I wrote about one of Charleston’s most spectacular bridges a couple of days ago, and, coincidentally, The Navigators just sent me a marvelous call to in-depth discipleship using bridge-building as a metaphor.

In “Building Below the Waterline,” Howard Baker first lists problems with Christian leaders:

• leaders abusing their power and position 
• leaders lacking integrity in areas of basic moral, ethical, relational, and financial matters 
• leaders collapsing under the weight of the stress and pressures of the work 
• leaders who are no longer actual real-life followers of the person they have chosen to serve—Jesus Christ. 

What’s the problem?

Howard says the problem is in the foundation, and he tells this story taken from Gordon MacDonald’s book Building Below the Waterline:

In his insightful introduction, he quotes from David McCullough’s book, The Great Bridge. McCullough tells the story of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge in the latter half of the 1800s. This engineering marvel of its day took 17 years to build. After the first four years of construction, the citizens of Brooklyn complained to the chief engineer, Washington Roebling, asking why they could not see any construction. Where was their bridge? 

Roebling’s answer was epic. During the previous four years, the most important work was being done where no one could see it, below the waterline. Daring construction workers were putting their lives at risk to do the hard work of building the foundation. He said that if this important work was not done with excellence below the waterline, what was built above the waterline would not stand the test of time. Brilliant!

Baker goes on to say:

Regrettably, far too many leaders in ministry, church, mission agency, and the marketplace have spent the majority of their time building above the waterline. They are building wonderful “bridges” of ministry while forgetting the most important and strategic work—constructing the foundation. It is here, below the waterline, where the most daring and courageous work occurs: knowing God and knowing ourselves. 

I would say it’s the same reason athletes spend time in the weight room, and pianists spend hours doing “boring scales” and other exercises. They’re building “below the waterline.” Legendary football coach Bear Bryant used to say:

You can’t live soft all week and play tough on Saturday.

Baker concludes:

So what is building below the waterline? What is the foundation built on the rock? The apostle Paul states it simply,

No one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 3:11).

There is only one genuine and eternal foundation for our lives: being with Jesus to become like Him. That is our one and only job, mission, and calling. All else, every bridge or house, is built on that. How? Dallas Willard states it clearly and simply, “You must arrange your days so that you are experiencing deep contentment, joy, and confidence in your everyday life with God.” That’s it and that’s all! 

Jesus said it first (also cited by Baker):

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 724 – 27, ESV)

PS One place to start (at the risk of beating the same drum over and over) is our daily time with God.