Judgment Upon The Church
We’ve been overwhelmed for the last number of months here in America, with the amount of scandal exposed within our churches. More specifically the hidden sin of nationally recognized pastors and leaders. Elders and boards have scurried to do brand and image control. It’s been devastating. More than likely, we’ve all felt the sting, even if the figures exposed weren’t among our favorites or even ones with whom we agreed doctrinally. Any corruption or scandal that is exposed, even though it is ultimately good for the body of Christ, also brings a measure of mockery to the church. For this we grieve and ask God to help and heal us. We reexamine our own lives and ministries and seek the fear of the Lord.
I can’t help but think of the message Jesus brought to the early church just a few decades after it started, even as it was still just getting off the ground. It was almost like Jesus was doing a surprise visit to see how they were doing and offer His honest feedback. The church in our day needs the exact same thing: for us to hear honestly from the Lord His thoughts and opinion of our churches. We find His message in Revelation chapters 2-3, and it couldn’t be more relevant to us today. I encourage you to go through each of the seven letters and let them examine you, and for churches to do the same. I promise His will for us is the same as it was for them all those years ago, and we still must obey Christ’s call to ‘have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying’.
Here’s the truth no matter what part of the church you’re in: it’s imperative that our opinion and God’s opinion are not at odds. Jesus is honest. When He came to give the church an examination He didn’t mince words. He affirmed the good they were doing and He rebuked their sinful compromise. If they didn’t take His rebuke to heart and repent, His promise was clear: He would shut them down. Read what He says and see it with your own eyes. It wasn’t going to be the devil, not the woke mob, not the Roman government, it would be Him - He would shut them down. “I will remove your church” – Jesus (Revelation 2:5). If you’re not aware, He’s still in the business of coming to us in judgment and is still willing to shut us down if we are not willing to yield to Him. And it seems that recently this has been among his priorities (1 Peter 4:17).
When I look at these seven churches and the message Jesus gave to each of them, I can see a part of us in each of them. They were experiencing similar things to us today - whether it be blatant sexual perversion celebrated in culture (endorsed by the government) or complacent, compromised teaching within the church on sexuality and gender, or the assumption that worldly success is the same as God’s approval. In just a short time after the birth of the church there was already blatant heresy, haughtiness and pride within their ranks. I’m convicted as I read these letters, and I respond to the Lord with, “Help us.”
“I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” – Jesus (Revelation 3:1).Can you imagine hearing this? Talk about a gut-punch. I imagine word had spread that John the Apostle had encountered the Lord and had received a very specific message to several churches. There’s a good chance this congregation in Sardis had heard they were getting a letter, and it was coming directly from Christ to them specifically. Excitement, intrigue, expectation surely gripped them. Then, finally the time came when the message arrived. I imagine the elders, gathering to hear the word of the Lord with intrigue and expectation…and then this. This line is one of the first lines read aloud for them to hear: “You think you’re alive and well but you’re wrong. I’m here to tell you you’re dead”.. Ouch. I’m sure it was silent.
So why? What was the problem? How could so many outside the church - and more importantly how could they themselves - think they were alive and well, thriving and being busy with great things and yet from heaven’s point of view be completely irrelevant, and even dead?
The context of this letter, as well as the others in Revelation,was the idol-worshiping culture of the Roman Empire. It was a highly sexualized environment with every kind of sexual perversion imaginable on display. There was pressure to conform, to participate and to celebrate the perversion, and if one didn’t, it could cost them their livelihood. Sound familiar?
What’s Jesus’s message to a church in such a context? It was very clear: Don’t waiver. Don’t budge. Hold the line and be clean from this perversion. And His concomitant promise? I will be with you. The cost will be high but it will be worth it. It reminds me of the following passage: “Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Mark 10:28-30)
There are two options for the church. One is that we can compromise to the culture around us and the temptations that assail us, and if we do that, Christ Himself will be against us. The other is that we can stand firm, no matter the cost, and Christ will be for us. God help us to make the right choice.