By: Pastor Jay Roberts
I had a tour of a very ornate church building today. I am purposefully leaving out what type of church it is. It is gilded throughout with pavement. You understood correctly – pavement. The streets of Heaven will be paved with gold and that is the material used in this place.
As I stood in appreciation of the architecture, craftsmanship, and excellent artwork, I could not help but ponder a sobering question. Even though I am certain that they built this magnificent cathedral with all the expensive artwork, gold gilding, and embellishments with the intentions of honoring God – does it bring Him glory or sadness?
Obviously, God cannot be impressed as a mere man is. I wonder how many more lives could have been touched by using the resources to go out and share the Good News as well as relieve poverty and suffering instead of building a stained glass edifice (which I admit as a man is impressive) rather than expecting people without the Spirit of God to say; “Hey…cool building…think I’ll check it out!”