Revelation Chapters 2-3

¹⁰ On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, ¹¹ which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

 

John is visited by Jesus on the island of Patmos and Jesus has a message for him to these churches.  These churches obviously have some influence and Jesus wants to set them straight on a few things.

I think of all the churches just in Billings, and I wonder if this happened in present day, what churches would be called out for admonition and praise. Would ours be called out for either?  And if you weren't called out for admonition, is that a good thing or a bad thing?  

The answer is in chapter 3.  Jesus' words to the church in Laodicea say that they are lukewarm.

Ephesus - you work hard and persevere, and you cannot tolerate wicked people.  You have tested apostles and have endured hardships.  But you have forsaken your first love.  This started out great and became complacent.

Smyrna - very much persecuted and impoverished, but blessed!

Pergamum - They remain true to Jesus even though they live where Satan lives.  There are some unfaithful among them though

Thyatira - people of love and faith, service and perseverance.  But they tolerate Jezebel who calls herself a prophet and misleads God's servants into sexual immorality

Sardis - You have a reputation for being alive but you are dead.  There are a few among you alive and healthy, but most of you are asleep

Philadelphia - You have kept my word and not denied my name.  Hold on to what you have.  

Laodicea - you are lukewarm

Which church do I belong to?  Honestly, I see some of all of these in our church.  Our church is big enough that it feels as though there are little churches within that make up the big church.

Are we hard working and perserverant?  I think so

Are we persecuted and impoverished?  Not so much

Do we tolerate false prophets?  I'd like to think not

Are we dead? No, but I think there's a large part of our church that are not contributing

Have we kept  God's word and not denied His name?  I think so

Are we lukewarm?  Very possibly

Some of these questions are hard to answer, and more likely reflect how I feel about my relationship with Jesus than the whole church.  We can be as involved and active as we want to be, but we're so big it is easy to just show up each weekend but not participate in the works of the church.