CHRISTIAN BOASTING IS A REAL SIGN OF A LAODICEAN ATTITUDE
Remember Christ is the Only One whose opinion counts, period. A congregation may perceive themselves as spiritual and strong, but only Jesus' evaluation is of consequence. Note that Jesus is the True Witness who faithfully reports on the real conditions of the churches.
Rev. 3:14, “Write to Laodicea, to the Angel of the church. God’s Yes, the Faithful and Accurate Witness…” (MKJV)
Note that they are spiritually blind. They cannot truly see their own spiritual condition.
Rev. 3: 15-17, “I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, ‘I’m rich, I’ve got it made, I need nothing from anyone,’ oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind beggar…” (MSG)
Not only are they blind, but they have the audacity to brag. They say, “God is so impressed with us that we need no improvements or growth.” Woe! Their self evaluation is in great error as judged by the God of creation. Jesus is rejecting this congregation on the mail route because they are not HOT for Christ nor a COLD uncalled group. He spits them out. No, this church is totally self deceived. They do not see themselves as lukewarm. This is why Christ condemns them so much. A church that knows they are lukewarm is not self deceived but likely would be trying to improve.
Verses 15-16, “Would that you were either cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am about to spew you out of my mouth.” (MNT)
Notice that their evaluation of themselves was that they had need of NOTHING. Can you imagine a more spiritually bankrupt perception? A true Christian should never, ever, never say or think that they have NEED OF NOTHING. This is self-deception and self-delusion to the extreme. It is a spiritually dangerous form of self-satisfaction and self-righteousness as well. They are self deceived hypocrites, a bit like many Pharisees. If one had asked them to compare themselves with the other six churches on the mail route they would say they were the best. They believed they were spiritually rich.
IF A CHURCH SAYS THAT THEY ARE THE BEST, THEY ARE LAODICEAN
It is reasonable for a church to say, “We believe we are balanced and striving for improvement and growth.” Hopefully, not like some clearly cultist groups. One sign of the Laodicean attitude within a church is the self-delusion. They do not see how a righteous God views them. Believing you are the best is dangerous, but it is even worse to assert that you are in need of nothing. Further, that your leader is a superstar. You perceive that you need nothing because you are so much better than the other church groups. That very thought is a definition of self-righteousness and self-delusion. If we openly label ourselves as the best, isn't that exactly what the Laodiceans thought?
Boasting about how good a church you are is unmistakably Laodicean. Asserting that you are too good to deal with other churches, is a Laodicean like attitude and cult leaders embrace such beliefs. Believers should never become complacent and believe that they are better than others.
Rev. 3:18, “I advise you to buy of me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich; and white raiment to clothe yourself, so that the shame of your nakedness may not be made manifest; and eye-salve to anoint your eyes, in order that you may see.”
We desperately need to see ourselves honestly. This group in Laodicea needed true spiritual wisdom, insight, perception and vision. They could not see anything accurately about themselves. Self-deception and self-righteousness is common to carnal human nature. The more carnal one is, the blinder they are!
Verse 19, “All whom I love I reprove and discipline; therefore be full of zeal and repent.”
All people who believe themselves superior to other believers need to repent. They need to repent and push hard for real zeal for Christ. Any church that states brazenly that they are the only real “Philadelphians” in all the world must repent of such an attitude. Some historians believe the Laodicean congregation did repent when they received Christ's letter from the Apostle John. All of us in this age who have any such attitudes also need to repent as well.
WHAT KIND OF MAN DOES GOD LOOK AT FAVORABLY
God prizes HUMILITY most of all. God looks for those who greatly fear to disobey and highly respect His words. Thinking highly of one's self is the exact opposite of what God requires. Satan had the attitude of high self-exaltation. Jesus will resist any such spirit in us.
Isaiah 66:2, “All these things my hand has made, and so all these things are mine, says the LORD. But this is the man to whom I will look, he that is humbleand contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.” (RSV)
If a church group believes that they have need of nothing, or are at least better than all the other groups, they are violating God's values. Paul warned against a spirit of vainglory. Thinking that we are better than others and are motivated to spend a lot of our efforts proving this to others is cultish.
Philippians 2:2, “Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves.” (KJV)
Doing or saying things to bask in our own goodness is a definition of vainglory. It reminds us of the Pharisee in Christ’s example of what to avoid:
Luke 18:9, “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others:” (RSV)
A truly humble Christian should run as far away from this spirit as they can. Efforts to show everyone that we are better than all others is so much like the Pharisees that it is scary. God wants us to remain humble above all else. We must remain fearful of the “we are better than all others” trap of Satan. We need to fear being led by leaders who keep telling us that we are the best. Misguided leaders tell us we are the only group that will be protected. It is a trap using fear to control us.
BE VERY WARY OF THOSE WHO USE FEAR TO MOTIVATE AND LEAD
I DO NOT MEAN THAT USING THE APPROPRIATE FEAR OF GOD IS WRONG. Clearly, teaching that we all need to fear God is appropriate. But God wants us to follow him also out of love, loyalty and faith in His goodness. However, some churches are motivated overwhelmingly by FEAR. Fear of the leadership and fear that if you are not on their list you will suffer. This peddling of fear is obviously not Godly. But leaders with power hungry motives know that fear works. One can see it in the horrors of Communism. They use terror to govern. But it exists strangely in some churches and it has happened in the past as well.
3 John 1:9-10, “I have written something to the church; but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge my authority. 10 So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, prating against me with evil words. And not content with that, he refuses himself to welcome the brethren, and also stops those who want to welcome them and puts them out of the church.”
The evil leader who was power hungry was clearly using FEAR OF BEING PUT OUT of the group to maintain his power. He cut out the true Apostle John's influence so he could rule. The Apostle John is stating that we should reject such evil leadership. These men are wicked. Diotrephes is labeled as evil and not to be followed. We hope those now living in fear can wake up and repent of worshiping man and overly following him and leave such misdirected congregations.
NEVER BECOME COMPLACENT OR SELF-SATISFIED
God wants us to follow Paul's example of pushing ourselves hard to guarantee success and fight self-satisfaction and carnality. Note the Apostle's comments about his own personal salvation.
Philippians 3:13, “Brethren, I count not myself to have laid hold of the prize; but one thing I do…14. I press on toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God…”
Paul is pushing for the high calling of God. We are called to be part of God's very family. We cannot afford to become complacent or self-deceived or self-satisfied. These all are Laodicean attitudes. God does not want us worried all the time. We can trust God. Through prayer and by staying humble we can be at peace and please God. He does not want brethren living in fear. We do not need to fear men. God want us to live in peace and press for growth.
