preaching, evangelism, and discipleship we promote the truth of God to one another and a watching world. In our courageous reception of all God has said (even and especially when it’s an unpopular belief in our current moment), our practice of confronting error in love, and our practice of church discipline when God’s ways are being rejected we protect the truth from cracking, eroding, and compromise.
Apart from pillars and buttresses, no structure would stand strong or stand long. Apart from holding fast to God’s truth, our church won’t stand strong (at any given moment in our life and mission) or stand long (as a fixture in our city for generations to come). We must give ourselves to this critical purpose. But, as we do so, the good news is that we’re not the ones ultimately bearing up under all the weight.
HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION
Pillars and buttresses are important, but, as Keiren helps us once again, “Pillars and buttresses won’t do much good if they don’t have a solid foundation to take on those forces which press against the structure. They aren’t meant to handle the forces on their own. So we also rely on Christ as our foundation.” Our life in God’s house is built upon him. The Truth of truths is the gospel message of who he is and what he’s done. This is the very heart and essence of the truth we’re called to promote and protect. This gospel is the very reason we’re able to live in God’s presence within the house. This gospel is the very power by which we’re fueled, motivated, and enabled to be the house. This gospel is the foundation we stand upon. The ground we must remain fixed upon, bolted to, and staking the entire weight of our lives upon.
It’s a message Paul refers to as “the mystery of godliness” and summarizes by citing one of the earliest Christian hymns. Listen to the lyrics:
“He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
Proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.”
1 Tim 3:16 is the story of the Son of God all the way from his incarnation to his ascension. From glory to humiliation and back up to glory again. From heaven to earth and earth to heaven, from which we await his return again. It’s the story of the Savior whose salvation has been accomplished in his death and resurrection, announced by men and angels, and advancing in the earth to build an ever-expanding house. Because this Savior is the head of our household, we have confidence that he himself will establish us, strengthen us, and sustain us onto glory.
Let’s keep telling his story, singing his song, and inviting our neighbors to sing along.