Are we like the Church at Laodicea?

If you haven’t read the previous post “Are we too pleasant to each other (at times)” then please do go back and read that one before reading this one. It gives an indicator of where the heart is when writing this one, an introduction if you like 🙂

So, are we anything like the church at Laodicea? (Revelation 3 vs 14-22)
Our knee jerk reaction to that question is almost certainty no. After all who thinks that they are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked? (vs 17)
Not me we can all cry out together in one voice.

Well now we have that sorted out shall I just end this post here and say nothing more on the subject…
No. I do think there is a little bit more to look into and to be said about this.

I think that the first thing we need to look at is who were the Church at Laodicea?
What did they look like?

I believe that the short version is that they were wealthy, prosperous and self sufficient. After an earthquake they refused Rome’s offer of help to rebuild, insisting that they could take care of things themselves.

It sounds as if, by and large, that it was a good place to live.
Wealthy, prosperous and self sufficient to boot. Sure there might well have been a poor area but in general life was good for people.

Does that sound anything like how we live today??

Today in the modern society we are wealthy.
If you are reading this then you have the resources to do just that. You probably have a roof over your head (owned or rented) and probably have food available to eat. We are blessed.

We may well have a lot more in common with the church at Laodicea than we first thought we did. We could possibly even say that we are in a better position than the church at Laodicea, with modern technology and medicine to add to the mix.

So we are very much so blessed, just like the church of Laodicea.

So the next question is why did God bring such a tough message to a church which looked as if things were generally going OK?

You can almost hear the church of Laodicea’s knee jerk response to God’s message.
All the things you say we need, well God, we already have them…???  Don’t we ???

God looks deeper than we do though!

God knew they were wealthy and all that they were doing.

As they were wealthy they might even of had some measures they could point to and say, look at what we do to help others, what ever they may have been. 
God would have seen and known about it all.

So WHY does he bring the message that he does?
How can he say that they are  wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked

Did God get it wrong???   A resounding NO to that last one.

God see’s all and knows all. It still leaves the question of why did God bring the message that He did?

Perhaps we should try to see this from God’s side, if we can but try and obtain a glimpse of his point of view.

So what did God see when he looked at the church of Laodicea?

I believe that he saw a church who could do better!
I believe he saw a church who needed to be shaken up in order to be lifted up to a new high.

In short I believe that God saw the level that the church was at but also saw the level they could reach (which was much higher) and knew that they needed a tough message to reach it.

It could possibly be that they had become complacent, because of their success and we’re relying on themselves too much rather than on God.

Is this sounding like it could be more relevant to us than we would like it to be?

How much do we rely on ourselves rather than coming to our Father for his help and guidance?
Are their times when we follow our own instincts rather than following Father’s prompting and guidance?

Saul followed his own thinking in Samuel chapter 15 and it didn’t work out too we’ll for him. As I read it just recently I couldn’t help but think that he was blind to what God wanted. (Have a read of it and see if you think likewise.)

Do we suffer from that same blindness?

The problem with the message when I look at it in this way is that, I could think that it always applies to me.
You see no mater how good I can get to, there is always going to be the next level to reach for.
So is Father always saying to me that I’m “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked”?

I don’t think that Father is constantly saying that to us like a broken record. He is our Loving Father after all.
He’s not just waiting for us to take our first steps just to push us down again, as my older brother used to do to me when I was learning to walk. (He is only a year older than me, so was very little at the time 🙂 )

The question then becomes are we blind to the possibility that he could be saying it to us on any level?

Are we open he hear his voice to us regardless of where it will lead us?
Are we only open to hear the nice things Father has to say to us?
Or do we want to hear all that he has to say to us, not just only the pleasant things but also the tough messages?

As Father says in Revelation 3 vs 19 “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.”

Do we want to be counted as among those of whom he Loves?

If yes (and I hope it is very much so a yes to that one) then are we willing to hear his voice even when he brings a more challenging word?

Father help us all to hear you more clearly, to know your voice that much better and have a heart that is willing to follow you wherever you lead us.