A recent trip to New York included the usual trips to the Bronx and the new Yankee Stadium. Across the street the once proud "House that Ruth Built" was being slowly demolished. About one-third of the stadium was still upright. It was a sad sight. I recalled the recent and very different demise of Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. In about a minute that once grand structure came crashing down in a spectacular implosion. The demise of something important in your life is sad whether it comes by agonizing demolition or dramatic implosion.
I thought of fellow sojourners of faith whose once solid foundation of belief has been destroyed. For some it seemed like their spiritual demise came out of nowhere. A spiritual implosion if you will. But the truth is that there is rarely a quick implosion of faith. It almost always occurs slowly over time. Bringing down Texas Stadium took months of targeting the foundation and key structural supports. After thousands of hours of planning and work the building came down in about a minute. But that dramatic minute was just the final result. So it is with our faith foundation. The Enemy plants a explosive device of doubt on one part of the foundation. Self-effort to fix sin issues weakens another part of the structure. Hiding who you are from God and others fatally weakens more support structures. Forgetting to nourish the soul with God's Word rusts the steel of perseverance. Failing to pray causes cracks to become fissures. And then a wound, a broken relationship, an illness, a betrayal or a loss causes the button to be pushed and the detonation occurs. Faith implodes. But it was not that one issue or event that caused faith to blow up. It was the slow destruction of faith's foundation over time. Jesus described the process in the Gospel of Luke.
"So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!' when you don't do what I say? I will show you what it's like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. But anyone who hears and doesn't obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins." (Luke 6, NLT)
Check your foundation. Build only on the Solid Rock of Jesus. Then you can stand against whatever the world throws at you.
Dave Burchett is an Emmy Award winning television sports director, author, and Christian speaker. He is the author of When Bad Christians Happen to Good People and Bring'em Back Alive: A Healing Plan for those Wounded by the Church. You can reply by linking through daveburchett.com.