Cathedrals

Dear Joel,

It's interesting the way culture evolves. One of the things that strikes me is how much we as a culture have lost a sense of the Sacred. Take our church buildings, for example. It's not at all uncommon in our country for churches to operate out of strip malls, community centers, high schools, and even within the homes of its members. We do this because we have what I believe to be a mostly healthy emphasis on the fact that a "church" is a people - not a place. When we say we "go to church," even though we do mean a certain location, we really mean that we're joining with other believers for the reading of the Word and the worship of our Lord, and that can happen whether in a coffee shop or at the former Econo-Foods.

Sometimes the flip side of that gets a little lost, though. I've heard over and over again about the unnecessary extravagances of (especially) the European church in centuries past; about the wasted resources spent on building huge elaborate cathedrals that could have been spent alleviating the suffering of the poor. Even today large churches who construct buildings to support their congregations are often considered wasteful. When I was new to Colorado I was asking directions to a very large church in the area and a seminary classmate described the route I needed to take, and then told me that I would go around the corner and see a "monument to bad Christian stewardship."

I have no problem with churches meeting in strip malls. I agree that Christians are not always the best stewards. Christians are sinners too, and I have no doubt that there have been Christian churches built by people who, unfortunately, care too deeply about having a luxurious worship space. However, I also don't think we should automatically assume that big church buildings are too indulgent or extravagant. We far too rarely consider that the cathedrals of old were built to demonstrate the greatness not of the priest, but of the God he served. Even today when worshipers walk through the doors of a great, old cathedral, they can't help but wonder at the magnificence of the one it was built to exalt. What things cause you to step back and marvel at the holiness of God?

(I really wanted to title this post, "Sit in Datposition" because I thought it'd be funny. Didn't work out, though.)