The Stone of Our Lives
One of my favorite metal bands is Demon Hunter. I found them a couple of years ago when I was searching to fulfill my metal intake Christian style. On their new album, True Defiance, there is a song titled I am a Stone that reminded me of one of Saint Paul's Epistle lessons to the Corinthians that reads: Brethren, we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder. I laid a foundation, and another man is building upon it. Let each man take care how he builds upon it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw - each man's work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and that temple you are.
Granted, each song is for each person to interpret. I know the writer of the song had something in mind when he wrote the song, but to me, it is the essence of this passage. We are to be the stones that God uses to build His church upon. We are to be the strength of His Word and His task on earth. No matter what happens to us, we need to keep pushing forward and continue serving Christ until we draw our last breath. Some of us are made from gold, some silver, some precious stones, and even the hay and straw can have strength when used right. Not one is of more use than another. And, there have been reports of a strand of hay being pushed through telephone poles when pushed by the winds of a tornado. We all have a place in the service of Christ, there are no exceptions to the rule, everyone has something they are meant to do and each of us build upon the other with strength and honor, with faith and love.
It is true, we all will be judged on the final day for how we played our role in the building of the Church established by Christ. We will be tested by “fire.” We will be brought to the critical point in our lives that we will choose, and that choice will be either eternal glory or eternal torment—the choice is truly ours.
Stones are a large part of the Scriptures. Peter himself was called the “rock” upon which I will build my church, the characteristics and strength of the stone is something that is tangible and something that is very powerful in imagery. We as Christians are called to be the stone, unaffected even when hell rains down upon us, as the Demon Hunter song demonstrates. No matter what happens we need to be unbending, and strong in our faith. But, unfortunately, we fall prey to temptation, we fail and we give the devil authority over our lives. We need to rise up and give God our hearts and give God our devotion, but some days that is very hard in an unbelieving world. A world now where if we stand up for our beliefs, if we stand up for our convictions we are ridiculed, we are made fun of and sometimes we are even put to death. However, we are to stand up for what is right, we need to stand up for the glory of God with love—WITH LOVE, not anger, not ignorance and not hatred, that is what makes us separate from the rest of the unbelievers and those who are not alive in Christ.
Look at the recent events that have happened in the news. We as Christians are the source of our own demise. We say and preach one thing and most often we practice something quite contrary. We need to live lives worthy of the gift that Christ gave us—eternal life. We need to love and accept people for who they are, what they do, and for how they live without compromising our believes, but whatever we do, we need to do it as Christ did it—with love.
