We don't get much time away from bobsledding over here in Europe. So we (the women's bobsled team) decided to see some sights while we were traveling from LaPlange to Winterberg, Germany this past weekend. We decided to stop at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Strasbourg, France. It was surrounded by a festive European Christmas Market too!
The cathedral was pretty amazing. Hard to believe that it was built in the 11th century! As soon as we walked in I could just feel the awesomeness of the history in that place. Walking around I was awe struck by the Christian traditions, but the more I thought about it, the more I began to realize how ridiculous it all really was.
The massive crowds of people instantly became reverent as they entered the cathedral. Im not disrespecting that, I was also speechless, but is that what God really wants? Reverence to a building and place? Is that cathedral really the Holy ground that everyone seemed to think it was? I began to feel like I was walking in the shoes of St. Francis of Assisi or Martin Luther.
One of my mottos is: Don't go to church. Be the church.
Think about that. The Spirit of God no longer dwells inside a building or place. The temple curtain was torn and things changed when Christ rose from the dead! Now His Spirit lives inside the believers who make up the Body of Christ, the Church. And we aren't tied down by traditions. Isn't that awesome!? We don't have to go to a Cathedral or pay indulgences to be free! St Francis of Assisi and Martin Luther took a stand against these issues of the church during the time that the Notre Dame Cathedral was thriving, and I think we still need to take a lesson from those theologians today.
So was the cathedral awesome? Heck yes it was! Is it any different from any other man made building? No, not really.
We (believers who make up the body of Christ) are the Church.
 |
U.S. Womens National Bobsled Team
outside the Notre Dame Cathedral in Strasbourg, France |
