The Letter to the Eighth Church

 I taught on the seven churches of Revelation three weeks ago. I posted my outline here then. 

These were messages for real churches in real cities, not metaphorical problems and not, though some smart people will disagree with me, the universal church at different eras during the last two millenia. 

I've been thinking about what the eighth letter, to us today, would be like. Or maybe I should say the eighth and ninth letter. One would be to the American and perhaps Western church, and one would be to the church in the 40/40 window, the Southern Hemisphere, or the developing world. The church in Afghanistan, Iraq, China, Viet Nam, Iran, India, and so on. 

The one for us:

“To the angel of the church in the United States write:

These are the words of him who was, is, and will be. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being generous, but you are tight-fisted. You have a reputation for being leaders, yet you follow the world like sheep. You have a reputation for loving, but put limits on who and when you love. You have a reputation for being a country of faith (all the Gallup polls say so), but you are proud and pride gets in the way of real faith. You have a reputation for knowing the Word of God, yet you exchange possession of copies of the Bible for studying and committing it to memory, faith, and life.

² Wise up! Loosen up your purse strings. Discern. Turn away from power from short-lived human sources. Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. ³ Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wise up, you will continue to lose credibility and influence in the global church. While that will be one deserved punishment, something worse will come. You will lose intimacy with God on a personal level and the power of obedience on the public level.

⁴ Yet you have many people in the U.S. who have not soiled their clothes or consciences. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. ⁵ 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. ⁶ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.