“Cautious, careful people always casting about to preserve their reputation or social standards never can bring about reform.”
– Susan B. Anthony
In Sunday School this quarter, we’ve been studying the letters to the seven churches in the Book of Revelation. This past week, we looked at the letter to Sardis – a church that seemed OK on the outside; but was, for the most part, different on the inside. A church that was asleep, possibly complacent, just seeking “to fit in and not offend”, or, as a John MacArthur article I read put it, “[Sardis] had disintegrated and was now dead. It was suffering from dry rot while going through the motions of worship and activity.”
The truth was, they were offending the One who really mattered with their reputation-building and complacent lives.
I’m so glad we don’t have that in our churches today. [cue the crickets]
Sadly, as with the letters in Revelation 2 and 3, the same rebukes from Christ are or can become true in churches and Christians today. This was convicting and challenging on a personal and corporate level for me.
The Susan B. Anthony quote was in a email I got today – it’s her 191st birthday. It got me thinking about Sardis again and my response to the letter and charge written to them. [OK, maybe it was the Holy Spirit jabbing me too]
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Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
– Paul, Romans 12:2
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
– Paul, 2 Timothy 1:7
Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.
– John, quoting Christ in Revelation 3:2
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