The Cathedral That Survived the Fire

On April 15, 2019, the world watched in horror as flames consumed the roof of Notre-Dame de Paris. Eight hundred years of history disappeared into smoke. The iconic spire collapsed. Tourists wept on the banks of the Seine.

But when firefighters finally entered the charred interior, they discovered something remarkable. The medieval stone vaults — the massive ribbed arches built on the original twelfth-century foundation — had held. The golden cross above the altar still gleamed through the haze. The foundation had not failed.

In the years that followed, architects faced a critical choice. They could modernize, reimagine, reinvent. But lead architect Philippe Villeneuve insisted on rebuilding true to the original plans. Why? Because the foundation dictated everything above it. You cannot place a glass-and-steel structure on a medieval stone base and call it faithful restoration.

Paul tells the Corinthians that they are God's building, and the only foundation that holds is Jesus Christ. Every sermon we preach, every ministry we build, every life we construct sits on that bedrock — or it doesn't. And like Notre-Dame, storms and fire will test what we've built. The flashy additions may burn away, but what is anchored to Christ endures.

Paul presses further: you yourselves are the temple of the Most High. His Spirit dwells in you. That means how we treat one another in the church is not merely social — it is sacred. To tear apart God's living temple through division is to desecrate holy ground.

Build carefully. The foundation holds. But what you place upon it matters eternally.