Cornerstone
The Living Stone and a Chosen People (1 Peter 2: 1-10)
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” Now to you who believe, this stone is precious.
But to those who do not believe,“ The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Why didn’t God make everyone believers?
I wonder, whether it is only meaningful if it is a choice we make for ourselves - to live life in service of God, to serve the church, to embody the values of the Bible. Imagine if there was a world where there was no sin, everyone was good, and everyone believed and served with love - what would it be like if that was the norm and we didn’t have to make that choice for ourselves?
It raises two questions for me:
- Can there be meaning and satisfaction without struggle? Can a deep appreciation of what we have only come from having had to earn it?
- Is there good without evil? In a world with no evil, is there good or does there need to be an opposing counterpart?
Cornerstone: What foundation are you building your life upon?
A cornerstone is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. (Thanks, Wikipedia).
Stones are a common theme in the Bible, with different contexts and meanings and interpretations. For now we will focus on this one, of the cornerstone being the foundation upon which the building is to be built.
If you’ve been reading any of my writing or talking to me, you will have definitely come across the concept of “my worldview”. It’s basically the set of principles and values that I base my life upon, slightly different from a cornerstone in that it’s more flexible and can change as you grow and evolve in life, but this got me thinking about it. What foundation that you are building your life upon?
It’s pretty easy to claim to want to be good - to want to be kind, to be humble, to be compassionate, forgiving, etc. There are a whole list of things that we are taught are virtues, and also a whole list of vices. But what values have you decided are fundamental to how you choose to live your life? The foundation upon which you choose to grow as a person should not be one you come to lightly. It should be one crafted with intention and meticulous design. If you’re realizing that you haven’t given it much thought, I encourage you to take the time to.
Here’s a worldview example: I agreed to do a favour for a colleague because I wanted to be a team player, but I also felt resentment at the lack of appreciation they showed and it made me realize that I wasn’t doing it out of altruism, I wanted something in return and that wasn’t in line with how I wanted to live. And so I checked myself and made an effort to remind myself of this when I felt the resentment creep up, and surely, it subsided and there is so much peace in that.
It is also a whole other thing to decide on these values, but then you also have to build and strengthen them - Rome wasn’t built in a day. For a long time there was discordance between how I logically knew I wanted to live, and the emotional reactions I had to actually living out that life. It took a lot of intentional practice and conscious self-awareness for these things to start feeling fundamental to who I am. But it’s still a work in progress.
You could choose to live in line with the Bible if that is your belief, to rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. At the end of the day, it should be an active and conscious choice, one that you have to keep making over and over again.
Community and being a part of a bigger whole
You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Buildings are composed of many bricks, no two bricks are the same shape and size but together, they form a collective whole that much bigger and grander than one the one individual brick. Community is a huge part of being human. Connection aside (topic for another time), it allows us to play to everyone’s individual strengths, for the whole to be greater than the sum of its parts.
Being a part of a collective is a way of holding yourself accountable.
The American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) did a study on accountability and found that you have a 65% of completing a goal if you commit to someone. And if you have a specific accountability appointment with a person you’ve committed, you will increase your chance of success by up to 95% (Observer).
This is the whole idea of having an accountability partner. I can see how the structure of church and the church community can play this role - people there live by a set of standards set out by the Bible and attending service every week and being reminded of these values are one way of reminding yourself what you have chosen to believe in and can encourage you to reflect on whether you have been living out these values.
At the same time, I think this environment puts a lot of pressure on you to conform, almost like there’s a clear line between being all in or all out and no room for much in between. I haven’t yet, but I hope to find some middle ground - maybe this can look like breaking down and evaluating the individual values, and choosing how to scale each of these in their application within your own life.
What do you choose to ascribe value to?
For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,“ The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
The Air Jordan 13 that Michael Jordan wore during Game 2 of the 1998 NBA Finals sold for 2.2 million USD. “Jordan wore the sneakers during the second half of Game 2 of the NBA Finals in 1998, where he scored 37 points in 40 minutes to secure the Chicago Bulls' victory over the Utah Jazz. After the game, he signed his shoes and gave them to a ball boy who had found and returned Jordan's jacket during an earlier practice.” (Sothebys).
It baffles me, as a non-basketball fan, that anyone would pay so much money for a pair of shoes worn by someone. But clearly, to some people, it can be worth paying millions of dollar for. They are valuable because meaning behind it is important - the story of the person behind it and the moment in time. Things hold different values for everyone based on their own values and beliefs, so here’s a question for you, dear reader - what do you choose to ascribe value to in your life?
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