I have visited some amazing cathedrals and churches including Notre Dame in Paris, Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg, the National Cathedral in Washington DC, and too many to name in Rome.

Each time I enter one of these grand edifices, I feel a sense of hushed awe and reverence. The buildings were designed for worship with their high ornate ceilings and beautiful stained glass. Somehow these surroundings make it easier to contemplate God, to honor His power, wisdom, and holiness. There is something to be said for this kind of church.

However, this is not typical of the churches I have attended more regularly in my life. They have been much more modest, although some did have stained glass windows.

For several years I attended a so-called mega-church with an enormous parking lot, a coffee shop, and a stage more suited to performances than to reverent reflection.

I guess it’s a matter of taste. To a point…

“He said to them, ‘It is written, my house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of thieves!’” (Matthew‬ ‭21‬:‭13,‬ ‭CSB)‬‬

I don’t think God cares where you worship or what it looks like. Folding chairs or pews, it’s all the same to him. He doesn’t care what types of songs you sing or what clothes you wear. He doesn’t care about the height of your church ceiling or whether you worship in a field with no ceiling.

What matters is that He is welcomed and honored wherever we worship Him. When our priorities for worshiping Him deviate from God’s priorities, He gets pretty angry. Church — the people who seek to worship and follow God — is very dear to His heart.

That’s why Jesus got so angry at the money changers and dove sellers in the temple. The spot that had been set aside for seekers to find God through prayer and worship had been overrun by businesses. The focus shifted from God to profit.

When I attend church (of any kind), I must evaluate and adjust my priorities. I’m not there to meet people and network. I’m not there because I enjoy singing. I’m not there to show off, and I’m not there to check a box. I’m not even there to be enlightened by a sermon. My number one priority when going to any church is to worship, honor, and praise a God infinitely more awesome than the grandest cathedral ever built by human hands.

Dear God, thank you for church. Thank you for the opportunity to join with other believers to worship you in one place at the same time, wherever that may be. Thank you also for the many amazingly beautiful places of worship I have had the great fortune to visit. Remind me every time I go to church that worshiping you is my one and only goal.