A strange trend swept through European estates in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Wealthy land owners began building structures in their gardens that imitated grand architecture from around the world. Egyptian pyramids, Chinese pagodas, Roman villas –all of these began popping up as elaborate decorations in Northern Europe. Some of these buildings were built as ruins. Observers saw the oddity and waste of these projects and labelled them “follies.” Over time, many of these oddities have been dismantled which led to the formation of – and I am not making this up – the Folly Fellowship. This is a charity devoted to preserving the “splendor” of these useless monuments.

From ancient times, the message of the gospel sounded like foolishness to refined ears. Paul preached in Athens, but many scoffed at his suggestion that a man might have risen from the dead (Acts 17:32). In Ephesus, it made no sense that a god without statues or temple could be the true God (Acts 19:25-28). Paul relates this idea to the Corinthians:

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

I Corinthians 1:21-24, ESV

Paul is not bothered by the fact that some will see the message of the cross as folly. Followers of Christ understand that the structure Jesus is building is not an exotic garden oddity. Believers, seeing with the eyes of their hearts, know that the church is a glorious structure built of living stones rising up to the glory of God! Our behaviors may seem odd to outsiders, but our mission is far from pointless.

There is also a warning in this metaphr… if we are not grounded in Christ and his mission to the world, our building efforts will construct elaborate decorations. This danger showed itself even in the early church.

Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

I Corinthians 3:12-13, ESV

When that Day comes, let our building be shown to be in the category of a lasting, eternal structure to the glory of God!