Honoring God

Today we went to the Cathedral in Cologne. It is magnificent. The spires and stained glass and flying buttresses and marble pillars are all breath-taking. Our tour guide pointed out many of the rare and beautiful works of art throughout the cathedral. For an American Protestant, it was beyond anything I had ever seen in any house of worship. At first I was just impressed with it all. And then I was jealous of all the beauty, all the ways these artisans and nobles had chosen to honor God. And then the nagging questions started whispering in my head, "I wonder who paid for all of this?"

The quick answer is the nobles or the church (Catholic church, in this case). But the real answer probably has more to do with how much the average citizens were taxed or "encouraged" to give to the building of the cathedral. So is a building that was created from the meager wealth of the citizens really a way to honor God?

I'm not trying to impose my 21st century American values on the people of a different time and place. I'm asking a real question. There is an unmistakable sense of awe when you see a building that is so incredible you can't even see it all in one visit. The art and architecture truly drew this soul into worship. It would be a shame if this cathedral and others like it did not exist. Today, even the average citizen in Cologne is proud of "their" cathedral. It belongs to the people of that city, and to all of Germany. But in the end, does it honor God? Did it honor God when it was built? There is no doubt in my mind that the craftsmen and artists were expressing love and awe of the Creator in their masterpieces. Does it honor God now? Surely whenever anyone who enters lifts their eyes to the heavens and thinks about their Creator, God is greatly pleased. But what was the real cost? What are the real benefits? I'm not sure that I nor anyone else is qualified to answer, but it doesn't stop me from thinking about the questions.