By John Clifton
In the Gospel of Matthew, there is a story that Jesus told about a wise and a foolish builder. The wise builder builds on rock. The foolish one builds on sand. When the rains come, the wise builder’s house stands solid but the foolish builder has his house washed away.
The traditional approach to this story is to spiritualise it. We say “Oh, the house is like someone’s life. It needs to be built on the solid foundation of Jesus’ example and teachings otherwise when the storms of life come it will crumble and wash away.” I wouldn’t disagree with that.
However, recently, I’ve started to interpret the passage in a different way. It makes me think about actual builders and actual housing developers. Some motivations for building are solid, like rock. Other motivations are less secure like sand. In my mind, a rock solid foundation is ‘commmunity’ – the consequence of deep relationships built between people. A sand-like foundation is profit and money, for the purpose of getting rich.
Too many housing developments in my city are built on sand – they are for the purpose of making money. What we need now is housing that prioritises the fabric of our community. We need housing that helps our communities flourish, where people can put roots down and settle.
I’m really excited about the London Citizens Housing Manifesto for the London mayoral election. Check it out – I think you’ll agree that the approach reflect the values of the Wise Builder whichever way you interpret it.