Rich Church Poor Christian!

 

For you say “I’m rich I have become wealthy and need nothing and you don’t realize that you are wretched pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”. Revelation 3:17

The description of the Church of Laodicea is the reality of most Churches today. The city of Laodicea was one of the three cities in the Lycus river valley, wealthy and famous for three primary characteristics - Finances, Fashion and Pharmaceuticals. 

1. Finances: It was a center for banking and finance, known through the Roman Empire for its wealth and financial power.
2. Fashion: It was renowned for the soft, black wool produced there. This wool was considered a luxury item, which was sought after for clothing and rugs. Laodicea was the center of fashion in its day. The newest styles appeared here first.
3. Pharmaceuticals: There was a famous medical school in Laodicea which produced medicines that was sold all over the Roman empire.

It is registered in history that the people of this city prided upon their financial independence that they refused Roman financial aid from Caesar after an earthquake, which devastated the city in 61 A.D.  The Church of Laodicea was much influenced by this prideful mindset of luxury and self-contentment. Laodicean Church blindly considered themselves to be  the perfect Church. They were wealthy, powerful and felt they had all they needed in terms of position, possessions and power. They pitifully thought they have arrived to the perfect point of the Church's existence. There are many Churches similar to this who think reaching the state of perfect contentment with respect to wealth, sufficient resources and lustrous ambience is all that matters in Christendom. Having a grand architectural outlook and elite, exclusive group of people attending the Church are the dream of most of the Pastors.  Ray Ortlund states this hard truth this way, “When our Churches succeed because they are really well-run businesses, and the Pastor is, in reality, a prop on the stage, then it isn’t ministry anymore; it is brilliantly packaged crowd control. And Judgement is not too far off.”.

Christendom has grievously errored in Christ's definition of Church. Wretchedly, many Churches are following the ideology of Judas who thought he had a better plan and improvised idea of Jesus’ teachings. In the book of John 12, it is recorded that when Mary poured the pound of perfume which was pure and expensive to anoint the feet of Jesus, it is because she saw Christ as the final destination to man’s pursuit of finding God. But Judas saw it as a pure waste of resources. He thought he can use the name of Jesus and His ideology to bring money into the paradigm and do things that can be amplified and spoken about. Judas remarked in Verse 4 “Why wasn’t the perfume sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”. The next verse immediately clarifies his intention as, “He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief…”

It is definitely not wrong to follow the Holistic Church model where it demands social intervention, vibrant evangelism and structured social work as part of the model, but it will be definitely be a poor Church when it adds business solutions as part of its existence. Jesus vehemently condemned when He saw the temple becoming a business. He said, “..but you are making it a den of thieves!” (Matthew 21:13). Somehow, we think we need to find money, make money using people and His name to fulfil Christ's mission on this earth. They failed to realize they are disappointingly wrong and confined to condemnation. In reality, we use God and people for personal wealth and fame.

The dilemma of who owns the Church:

Every Church strives to become a branded exclusive township. Its leaders assume they have established the Church and it belongs to them and their denomination. Little do Churches realize that Jesus died for the Church and purchased it with His own blood as it says Acts 20:28. He builds it and sustains it as said in Matthew 16:18 and Ephesians 2:19-22. The Church exists for His glory. We are for Him alone! Our duty is to preach Him, praise Him, promote Him and publish Him. This is not your Church; this is not my Church! It is Christ's Church. We don't need people like Diotrephes as mentioned in 3 John 9. We must keep the Church and the ministry centered in Him. Beware! if you resemble the Church of Laodicea; rich and wealthy but poor and naked.

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