By Jay Kelley Austin Street Church of Christ
One axiom that is often heard is “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” I think there is a great deal of truth in that, although we should be careful not to go too far with it.
The wants and needs of people don’t really change much, although the technology to satisfy those desires might change, as will the cultural view of some methods of satisfaction.
It remains, however, that people themselves haven’t changed much over time. That is what makes the second and third chapters of Revelation so interesting. Certainly, the entire book is interesting and the Austin Street church of Christ is currently doing a series on that book in our Sunday morning worship. The second and third chapters, however, are particularly interesting to me not because of some great visions, but because the Lord is speaking to congregations of His people.
These are real churches, full of real people, living and dying in real time in first century Asia.
A look at historical sketches of these churches, however, reveals that they are not much different than many of our churches today.
The first church addressed by Jesus is Ephesus, the first and greatest city of Asia Minor. It possessed the greatest harbor in Asia and great caravans came from the east to ship their goods on to Rome.
This made Ephesus one of the wealthiest cities in the world of that day. In addition, it was a free city – allowed to take care of its own affairs, including coining money and judicial independence. Games were held regularly in Ephesus as in many cities.
As a port city, the population was diverse and not always law abiding.
The church is commended by Jesus as an active, hardworking and persistent group. They were consistently intolerant of false religion. It is interesting that their intolerance was praised while the tolerance of other congregations was condemned.
They had, however, a fault. They had “left their first love.” They were just going through the motions. They are told to repent and return to their first love.
The second church to be addressed was Smyrna, a center of both the Roman cult of the Emperor and first century Jewish hatred of Christianity. They are described as afflicted, poor (but rich beyond belief) and slandered.
Persecution is coming, they are told, which will end in the death of some of them. They are told to be faithful unto death and promised the crown of life.
The third church is Pergamum. It was the capital of the region until Ephesus took its place. A center of Roman government, intellectualism and pagan practices.
They are loyal, faithful and longsuffering, but they have a fault – they are tolerant of compromise. They are told to repent or those with whom they are compromising with face the Lord’s wrath.
It is again, interesting, that the Lord’s wrath is directed to whom the church’s evangelistic efforts should have been directed. A reminder of our purpose, I think.
Fourth comes Thyatira, a wealthy city dealing in purple dye. In that day, purple dye was extremely difficult and complex to manufacture and was therefore only used by the fabulously wealthy.
As a wealth city with many trade guilds, it was also a polytheistic and idolatrous city. One who could not worship a particular god could not work in that guild, leaving may Christians unable to ply a trade.
They are commended for their hard work, caring attitude, faithful daring, strong ministry fous and steadfastness, but there is a problem.
They were tolerant of worldliness in their midst. They are told not to fall for satanic lies and to hold on to what they know to be the truth. The fifth city on the list is Sardis, a dead city that hasn’t realized it yet. Sardis was built on an “impregnable” hill, but was captured many times. A wealthy city, the people were proud and arrogant, but also ignorant of the reality of the weakness created by their immorality. That is the church in Sardis as well. They are not dying, they are dead. No works, no faith, no ability. They are told to wake up and hold on to what little faithfulness remains. They are also told that Jesus is coming in their case to judge them! Philadelphia in Asia Minor was a poor, unnoticed city, built on an earthquake fault and subject to repeated disaster. By the time of the writing of Revelation, the city was dependent on Roman financial aid for survival. The church in that city was also poor, but they were commended for their work and their faithfulness. There is no condemnation. They are rather told they are protected from the persecution they are experiencing. Laodicea is the final church Jesus addresses.
The city was on the same fault as Philadelphia, but was so wealthy due to a medical establishment based on mineral baths in the area that they had never required outside aid.
Laodicea had also become a center of the fashion industry and banking.
The church has no commendation. When Jesus says, “I know your deeds” it isn’t a complement. They are lukewarm – no zeal, no fire, no desire. They think their wealth has made them exempt from any needs, physical or spiritual.
They are told to seek the most valuable thing, a right relationship with Christ, rather than the trappings of worldly wealth that will go to naught.
I can see in these churches a few of the congregations of which I have been a part over the years. I’m sure you can as well. That is part of the purpose of the letter. If we see ourselves or our congregation in one of these churches, we need to do what Jesus told them to do!