Big Time

London Tower's Big Ben is a huge clock. But it's not the largest in the world.

Quick survey: How many people in your congregation regularly wear a wristwatch? Ask for a show of hands of those who use another device to tell time and the youngsters will happily pull out their cell phones (be advised that you may lose them for a minute while they check their Snapchat account).

Regardless of what timepiece you carry, it's clear that we live in a world obsessed with time. Rarely does anyone sidle up to you in the grocery store anymore and ask, "Do you have the time?" because everyone has it attached to their body in some way. We have multiple apps for tracking our calendars, managing our deadlines and even timing our walk to the office. We have time staring at us from the corner of our computer screens, from the dashboard of the car and from the digital clock on the bank sign down the street. If you live in a city, you might even look up and see a classic old clock fixed on a historic building which has been marking the time for generations.

In some cities, in fact,...