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Two
"Rich" Churches
Things were not going well for the church in Smyrna -- from a worldly
perspective, that is. In the letter addressed to them in Revelation 2,
mention is made of their tribulation and how they had suffered at the
hands of some Jews. Things weren’t to get any better soon, either. Some
of them were about to be thrown into prison because of their faith --
perhaps, even executed. They were an impoverished people, financially
speaking. (It doesn’t appear that they had heard of the ‘health and
wealth gospel’ we hear preached so often today, does it?)
Yet the Lord looked at His people in Smyrna and said, “But you
are rich” (2:8ff). Hmmm....
About 100 miles away the church at Laodicea was doing great -- or
so they thought. They were rich and had everything they needed -- so
they said. Yet the Lord looked at them and told them they were “wretched,
miserable, poor…” (3:14ff).
"How can this be?" someone asks.
Obviously the Lord doesn’t look at riches the way we do. We can
have all this world’s goods we desire, live in luxury -- even meet with
'saints' in a beautiful building -- yet if we are “lukewarm” in
the Lord’s service (as was Laodicea), we are spiritually poor and
without Jesus’ approval.
On the other hand, we can be “rich,” even while living in squalor
or rotting in a dungeon. If we have the Lord’s approval and,
consequently, look forward to a “crown of life,” we are rich
indeed!
In our materialistic culture, we need to continually reevaluate
our thinking about riches. Material wealth is fine, though it comes with
many weighty responsibilities (1 Timothy 6:17-19). What truly matters is
whether or not we are spiritually rich.
--Mike Noble
“But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be
required of you; then whose will those things be which you have
provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich
toward God” (Luke 12:20-21).
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