“I don’t dispute that the minister is judged alongside the flock, but the idea that the purification of the building has nothing to do with the man who is that building is foreign to the text.”
That is because you are reading into the text what is not there. The building is not being purified, except in the sense of the wheat and tares:
“Then he put another parable before them. “The kingdom of Heaven,” he said, “is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the crop came up and ripened, the weeds appeared as well. Then the owner’s servants came up to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where did all these weeds come from? ‘Some blackguard has done this to spite me. he replied.
‘Do you want us then to go out and pull them all up?’ said the servants. ‘No,’ he returned, ‘if you pull up the weeds now, you would pull up the wheat with them. Let them both grow together till the harvest. And at harvest-time I shall tell the reapers, ‘Collect all the weeds first and tie them up in bundles ready to burn, but collect the wheat and store it in my barn.’”
But the point is NOT purification. The point of the word picture is that those building the Kingdom of God need to do so in the way God approves, because only then do they do something with lasting value. The point of the building picture is NOT purification, but revelation:
“But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value.” More literally, “the work shall become manifest [”readily perceived by the eye or the understanding; evident; obvious; apparent; plain”]”
Paul has been criticizing the Corinthians for forming factions and following men. He did so starting in chapter 1, and is still making his point at the end of chapter 3:
Chapter 1:
“By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ I appeal to all of you, my friends, to agree in what you say, so that there will be no divisions among you. Be completely united, with only one thought and one purpose. 11 For some people from Chloe’s family have told me quite plainly, my friends, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Let me put it this way: each one of you says something different. One says, “I follow Paulâ€; another, “I follow Apollosâ€; another, “I follow Peterâ€; and another, “I follow Christ.†13 Christ has been divided into groups! Was it Paul who died on the cross for you? Were you baptized as Paul’s disciples?”
Chapter 3:
When there is jealousy among you and you quarrel with one another, doesn’t this prove that you belong to this world, living by its standards? 4 When one of you says, “I follow Paul,†and another, “I follow Apollosâ€â€”aren’t you acting like worldly people?
5 After all, who is Apollos? And who is Paul? We are simply God’s servants, by whom you were led to believe. Each one of us does the work which the Lord gave him to do: 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plant, but it was God who made the plant grow. 7 The one who plants and the one who waters really do not matter. It is God who matters...
...21 No one, then, should boast about what human beings can do. Actually everything belongs to you: 22 Paul, Apollos, and Peter; this world, life and death, the present and the future—all these are yours, 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.”
And on into Chapter 4:
“None of you should be proud of one person and despise another. 7 Who made you superior to others? Didn’t God give you everything you have?”
The theme of the first 4 chapters of 1 Cor is this: Stop dividing up and following men! Follow God!”
3.10-15 is a warning to the false teachers at Corinth - not entirely false, perhaps, but not entirely true either: Minister faithfully, or else!
NONE of this involves purifying. Only Catholic theology tries to force it to mean something it plainly does not, so you defend the indefensible. But since Catholic theology slanders God and calls the Holy Spirit a liar, saying the blood of Christ “imperfectly purifies” man...well, to be a true Catholic, you must reject the plain truth taught by God:
“There is no condemnation now for those who live in union with Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit, which brings us life in union with Christ Jesus, has set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 What the Law could not do, because human nature was weak, God did...
...If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 Certainly not God, who did not even keep back his own Son, but offered him for us all! He gave us his Son—will he not also freely give us all things? 33 Who will accuse God’s chosen people? God himself declares them not guilty! 34 Who, then, will condemn them? Not Christ Jesus, who died, or rather, who was raised to life and is at the right side of God, pleading with him for us! 35 Who, then, can separate us from the love of Christ?”
In the Epistle I read, the building had stone, metal, straw and stubble before, and emerges with stone and metal after. That is a purified building.
Your epistle is different, it has a different focus, shifts the original metaphor, and makes different points. It is very amusing to read.