Revelation
3:14-22
It
is as if the Lord saved the worst for last.
The church at Laodicea is the only church of the seven to receive no
word of commendation from the Lord. It
was a church without approval. The
church is apathetic about its spiritual condition. They do not seem to be self deceived,
thinking they are spiritually healthy or dynamic when they are not. This church appears to lack any concern about
their condition, even if they are aware that something is desperately wrong.
They are rather concerned about their financial well-being. “Who needs to get fanatical about religion
when you have money?” is their attitude.
Their wealth had made them numb to their actual condition. How descriptive of many of our churches
today! We build lavish homes for our
congregations and are concerned with our personal peace and affluence and we
approach Christ as a consumer approaches a market. We will take a little of this and some of
that but only at our choosing.
Some
where along the way there was a failure of leadership. The church did not end up in this pathetic
shape by itself. There were leaders who
either actively lead this church towards this selfish life or did not correct
it as it was drifting that way. The
church in the West is very much in this situation. If the average church member were given the
choice of losing their faith or their wealth most would, if they had to make a
choice, surrender their faith. But in
our religious context that choice is never so obvious. You can easily find a church that will tell
you exactly what you want to hear about wealth, no matter how selfish it might
be. This is the result of generations
that have tried to make Christianity about us and not Him. The seeker driven church has been stunned to
find that what the seeker wants is to be selfish with just enough religion to
alleviate the conscience.
They’re
deplorable, and they’re condition is not in spite of the circumstances, but
because of it. Their focus on personal peace and affluence has blinded them to
their true condition. They have five
markers of how bad off they really are.
They are “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” Thankfully, the
Lord can provide the cure for their five aliments. They must, however, become passionate about
the Lord and express genuine change of heart, AKA, repentance. The Lord stands at the door making noise
trying to alert the church. If they will
open to Him, He will come in, however, he will not knock forever.
Questions
to ponder
Despite
all the wealth and prestige of our churches which of the five descriptions of
the church at Laodicea best describes the church today? If the church is numbed to its condition by
its apparent wealth what might be needed to break through that numbness? Must we wait for the Lord to intervene or can
we move toward repentance ourselves?
