“And do not call anyone on earth “father,” for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.” MATTHEW, 23:9 NIV
During my years in university studying architecture, I took a few History of Architectures classes. In these classes, the majority of time is spend learning about amazing structures in amazing places all over the world. When I got to visit Rome as a college student, I was excited to visit St Peter’s Basilica, which has one of the largest and tallest domes in the world. The basilica, or church, is located within the walls of Vatican City, an independent city state where the Catholic popes have lived for hundreds of years. The day we visited ST. Peter’s happened to be a Sunday, which is the day the pope traditionally come out and blesses the thousands of people who congregate in the plaza. This particular trip was taken in 1990, and it was
Pope John Paul II who stood at an opening overlooking the masses. I remember standing in the plaza, surprise and confused at the reaction of the people to seeing this man. I remember thinking to myself, “These people seem to think he is some sort of god! I couldn’t help remember that to God, all men and women are created equal in His sight. Personally, I choose to honor and glorify only the true God in heaven who created me and not a substitute or representative.
As I finally got a change to explore the amazing structure, I discovered that there was a staircase that led all the way to the top of the dome. I bought a ticket and started climbing. Little did I know that it would take more than 550 steps to climb to the top, but the view was worth it! Still, I couldn’t stop thinking of the way people reacted to seeing the pope. The world pope means “father” and we’re warned in the Bible that there is to be no earthly substitute for our Father in heaven.
Make sure your worship and praises are always directed to our Father in heaven, who is the Creator and the only One who can answer your prayers.