Jesus Loves to Speak to His Churches
Chapters two and three of the book of Revelation are filled with leadership direction for the churches found in seven cities of Asia Minor. Let’s take a look at how Jesus loves them well, and consider how Jesus might have a word for our local Hubs of churches in the Alliance today. How strong are our listening skills? “Let everyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Forged from the revival fires of Acts 19, through Paul’s third missionary journey work in Ephesus (A.D. 53-57), a whole regional network of new churches developed. A dozen followers of John the Baptist get baptized into Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit so that soon a great number of new disciples of Jesus are established in this prominent city of 300,000 people. Healing and deliverance from evil spirits abound, and eventually about $5 million dollars of witchcraft material gets burned. Paul trains other church planting leaders for over two years and the sending capacity of the Ephesus churches has this effect on an entire region: “…so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.”
Perhaps ten years later, Jesus speaks through a vision with John the apostle to the seven communities of churches founded during the Acts 19 Ephesus revival. Jesus calls for revitalization of these established churches as they link up in their community and form gospel partnerships. Jesus continues to be intimately involved in building His prevailing church in the face of enemy opposition. (Matthew 16:18)
I find it far less theologically compelling and practical to read Revelation 2-3 as some grand categorization of church history from then till now, or a description of ‘seven types” of churches. The “first hearers” of these words from the apostle John would not have imagined such lofty schemes. They were actually groups of churches in the locality that Jesus addresses, real Christians like us, getting real-time direction for their gospel work in their community.
The message of the resurrected Jesus to these “hubs” of churches shows a pattern of five elements:
Vision of Jesus as Lord
Commendation
Correction
Assignment
Alignment
Reward
Let’s consider a similar pattern for how Jesus might speak to our churches today as we form missional partnerships in our “church of the city” or locality.
Vision of Jesus as Lord
In every case in Revelation 2-3, Jesus first draws our eyes up to himself, to gaze on his glory, his nearness, his self-sacrificing love. There is a unique revelation of Jesus to each community, consistent with the whole of Scripture, but an emphasis of Jesus as Lord that helps prepare the church for action on what follows. For us today, would Jesus emphasize a certain title or capacity he has that would shape action in your context, like Jesus the creator of all things, the One who reconciles all things, the Savior of the world, the ascended Lord with all authority in every sphere of heaven and earth, the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit, or maybe the coming Judge of all the living and the dead?
Commendation
With five of the seven communities of churches in Revelation 2-3, Jesus gives praise and encouragement for what is good among them. He names their strength in sound doctrine, resilience in the face of cultural opposition, and increasing metrics in love and good deeds. We sometimes call this asset mapping, where you name the strengths and abilities already present because of the gospel in your churches. What do we have to build on that is solid, that we might be able to multiply, that might become a transferable strength into new territory or challenges?
Correction
With a different set of five of the seven communities of churches, Jesus speaks a word of discipline to those he loves. Repentance, as a change of mindset and direction, is needed now. He addresses drifting away from intimacy, abiding, and a first love relationship with Him. He corrects false teachings and sexual immorality in churches. He challenges their sleepiness and sloppiness of mission results. How might Jesus speak to us today in our context with high invitation and high challenge? Where would a change of mind and direction be urgent and important for our churches?
Assignment
To a lukewarm church in Laodicea, Jesus gives them an assignment to open the door of hospitality and host Jesus at their table…Jesus did a lot of good work over meals in the gospels. To the church in Smyrna, Jesus says persecution and testing is coming for a period of ten days, and they need to be faithful through it. What might the Lord say to our churches in a local gospel partnership? Address an urgent community need? See the new birth rate surpass the natural birth rate in your area? Shift from worship attendance toward disciples who make disciples to the fourth generation?
Alignment
With every church, Jesus emphasizes a key relationship of alignment with what the Holy Spirit says to the churches. In John 16:12-15, Jesus tells us of this role of the Holy Spirit the night before he dies on the cross. “…the Spirit of Truth…will guide you into all truth…he will speak only what he hears…by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.” Since the Holy Spirit also inspired every verse of Scripture, the Spirit of Truth will not contradict the special revelation of God there, but stay aligned with the eternal Word of God. The Holy Spirit often uses Scripture directly to guide us, illuminating a particular message for our context. How is our skill level growing as workers “who do not need to be ashamed and who correctly handle the word of truth”? Are our decisions and meetings filled with open Bibles and open hearts that put into practice God’s Word?
Reward
In every case, the Lord motivates his churches with promises and incentives for obedience. To the overcomers, Jesus will give the right to eat of the tree of life in paradise with God. Overcomers will not be hurt at all by the second death and become a pillar in the “temple of my God”. Jesus promises gifts and rewards like hidden manna, new names, authority over the nations, and acknowledgement before the Father and the angels of God. Jesus is paying attention to our progress. He expects we will be overcomers like himself, and is preparing great reward for us in his Kingdom forever.