Perhaps there is nothing more devastating than to hear the LORD of Glory declare, “you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead.”
That is exactly what Jesus said to the Church at Sardis in Revelation 3:1-6. This is the dead church that thinks it is still alive, thinks it is still doing what Jesus commanded, but in God’s eyes is dead.
Perhaps my greatest anxiety is to one day stand before my Savior and LORD to give an account of my life and to realize how often I was just going through the motions in my Christianity all the while leaving God out of the equation. It is so easy to think that what we are doing … our works … even our Christian works … are the hub of ministry. It is easy to get caught up in human thought, ways, philosophies and methodologies.
When that happens what we build is on sinking sand, it has no eternal value. It surely will not stand up to the shaking that often occurs.
What we build, whether in our personal lives or in our corporate ones, needs to be built solidly, squarely on the Rock that is above all rocks. I can have the greatest church in my state, the largest campus, the greatest numbers, but if I have built it in my own power and my own wisdom, it will not gain any distinction with God.
The church we build, small, medium or large, must be built by the power of God’s Spirit, in the Wisdom of God, and on the sure foundation of Christ Jesus. “For no one can lay any foundation other than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ.” [1 Corinthians 3:11]
Try building on something else and you might hear Jesus say, “you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead.”
