“As long as the mission is central (especially in the church), you will have a bright future. When maintenance begins to trump mission, the end is near.” – Carey Nieuwhof
Some time ago, I came across a sermon preached by Mark Driscoll who was once the Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington.
He preached from Revelation 3:1-6, and in his message, he was drawing a correlation between what happened to the ancient church in Sardis, to what could happen to his own church.
Driscoll said this, “…would it really bother you if your church died and closed? Would it really bother you? Have you ever thought of that? Sometimes I have this nightmare that Mars Hill Church, where I get to pastor, ceases to exist. What if it ceased to exist? That would destroy me. I would be devastated. All these people, all these families, all these new Christians, all these children, all these church plants, all these opportunities. What if it all went away? It would destroy me.”
Well, perhaps he didn’t know how prophetic his statements were that day for himself and for his church because in September of 2015 Driscoll’s nightmare came true! It all went away!
Mars Hill Church, one of the largest and most influential megachurches in America died, and its remnants scattered to the four corners of the wind. And why? Because Driscoll used and abused the people under his care. One man connected with the church said this about it, “This is without a doubt, the most abusive, coercive ministry culture I’ve ever been involved with.” Under an avalanche of evidence of pastoral abuse of power; impropriety with church funds; and other forms of wickedness, Mark Driscoll finally resigned his position as its pastor because he wouldn’t submit to church discipline.
And with him gone, disillusionment set in among those who were left, and what was once considered an American ecclesiastical success story; this meteoric rise of a church that began as a home bible study, that had grown to over 12,000 people on a Sunday morning, ended with a gigantic thud that could be heard across the country.
John Piper called it, “…a colossal Satanic victory.” And perhaps it was; (an obvious sad deal for all concerned). But I personally can’t help feeling that it was also a victory for God…because it was a fulfillment of a promise that the Lord has already made to his churches in his Word. And what you will notice in Revelation chapters 2-3 is a promise that is repeated over and over again to every single one of the seven churches in Revelation. It’s the phrase, “I know your deeds!” “I know your deeds! I know where you live! I know what you’re facing!” In other words, “I see Everything!”
3500 churches close their doors every year in America. And there are many varied reasons for that. It is a historical irony that many of the churches, which were started by the apostles, no longer exist today and those that do, are but a shadow of what they once were. The question of why does come to the surface. “What happens in the life of a church that precipitates it fading from existence?” There are all kinds of reasons that people give for why that happens: a decline in a city’s population (demographics); problems in leadership; financial problems, etc.
Thom Ranier writes that often,
“…the problem is not a shortage of people. The problem is a shortage of courage, commitment, and sacrifice.”
The Bible does speak to this ecclesiastical tragedy. According to Revelation 2 and 3, there are 7 reasons why churches can fade from existence:
- It begins to serve God mechanically rather than devotionally. (Ephesus)
- It becomes discouraged under the weight of opposition. (Smyrna)
- It becomes tolerant of theological error. (Pergamum)
- It becomes tolerant of immoral behavior. (Thyatira)
- It becomes spiritually unresponsive to the claims of Scripture. (Sardis)
- It fails to take advantage of open opportunities to spread the Gospel. (Philadelphia)
- It becomes spiritually self-satisfied and is therefore of no benefit to Christ or to its community. (Laodicea)
Yet at the end of his words to the churches in Revelation 3, Jesus makes this extraordinary statement in verse 20,
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into and eat with him, and he with me.”
Now I’ve heard this particular passage preached to the unsaved as an evangelistic invitation for the lost to open their hearts and let Jesus in; but if you look at the context of the verse; it’s the conclusion of the Lord’s words not only to Laodicea in particular but to all the churches he’s just spoken to through the pen of the Apostle John. But it’s not the door of the world he’s knocking on…it’s the door of the church! It’s the door of the church he’s politely asking to gain entry into!
Now, if you go back and study the Lord’s words to Laodicea; you’ll find that they had become a church that was good for nothing. Their wealth and comfort had so dulled their senses that they had become complacent in their walk with Jesus. And as a result, they were no longer of any spiritual benefit to their community. Jesus said,
“you’re neither hot nor cold…but lukewarm”.
To excavate the meaning of that phrase, one must go back into the history of that region of the world. The city of Laodicea was situated in the Lycus River Valley in the same vicinity as two other famous cities in Asia Minor, (today Western Turkey), both of whom had Christian churches residing within them:
The first was Hierapolis located just to the north, across the Lycus river valley from Laodicea. Hierapolis had one claim to fame; one thing it was celebrated for throughout the Roman world and that was its hot mineral springs. These springs supposedly had medicinal properties to help those suffering from all kinds of ailments and skin diseases. People from all over the Roman world knew that if you wanted relief from arthritis or whatever disease you were suffering from, you could go to Hierapolis and sit in the hot springs and find healing, restoration, and comfort.
The second city in close proximity to Laodicea was Colossae; located just east of Laodicea at the foot of Mount Cadmus. And Colossae was also famous for something. It was known for its cold refreshing mountain spring water. Mt. Cadmus was always snow-covered, and when that snow melted, cold clean water would thunder down the mountainside creating hundreds of mountain streams and rivulets flowing into the Lycus river making the Lycus River Valley a lush and wonderfully green place to live. Thus, Colossae gained the reputation as a place where one could go, if you tired and weary, and be invigorated and encouraged by their cold refreshing spring water.
The problem was however, Laodicea was midway between these two cities. So when the hot mineral water from Hierapolis met the cold mountain spring water from Colossae in the vicinity of Laodicea and mixed together… what was once of great benefit, became good for nothing.
Good for nothing because the water was no longer hot, so there was no point in sitting it. Good for nothing because it now contained all kinds of minerals which made it nauseating to drink.
With this historical understanding what Jesus meant by “hot” and “cold” comes to the foreground.
Jesus’ reference to Hot and Cold are both good! He saying to the church in Laodicea, “I wish you were like the hot water of Hierapolis”, (healing, restorative, comforting to those racked with spiritual ache, pain, and disease) “Or I wish that you were like the cold water of Colossae.” (Cold water is wonderful; it’s refreshing; it gives a new burst of energy to the weary. It’s uplifting, encouraging, revitalizing to those who have been spiritually beaten up by the world).
“But you’re not! You’re neither. You’re lukewarm!” You make no positive difference whatsoever in the lives of hurting, broken and lost people.
“Therefore, I am about to spit you out of my mouth” – “You make me sick! Why? Because hurting and broken people live all around you and you are doing nothing about it! You just don’t care!” This is a severe and devastating rebuke, for the Lord is not just displeased with this church…he’s sickened by them! But he is also warning them that his discipline that will shortly come upon them. For the act of spitting seems to suggest that he will remove them as a church from their community! The church will die off; it will cease to exist as a church.
I can see his point, can’t you? “I put you in this community for a reason and that was to make a difference within it but if you’re not going do that then what’s the point of even existing as a church in that community? You might as well not even be there? So I guess I’ll just take you home!”
And you know what? He did. The church of Laodicea no longer exists as a church!
But there is a bright spot here. A little ray of sunshine. Because at the end of his words to the churches, Jesus makes this extraordinary statement in verse 20 of Revelations 3, “Here I am! (Behold) I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into and eat with him, and he with me.”
The final chapter for the church in Laodicea had not yet been written, because Jesus calls on his church to repent. He still affirms his love for them, “those I love, I rebuke and discipline.”
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” There’s still time; the situation is not hopeless. Because look, “I’m here, I’m standing at the door and knocking”:
From that remarkable statement, one can find…
- An Encouragement: The fact that Jesus is standing at the door of Laodicea ought to tell us that he’s not given up on them. He still loves them and wants to have fellowship with them. He desires to heal them; use them; and walk with them. My encouragement for all the struggling churches out there, let me just tell you: Jesus has not given up on you! But have you, given up on him? But also, there’s…
- A Conviction: Because, where is Jesus in relation to this church in this word picture? Well, he’s not inside the church; sitting exalted and being worshipped for who he is; for the blood and the agony that he went through to make these people his church. No, where is he? He’s standing outside the door of the church, knocking, politely requesting entry to his own church. He’s requesting entry into the church he bought and paid for with his own blood! Do you not see the tragic irony of that? That Jesus would stand, as it were out in the cold, gently rapping on the door of the church that he himself paid for? How shameful is that? How shameful is it for us to deny entry to the one who is the owner of the house we live in? Are we not convicted by that?
Yet we can also see the beauty of who Jesus is in this one declarative statement. We learn, Jesus is the perfect gentleman; He does not force his way into your life, nor even into his own church. He’s not going to kick down the door of your heart to let him back in. No, he’s going to simply, quietly knock on the door.
What’s that sound? Do you hear that church? Somebody’s at the door…who is it? It’s Jesus. What are you going to do? Let him stand outside on the porch gently knocking on wood? Or will you allow him entry, and let him clean up the mess you’ve made?
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock!”
What will you do when you hear that sound? There are only two things you can do at that moment…and you know what they are.