The church of Sardis is a warning to all of our churches as we pursue growth, numbers and a thriving community. In this post, I aim to draw our attention to our hearts, and who we are really serving.

‘To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Revelation 3:1-6

The church in Sardis was known for being an alive church. It had a large congregation, they were most likely a busy church with loads of different activities, they sang well and they probably preached the gospel, yet Christ calls them dead and commands them to wake up. The worrying thing is this can be true for so many churches; maybe those ones we idolise, maybe even our own church. We are so obsessed with doing things; being seen by the world, being active; being the best, that we lose sight of the most important wonderful thing there is.

What did the church in Sardis lose? It appears that they lost the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. They no longer lived for His glory and became so focused on everything else that their eyes have been diverted. This is sadly the case for many churches in our land, they may boast the numbers and much activity, but once we start looking a bit deeper, something is missing.

There is some hope, there is a comfort in this is the term ‘wake up’, they are not a lost cause, but they need to be reminded and their hearts need to realise what they have lost. Our churches need to wake up, to rediscover the gospels, to rediscover Christ. To want bigger congregations, to be busier is a good thing and we should pray for this, but never, ever at the expense of our devotion to Jesus, His word, and His glory.

Try and avoid the question, how big is your church, or how busy is your church? Rather ask, how much in love with Christ is your church? A change of attitude is required, so let us all be careful of idolising that church down the road, and be careful of being so focused on growth that you miss what matters, the desire to love, honour and serve the risen Saviour. As Cowper put it wonderfully (although for the benefit of this post, the I’s are changed to we’s!)

O for a closer walk with God,
a calm and heavenly frame,
a light to shine upon the road
that leads us to the Lamb!

Where is the blessedness
We knew when first we sought the Lord?
Where is the soul refreshing view
of Jesus and his Word?