It’s a church filled with joyous expectation of Jesus’ soon appearing to take His saints home to glory.
It’s a church that concentrates its efforts upon appealing to the lost and increasing attendance on Sunday mornings.
In short, it’s a tale of two types of churches that one finds in our world today.
Revelation 3:7-22 describes churches in the towns of Philadelphia and Laodicea. In Jesus’ letters to them, we discover aspects of each that help us understand the differences between these assemblies of believers today.
On any given Sunday, a casual observer might not notice any difference between these two types. The worship and preaching will sound identical at first. Over time, however, discrepancies become apparent.
What, then, sets apart churches more closely aligned with the ancient body of believers in Philadelphia from the Laodicea-leaning ones?
The Focus
The first distinguishing aspect between the two is the differing focus; one tends to be more inward while the other exhibits one that’s outward more than upon themselves.
In Revelation 3:17, we read Jesus’ words regarding the church at Laodicea:
“For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”
Among the other things that we notice from this verse, we recognize that the focus of this church is upon itself. Their economic prosperity had blinded the leaders to their spirituality poverty. They were proud of their affluence and assume that numbers imply God’s blessing and approval.
The tone of seeker-friendly churches tends to be self-serving; they frequently emphasize what they are doing. Like the one in ancient Laodicea, they often showcase their achievements. Church membership signifies commitment to its programs and ministries.
Commitment to the local church trumps devotion to Jesus. The church comes first, Jesus a distant second/
Jesus, when describing the church at Philadelphia, says this in 3:8a:
“I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut.”
Churches that mirror the one in Philadelphia pursue open doors even when such opportunities take the limelight away from themselves. In Jesus’ message to this body of believers, we see both an outward and upward focus.
The Words of Scripture
While both types of churches typically display a high regard for the integrity and inerrancy of Scripture in their statements of faith that one finds on their websites, there’s a critical difference in how they treat all the words of Scripture.
Notice the emphasis on words in Jesus’ opening comments to the church at Laodicea:
“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.’”
It’s been my experience that many Laodicean-leaning churches cherish the words of the Bible until it comes to the matter of future things. Many of them adhere to replacement theology, which relies on the spiritualization of the words found in biblical prophecies regarding the future of Israel. They overlook what the words of Scripture actually reveal; they tell of God’s glorious restoration of a kingdom for the descendants of Jacob during Jesus’ thousand-year reign on the earth during which time He will sit on the throne of David (Luke 1:30-33).
In other instances, the pastors of such churches remain quiet about the blessed hope of the Gospel even though they believe in a pre-Tribulation Rapture and God’s future restoration of Israel.
Notice the sharp contrast that we see in Jesus’ commendations of the Philadelphian church:
“I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”(Revelation 3:8b)
“Because you have kept my word about patient endurance . . .” (Revelation 3:10a)
The word for “kept” in the above verses can carry with it the sense of guarding something so as to keep it in the state that one finds it. Leaders in these churches retain the words of the Bible in the state that they find them, words that signify Jesus’ imminent appearing to catch us up to meet Him in the air and His thousand-year reign during what we refer to as the “millennium.”
It’s to this church that Jesus’ says “I am coming soon” or quickly as the word suggests in the Greek (Revelation 3:11a). This promise of the Rapture brings us much needed reassurance in these perilous times.
It’s in the words of Scripture that we find hope amid the perils of our day. It’s the glorious hope that’s embedded in the Gospel.
The Place of Jesus
Jesus stands on the outside of the Laodicean church knocking at its door (3:20).
Many seeker-friendly churches today worship Jesus with music and praise, but He remains on the outside in many ways. Attendance numbers trump feeding the feeding flock with the meat of God’s Word so that believers grow spiritually and learn how “to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:14).
When planning for the future, its leaders often fail to heed the wisdom found in James 4:13-17.
Jesus’ message to the Philadelphian church reveals a much different story regarding the place of the Savior. He offers no criticism of this church, but instead provides loving encouragement. It’s a message of praise for believers who clearly love Him. He’s the reason for their endurance as they patiently wait for Jesus’ appearing amid scoffing and distressful circumstances.
Notice the promise Jesus makes to this ancient body of saints and and by inference to us as well:
“Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” (Revelation 3:10-11a).
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus’ promise in the above verse applies to living saints? There’s no need to assure the “dead in Christ” that they will miss the “hour of trial” that everyone living in the world in the last days will experience.
Jesus’ glorious promise applies to all born-again believers. All those in Christ will be caught up in the air to meet the Savior, exactly as Paul describes in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. After that, the Day of the Lord wrath will descend upon the earth-dwellers that Jesus refers to in the above verse (see also 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11).
EyeSight
Perhaps the greatest need for current leaders of Laodicean-leaning churches today is “salve to anoint” their “eyes” (Revelation 3:18).
Pastor and Bible commentator John MacArthur wrote this regarding the need for sight on the part of the ancient Laodicean church:
“Though they prided themselves on their allegedly superior spiritual knowledge, the Laodiceans were in fact spiritually stone blind. Blindness represents lack of understanding and knowledge of spiritual truth.”[i]
His words not only ring true regarding this late first century AD church, but speak to today’s lack of insight into the prophetic texts of the Bible. So many pastors today fail to recognize the signs of the times, which reveal that that we live in the last moments before the Rapture and the start of the seven-year Tribulation.
We live in a world filled with continuing threats of a nuclear World War III, warnings of catastrophic food shortages for 2023, and dire forecasts of continued soaring inflation for the basic necessities of life, which cause many to wonder how they will be able to both heat their homes and put food on the table for their families at the same time this winter.
This is not a time to shy away from proclaiming what the Bible says about our glorious hope that starts with Jesus’ return for us, His beloved bride.
It’s the true state of our world that scares people (or at least it should). Biblical prophecy, on the other hand, both comforts us and prepares us for what lies ahead.
The Bible said that the world would look exactly as it does today in the days leading up to the Tribulation period. By faith we see His hand at work even during this time of lawlessness. We glorify God as we recognize that He remains sovereignly in control of history and of the nations. And most encouraging, He controls our future as well.
As we witness a multitude of signs telling us that the world is right on the edge of seeing the fulfillment of all that John wrote about in Revelation 6-19, we magnify the greatness of the name of Jesus. The book of Revelation glorifies Christ from beginning to end. (see my post: Don’t Mess With the Book of Revelation).
My heart often breaks for believers who sit in churches never hearing about the glorious news regarding our future.
But They Faithfully Preach the Gospel
Many will protest my criticism of seeker-friendly churches by citing that its leaders often proclaim a pure Gospel in spite of teaching errant views or remaining silent regarding future things.
I agree that it’s wonderful that many seeker-friendly pastors proclaim the true saving message of the cross and people are coming to the Lord through their preaching.
However, as I have written in the past, those that divorce our “blessed hope” from their proclamation of the Gospel err in at least two ways:
They must ignore or gloss over many biblical texts that speak to our glorious hope in Jesus’ appearing.
They fail to prepare the saints under their care for what might lie ahead before Jesus comes for us and God’s wrath descends upon the world
This is the tale of two churches.
Though most do not check all the boxes of the Laodicean church that Jesus describes in Revelation 3, the seeker-friendly churches of our day exhibit many of its characteristics. My primary criticism is that more often than not, they fail to emphasize the glorious, amazing, and over-the-top joyous message of Jesus’ appearing to take us up to glory.
Those that follow the lead of the Philadelphian church in today’s world hold tightly to Jesus’ words regarding His return for us and persevere in their watchfulness of His soon appearing.
My book, The Triumph of the Redeemed-An eternal Perspective that Calms Our Fears in Perilous Times, is available on Amazon. It’s all about how a strong biblical foundation in our glorious hope equips us to face a world ablaze in wickedness, deception, and lawlessness.
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[i] John MacArthur, Jr., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Revelation 1-11, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), p. 139.