Cathedral Faith

Recently, I was speaking with a pastor who works in a military ministry on the island of Hawaii. As we talked, he mentioned that it takes faith to build buildings in their ministry. The people who give to and work on the buildings rarely get a chance to enjoy the blessings that they are to the church there.

It reminded me of a comment made many times while looking at cathedrals during my travels in England. Often, a guide would speak about how the cathedral was a testimony to the faith of the people. This comment was always made in connection with the facts about how long it took to build the church buildings (many times hundreds of years).

I have come to understand that the idea presented there is that the people did what was right even though they knew they would not see the fruition of their labors. They worked in their part of the “vineyard.” Their faith was farsighted.

What kind of faith do Christians have particularly in their families? Are we content if our sons and daughters “make it”? Good Christians put an emphasis on having good families, but I believe faithful Christians “see” generations of good families.

Is your faith working to instill an insatiable desire into your own children to pass their faith on to their grandchildren? The same type of faith that built cathedrals sees the training of great-grandchildren taking place around the dinner table every night.