What Your Church Should be in 14 Verses (Pt. 2)

Again I ask the two questions I mentioned last week:

1. What does God want you to do on a Sunday Morning? What does God expect? Why do we do what we do at church. I’m sure for many of you those are not new questions nor new ideas. Maybe you have given thought to them. I hope action has followed those times of reflection.
2. What is wrong with your church? What is your pastor doing wrong every single Sunday? What blind spots does your home church have that nobody else seems to notice (…I’m not being sarcastic)? Be honest: What are they? What do you catch yourself criticizing? What is your response to them?

I assume that if you are reading this you are a follower of Christ, and I trust that you are a regular part of a church in your community where you are committed to serving God amid that community of saints (if you are not a regular part I urge you as a brother in Christ to go tomorrow and start looking).

Praising the GOOD. Praying for the BAD. Pleading for the UGLY.

As churches, members of churches, we should know what the church is to be, discern dangerous tendencies, and rebuke sin for what it is. Now I don’t know your church like you do. I don’t know the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY of that local church, but what I do know is that redeemed sinners are gathering together in that place. Spirit indwelt new creation that is being sanctified out of the fallen condition. There is hope and joy and praise to be had for it is an assembly of Spirit indwelt saints, yet still in a sinful mess.

With that I confidently say that the prayers of thanksgiving, intercessions for missions, pleads for mercy, and prayer of blessing made by Paul 2,000 years ago can be gleaned from today. Paul wrote to the divided Corinthians, the backsliding Galatians, the thriving Ephesians…and everyone else in between. Your church will benefit by you following Paul’s lead in Praising the GOOD. Praying for the BAD. Pleading for the UGLY. It is the same with the churches of Revelation.

I confess that the fact that I’ll write the next several posts with much reference to the churches of Revelation by-in-large led me to write this second blog before actually getting to the meat of the “14 Verses” series. I think over all the upcoming blogs will be easier to write if I explain a little more of how and why I’m doing this.

Now back to the churches of Revelation, of the various perspectives taught on how we should understand the role of the churches in the book of Revelation, in other words: What does John mean to teach us by writing to and of the churches? I’ll put my approach in short:

1. John is writing to seven literal churches of Asia-Minor regarding Jesus’ message to each of them.
2. John intended to address seven local churches, Jesus also intended that yet also to address the whole church across time. The seven churches also represent the complete and total number of churches. In Revelation the number seven represents fullness or totality (i.e. there aren’t seven Spirits of God in a literal sense but Rev. 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6 speaks of such…we may understand it to be speaking of the fullness of God, the perfect One).
3. The message to the seven churches is intended by Jesus to be read and heeded (Rev. 1:3). Every church on every continent and island from the age of the apostles until the Lord returns is intended to receive instruction from Jesus in what he spoke 2,000 years ago to the churches of Asia-Minor.

I believe that if we humbly observe what Jesus says through John to those seven churches and pray accordingly that God is honored and our home churches blessed. Again I remind us of the great confidence we have in prayer when we pray according to God’s will:

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

1 John 5:14-15

May such confidence make us fervent prayers.

So then, no matter how great your team of pastors may be or the robust theology your church holds; regardless of the deep love you have for the brethren or your community; if your church is persecuted and enduring or if it is on its last legs…you and your church can benefit from what Jesus said through John to all seven churches.

I humbly caution the approach that poses the question: “Which church are we most like…that’s the message for us.” There are a few dangers and errors that can easily be fallen into by that approach, yet a more holistic approach is vastly more beneficial. Think of it…

Why not pray that your church would be doing and believing everything Jesus commends in Revelation 2&3?

Why not plead on behalf of your church to be cleansed or aware of anything Jesus condemns in his churches?

Why not pray that your churches heart would be strengthened by holding to the promises made to each church?

Conclusion

I pray that in time by what we see from Paul’s prayers for the churches and Jesus’ words to the seven churches, that we would

1. confidently pray for our churches according to God’s will.
2. learn what Jesus wants your church to be, and actively pursue that amid fellowship, prayer, and service.