Don't get your fingers burned ...

Don't get your fingers burned ... You might set fire to the rest of you!!
"If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire" (1 Corinthians 3:15, King James Version).

These are challenging words. What does this mean? Let's look at some of the other translations, and see what they say.

 * "If someone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but it will be like an escape through fire" (Evangelical Heritage Version).

It's great to escape from a fire - but it's better not to be in the fire in the first place! 

 *  "But if any person’s work is burned up [by the test], he will suffer the loss [of his reward]; yet he himself will be saved, but only as [one who has barely escaped] through fire" (Amplified Bible)

Barely escaped - this makes it even more dramatic! This is more than getting our fingers burned - more like getting ourselves killed!

 * "But if anyone’s work goes up in flames, they’ll lose it. However, they themselves will be saved as if they had gone through a fire" (Common English Bible).

No-one wants to go through a fire. Who knows if you'll come out the other side? 

 * "Or, to put it another way, you are God’s house. Using the gift God gave me as a good architect, I designed blueprints; Apollos is putting up the walls. Let each carpenter who comes on the job take care to build on the foundation! Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you’ll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won’t get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn’t, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But you won’t be torn out; you’ll survive—but just barely" (1 Corinthians 3:9-15, The Message)

As usual, The Message is a bit different! It doesn't specify which verse is which. It takes verses 9-15 as a paragraph. It helps to read it in full. Note that it emphasizes the importance of building on Jesus Christ. There's not to be just a superficial building on him. There's to be more than just believing in him. We are to serve him.
How are we to serve him? 
Perhaps, the best comment on 1 Corinthians 3:15 is another verse from, later on, in 1 Corinthians -  "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:58, New International Version - UK).