A common phrase that is used in the church is ‘firm foundation.’ There’s a handful of songs about it, such as Firm Foundation by Cody Carnes, and it’s based on this parable that Jesus told his disciples.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 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.”
Matthew 7:24-27 NIV

Jesus tells this story, painting an image of what one’s faith—in Christ or otherwise—might look like.

You can believe in something and it might have a strong foundation—such as the words of Jesus. He tells his disciples that when there’s a storm, the house (the faith) stays strong, even through rough times.

But if your faith isn’t built on a strong foundation (aka: sand) it will crumble when the storms come.

Now, this parable is often used in reference to a single person’s faith—but we don’t often think about it in reference to the Church as a whole.

We’ve seen some churches grow and we’ve seen some fall, and I’ve noticed that the ones that seem to grow spiritually (not in size), are the ones that keep Jesus at the center of it all.

For example: there are many stories that were told during Gather25 about small—meaning, sometimes three to twenty people–churches that took place in basements under the cover of night. Some of these churches had to mouth the words to the worship because they had to be silent for fear of being arrested.

They didn’t abandon their faith when family members were killed, when their churches were discovered, when they were persecuted, or even when they couldn’t worship the way they wanted.

That’s because they had a firm foundation.

They didn’t focus on the denomination, the politics (even though that is one of reasons they had to hide their faith), who loved God more, or what they believed about the Rapture or the statistics of creation. Those are all minor, side-pieces of faith that shouldn’t determine it—things that the devil uses to distract us from the center of our faith and why we believe it.

Our firm foundation is Christ and his sacrifice. Nothing should overshadow that or distract us from that.

Your faith is going to be challenged—it’s going to be tossed into storms and rough ways. But if you are built on a firm foundation, then you won’t crumble under the weight.

‘Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.’
1 Corinthians 16:13 NIV

Have a great day and thanks for reading!
~Willow