A Dead Church?

“And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write… thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.” —Revelation 3:1

The church in Sardis was alive in name only, but in reality it was a “dead church.”  That sounds like an oxymoron—A dead church. Those two words should never be linked together.  That is like saying a black light, or jumbo shrimp, or ill health, or pretty ugly, or old news, or government intelligence.  Those tandems just don’t go together!

How can a church be dead when it’s head is the resurrected and living Christ? The church ought to pulsate with the very life of God!  Yet, our cities are filled with dead churches.  I heard a story of paramedics who were summoned to a church where a church member supposedly died during a service.  The paramedics had to carry out three different church members before they found the one who was actually dead!

Most biologists agree there are seven or eight indicators of living things: Energy; reproduction; stimuli (sensitivity); growth; cell structure; adaptation; balance; and organization.  While the church is not the subject of biology, it is a spiritual organism. Therefore the church should bare some semblance of these life indicators.  Is the church energetic?  Does it reproduce itself? Does it show sensitivity? Is it growing? Does it have structure among its members? Can it adapt to changes? Is it balanced and organized?

Many churches are “playing at church” while others are “having church.”  Let’s have church, and not play church.  May it never be said of your church, “thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.”