The Dead Church of Sardis

June 8, 2025

Jesus’ letter to Sardis Church must have been difficult to receive for almost all of its members.  Sardis Church had a reputation in the community for being alive, but Jesus knew this was inaccurate, a result of people looking at their outward appearances.  He rebuked them and called them “dead”, meaning almost all of them were apathetic Christians: half-hearted, complacent, going through the motions.  Furthermore, their works were displeasing to God.  They were a church with dead people, and dead works.  Jesus commanded them to wake up, strengthen one another, remember and obey what they had received (and forgotten), and repent, or else Jesus would come against them unexpectedly, and discipline them.  Fortunately for Sardis Church, all was not lost.  Jesus knew there were “a few” (not many at all) vibrant Christians in Sardis Church that had remained spiritually alive, devoted followers of Jesus.  Jesus praised these few for resisting the pull to follow the sinful culture of the city, and He considered them worthy.  Jesus promised to walk with them, clothe them in white, protect their names in the book of life, and claim them as His own.  The timeless theological principle:  Jesus desires and blesses vibrant Christians, and will discipline apathetic Christians who do not wake up and repent.  The application for us today is straightforward:  strive to be a vibrant Christian, and ensure your firm commitment to Jesus is contagious.

Revelation 3:1-6