“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”
Ephesians 5:11
This is one of those uncomfortable posts, but if you have been with me awhile, my blog is not short when it comes to this. What is most curious to me is how most pastors usually refer to the Church of Laodicea as a wake-up call to those who are playing church within the church.
Sardis (Revelation 3:1-3) looks to be in a worst state compared to Laodicea! Sardis appears to be a Christian, but this is what Jesus says of Sardis,
“I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.”
Such scary words to hear from Jesus. Another bad indicator of Sardis is that they are asleep and in desperate need of waking up. Some of those who belong to Sardis are those who do not hear from God, but actually take from other people and go as far as fabricate and assume experiences that are not their own. It is most unfortunate to see it coming from people who appear trustworthy.
“If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions.”
Galatians 6:3-4
There are those who dress up as Christians and prey on unsuspecting Christians who are new in the faith. Do not mix your noble goal of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ with false motives because it would indeed be a sad thing to labor in vain (Matthew 7:21-23).
There are people who are intent to play mind games. For the strangest reason, people (three different people do the same thing), click and unclick the same post on different days on repeat as if to make a statement. If a person had pure motives, a simple email to communicate would suffice.
There are those who participate in an aggressive campaign to grow their following to the extent that they go about mass-clicking on those who clearly hold to beliefs that compromise the very ones they claim to hold. This is disingenuous. Not only does this expose a manipulation tactic to make yourself known for a follow. Like Jesus Christ, He does not manipulate people to follow Him. Manipulation does not come from God. Yes, Jesus Himself told us to be shrewd as serpents (Matthew 10:16), but this does not mean Christians should become conniving and employ worldly tactics. No one likes being manipulated.
To the Christians who employ this tactic, ask yourself this question, how many people would truly come to hear your message and follow you without your manipulation? God grows the ministry in an organic fashion (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). Those who grow with manipulative tactics and desire too much too soon will be in for a rude awakening. God will not honor works that are done with selfish motives (James 3:14-16). As a word of caution,
“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”
Luke 12:48b
“It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14 This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
Ephesians 5:12-14
People are being constantly deceived and heading to a place where you don’t want your worst enemy to go. The worst thing is for those who claim the name of Jesus to be the ones doing the deliberate act of deceiving for a vapor of gain.
REPENT!
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”
Galatians 6:7-8
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