“Bridging The Gap Between Reputation And Reality!”(Rev.3:1-6).
“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
In 1929, a revival movement started in Rwanda and swept across East Africa like a tornado. Sixty-five years later, and in about just 100 days, about a million people lost their lives in what is now known as the Rwandan genocide.
What happened between 1929 and 1994 that a country that had witnessed a great revival slumped into the worst recorded genocide in modern times?
The Reformation, the founding of Religious Orders, revivals, and even schism are initiated by those who respond to the message to the church in Sardis.
Indeed, the Protestant motto of the Reformed tradion states, “Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda” – “the church reformed, always reforming.”
When there is a wide gap between reputation and reality, there must be a necessity to “wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die. Remember…what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent.”
Revivals and constant reforming limit the number of candidates that a church with a reputation far removed from reality recruits for hell!
The Sardis church may have a reputation that does not match its reality, yet she has a “few people…who have not soiled their clothes.” If we bridge the gap of individual reputation and reality, we too will be dressed in white, and the Lord will never blot our names in the book if life.
If you have ears, hear this and return to the LORD.
Weekend prayer: Holy Spirit, help us to work on our realities to match our reputations. Amen!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.
02/08/2025.