Perhaps, in the entire world, there is no greater tragedy than for a local church to be accurately described as dead. In fact, the very idea seems oxymoronic! It sounds clearly to be a blatant contradiction of terms! The idea that the church, the body of Jesus Christ, would be dead seems wrong and indeed is wrong. Christ is the Son of God and the firstborn from the dead. It is His resurrection that we celebrate at Easter and the reason for the church’s whole existence. Yet, the term “dead church” is being used with more and more frequency these days. However, describing a church in these sorts of terms is not really anything new.
In Revelation 3:1-6 Jesus’ words of condemnation to the Church at Sardis were that they “appeared” alive but were actually spiritually dead. Many things can give an appearance that does not reflect reality. Space, for instance, is virtually incomprehensible to the human mind. The nearest stars to the earth are trillions of miles away. These vast distances forced astronomers to come up with a new term – “light year.” It is the distance light, which travels at 186,000 miles per second, travels in the span of 1 year. It turns out, 1 light year is 6 trillion miles! If a star, for instance, thirty light years away from the earth exploded and died five years ago, we could not be able to tell by looking at it for another 25 years! Though no longer in existence, the light from that star would go on shining as if nothing had changed. The light at Sardis appeared to be shining, but the church was dead.
Instead of focusing on and pursuing present faithfulness, many churches look backwards to past glory. I once was called as pastor to a church with a long history. Very shortly afterwards a few of the older members began telling me about how this church had planted several other churches and was therefore, in their estimation, very mission minded. A bit surprised, I inquired further. It was then explained how that in the 1880s, then in the 1890s new churches were planted then again about 3 more during the early part of the 1900s for a total of about 5 or 6 mission churches spawned. The most recent church plant was in the 1920s! Yet, 8 decades later this was still something the church considered an object of pride. The obvious question was, “But what have you done lately?” Many churches look backwards and not forward. The church is called to be largely progressive and somewhat reflective, whereas many churches are instead just the opposite – largely reflective and only slightly progressive. This is a sign they are much more like the church at Sardis than they would ever realize or admit.
The church at Sardis probably had started out like Ephesus by losing their first love. That likely led them to compromise like Pergamos, then naturally to corruption like at Thyatira, and then ultimately death. James wrote in his epistle of a progression which takes place “When desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” (James 1:15). The specific sin(s) may be different in each case but it is “sin” nevertheless. For some churches it is sexual sin that goes unconfessed or perhaps undealt with by the leadership who are aware of the problem but look the other way. In some cases it is one of many various forms of idolatry. Churches have been known to make idols of their bank accounts, their buildings, their property, particular objects within the building, particular rooms within the building, a particular program sponsored by the church, a particular method for doing certain things, etc. Idolatrous type tendencies can show up in a lot of different places. Laziness can also cause some churches to die. Relying on someone else to do what the New Testament tells you (if you are a Christian) to do. Countless people have been blamed by others for not doing the work they themselves were supposed to do. Apathy is also another reason churches die. Often the attitude within the church is much like the attitude within our nation. Someone once stated to his friend ‘“The main problems in our nation today are ignorance and apathy - don’t you agree?’ The friend replied, ‘I don’t know and I don’t care!’” Sadly, I think there is some application when it comes to unhealthy attitudes within the church visible in both words and behavior.
What is the remedy? Jesus tells the church at Sardis they need to “wake up.” It was not time for indifference. Second, the small remnant needed to “strengthen the things that remain which were about to die.” Third, the faithful remnant needed to “remember what they had received and heard.” In other words, they needed to focus once again on the basics/fundamentals. Fourth, after going back to the truths of Scripture, they needed to “keep” them and not let them slip away again. Fifth, they needed to “repent.” Repentance means swallowing a lot of pride, which most are unwilling to do.
The Lord promises to the church at Sardis that if they simply do what he asks of them, He will cloth them with white garments symbolizing purity and holiness. He further promises to not blot out their names from the book of life, but instead confess them before His Father. Church history gives us a pretty good indication that there was at least a partial heeding of Jesus’ words to this church. Melito, a prominent man who served as bishop at Sardis several decades after John wrote, indicated that some measure of revival did take place after this letter was received. No church and no individual is too far gone if they will simply repent and turn to God!
In Christ,
Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor
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