Foundation: a basis (as a tenet, principle, or axiom) upon which something stands or is supported. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 11th ed.
A proper foundation is critical for building anything. The “fashionable” thing today is to believe there’s no proper way to do anything. Because those holding those beliefs believe them to be true, they never question their mistaken pre-suppositions. Nobody genuinely believes that every belief is as good as every other. To test this all you must do is challenge a belief they hold dearly. It will become very clear how correct their belief is to them. Of course, after defending their belief, they will probably revert to declaring, “We can’t know what’s true”, and other forms of nonsensical drivel they do not genuinely believe. Cognitive dissonance is a serious issue today. It requires firm correction by those who are more mature.
A perfect example of the necessity for a proper foundation is the case of Millennium Tower, a 58-story residential building, in San Francisco, CA. A penthouse sold for $13 million in December 2016 and is now unlivable. After the building was opened the foundation began to sink on one side. The upper stories are tilted to such a degree that windows are cracking and plumbing is leaking and cannot be repaired and there are cracks in the walls and flooring. There is a plan to fix the issue, but the cost will be in the 100’s of millions and the time and energy invested will be…astronomical. A proper foundation is everything! It does not matter how magnificent a structure is, if the foundation is flawed it will fail. It’s not a question of ‘if’ but only when. There will be little you can do about it but perhaps sit back and enjoy the show. Even if it’s possible to save the structure, the cost of time and energy may be so great (and the promise of success so uncertain…) it may be better to simply write the venture off as “liquidated damages”, take your loss, learn your lessons and start fresh. This is something you’ll have to consider carefully on your own.
What is the proper foundation for our faith? Some will say, “The Word of God”. Others may say, “The Bible points us to Jesus.” These would seem to be self-evident but are uttered with a sense of profundity that borders on the mystical. What do they really mean? What does it mean to build our faith on ‘the Word of God’? What does it really mean to say our faith should be focused on Jesus? As true as these statements are, they appear to have an air of propaganda. They’re so broad they could mean almost anything. Maybe that’s the real goal, to provide a façade of pietism all the while providing an unlimited “blank check” to do anything the interpreter wants while maintaining a (false) sense of plausible deniability. After all, “We can’t know what’s true.” Therefore, we shouldn’t speak or live in clear distinctives. Or so those who’ve made the mistake of buying into the pseudo-intellectual pursuit of post-modernism would have us believe.
But we still haven’t answered the question, “What is the proper foundation upon which to build our faith?