Dom Tower of Utrecht

The gigantic Dom Tower of Utrecht is a symbol of that Dutch city’s pride and ancient pedigree, and stands at nearly 369 feet. Once it was attached to St Martin’s Cathedral from which it is now separate, and an attractive town square is situated between them. The reason for this, and the tower’s being a ‘stand-alone’, was a great tornado back in 1674. It caused much of the nave to collapse, separating the tower from the rest of the church. St Martin’s Cathedral continues to function, but without its massive tower, and is somewhat smaller than it was. The church may have shrunk, and it may now be lower than it was intended to be, but from that storm it surely recovered.

Before and after

There are worse causes of ecclesial destruction than storms and tornadoes; liberalistic, gospel-denying preaching, for instance. This will appear rather attractive at first, but will result in emasculation and then destruction. Or eccentric persons, who are always banging their favourite drum and riding their unpleasant hobbyhorses; these do a pretty good job of shrinking churches, too. Or a leader's predilection for the ladies; this can be more damaging than a tornado, and just as lethal. It seems that Satan finds it far simpler, or perhaps more effective, to sow tares among the wheat than to simply pull the wheat up. The Dom of Utrecht might be a stunningly visual picture of a damaged, broken church, but there are worse things than storms to assault gatherings of God’s people. The lonesome though majestic tower also reminds us that though bashed and bruised, the church of Jesus Christ remains, just as He promised:

‘…and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it’. Matthew 16:18b