A Lopsided Trade

Football season is back, and as we enjoy the rivalry and effort of teams to reach the pinnacle of their sport, we also see similar competition among the managers of fantasy football teams, though perhaps with a bit less physical effort!  Most of the efforts of fantasy football managers to improve their chances of making the playoffs involve trading their players with other teams, hoping that adjusting a position or two will be what puts them over the top.  Most of the time these trades bring value to both teams, but on occasion there will be a rather lopsided trade that makes one wonder why it was accepted, or even proposed.  One team receives a much better deal than the other.  In Revelation 3:14-22, we see a church that made a trade that seemed to bring initial profit yet would cost in things that really matter: those things that bring eternal benefits. 

In this passage, Christ gives John a message to the church of the Laodiceans.  The phrasing of the introduction is interesting, as every other church mentioned in this and the previous chapter are introduced as a church in a particular city, such as “the church of Ephesus” or “the church in Thyatira.”  But Jesus doesn’t say “the church in Laodicea,” He says, “church of the Laodiceans.” Why would this be?  This is the only one of the seven churches mentioned in Revelation 2 and 3 that is introduced this way.  Perhaps it is because this church had traded ownership.  This was no longer Christ’s church in Laodicea; rather, they had left Christ at the door knocking (v. 20) and had become a church belonging to the people.  They were no longer following the headship of Christ, but instead were blindly chasing riches, status, and self-sufficiency, not knowing that this made them …wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked (v. 17). 

When a church seeks acceptance by everyone around them, they succumb to seeking what the world values rather than what God values. It ceases to become God’s church, and becomes the people’s church, little better than a community center, club, or lodge.  This trade causes the church to lose its desire and excitement for God, and its work for God becomes a tepid, tasteless beverage that has …a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof (II Tim. 3:5). Picture coffee, either iced or hot, that has sat and become room temperature: it has the appearance of what it should be, yet it has lost its power to give pleasure to whoever owns it.  There is no zeal, no fervor, no conviction of sin, no striving for souls; instead perhaps some charity work, some community improvement. Christ is left standing outside the door of what was His church, knocking to come in.  This is far from God’s plan for His church.  God no longer wants a church that has become lukewarm (v. 16), yet despite this, in His love and mercy, God gave them a remedy: repentance from their ways and zeal for God (v. 19). Christ called them to recognize the poor value of their trade and invite him back in. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:  if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.  Let us strive for zeal for Christ’s cause, and a clean heart walking in the way of the Lord, so that our church keeps Jesus as the head and enjoy the sweet fellowship that comes from submission to Him.