The Bunker

There it sits, right in the middle of the beach. Sunbathers pay no
attention to it. Few ponder why it sits so high above the beach on a number of
telephone-pole-size pilings which are starting to twist under the massive weight
of its seven foot thick concrete walls.

The bunker was built on the Cape May beach at southern tip of New
Jersey in 1942 when German submarines where menacing the east coast of the United States.
When it was built it was nine hundred feet back from the water’s edge, and level to
the then existing beach. The large piers were driven into the sand to provide stability,
but were never meant to support the entire weight of the massive concrete structure.

Over the years the beach has eroded, leaving the massive bunker sitting
on the piers well above the current beach. One can imagine the shock its original
designers and occupants would suffer if they would visit it today. Only a small sign,
which provides a drawing of its original design, explains how it came to be sitting so
high above the beach.

As I pondered this strange sight I could not help but think of many
local assemblies of the Lord’s people. Built on solid spiritual foundations many
years ago, and yet today so weak and teetering.

Like the bunker, many assemblies have seen erosion of their foundation.
The fundamental truths of the Scriptures concerning the Person and work of Christ,
God’s "great salvation," the local assembly, the priesthood of all
believers, the dispensations, and the heavenly hope of the church have been allowed to go
untaught for years. Teaching on sanctification has been replaced by the belief that grace
frees us from the "traditions" of the past. This has led to a casual approach to
life and to the operation of the assembly. The assembly and the saints no longer endure
sound doctrine (2 Tim. 4:3), but seek the softer sound of psychology and social, rather
than spiritual, gatherings. As a result the following generations have no understanding of
foundational truths and have drifted away from the foundation laid years before. (Heb.
2:1)

Now the sand of relevant sermons, music, social programs, and
psychology has washed away, leaving them with no solid foundation. Just as the beach
slowly eroded over nine hundred feet from its 1942 position, no doubt unnoticed on a daily
basis, many assemblies have slowly experienced erosion of their foundations.