Revelation 2:18-29: “Dealing With Church Problems”
Problems. Does anyone here have problems?
I asked a man recently which years of a marriage are the toughest. He told me that the first 30 years were the toughest in a marriage. I asked him, well how many years have you been married? He said, “30 years.”
Jesus said: “In this world you will have tribulation—problems.”
Peter said, “Don’t let it surprise you when you have persecution--problems.”
James said, “Count every instance of trial—problems, a joyous occasion.”
Jesus tells, “Don’t worry about tomorrow—why bring the problems of the future into your today? Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
I was pulled over for speeding this past week, by a very good looking, handsome, quality of a man, who just might receive a gift basket from me this Christmas (is he here?); I didn’t know what I did wrong…but I was in trouble. He was gracious, very kind, treated me respectfully—he was a man among men. If you are wondering why I am talking like this about him it is because he is here today! I thought I’d try to smooth over any problems we might have.
I don’t want to add to the problems of the church. I don’t want to add to your problems and I don’t want to make more problems for me. I grew up on a farm as the youngest in a long line of innovative family members--brothers and cousins; and where the barn and the machine shop and hay mows and wagons were places not only LABS for learning but for solving problems.
Problem solving is a lost art. Most people just want to start problems and drama or spend a lot of time talking ABOUT the problem. I think solving problems for some people would give them less to do.
I grew up in a congregational church. I have seen Pastors fired and members leave because of conflict. I heard powerful messages about the sin of divorce and the most godly couples unable to resolve conflict in their marriage. I have watched as people, believing they were right, wanted to solve problems their way only later to hear them say they were wrong—but it was too late—the damage had been done.
Why do we judge people so harshly for the sins we ourselves have or are committing? One of the last churches I was in had an outstanding Christian youth who got a Christian girl pregnant. He was the son of church leaders—his dad a Sunday school teacher and mom a women’s bible study leader. A friend of mine said, “His sin is no different than mine—I just didn’t get caught.” And how many of us sitting here today could say the same thing?
What we need is someone who is so refined and so pure and so on fire for God help us, tell us the truth, and give us the solutions to our problems.
I went to a minister’s conference Thursday at Rainbow Camp in Converse and heard a wonderful reminder from the former pastor of SECC in Louisville that preaching the word of God still matters. Don’t adopt it, adapt it, make it cute or clever, JUST preach the word.
We have someone who is refined and pure and on fire for God speaking to us today—Rev 2
18 …These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
If you haven’t gotten it by now—after six letters, let it be known in this seventh letter that it is JESUS who is speaking to the church. If the Son of God clue isn’t enough, flipping back to 1:15-16, John tells us it is Jesus—the one whose eyes are flaming fires and feet like bronze.
Thyatirans were bronze metal workers. Do you think they’d know a thing or two about fire and bronze? Fire heats up for use and bronze was strong and lasting. They would have to look into the fire to see that the bronze is fit for use. But here, the one who is speaking to this church, IS the fire and the bronze and is now looking back at the ones who are working and seeing if THEY are fit for use.
v19 I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.
Thyatrian church was busy—their love SERVED and their faith PERSEVERED in ways now more than ever. And even though this church loved and believed and worked more than ever there was SOMETHING going on that caused this church to not be what Jesus wanted them to be in the community within which they served. Maybe it was a secret. Maybe you have a secret too?
v20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.
What do you tolerate? What have you been tolerating that isn’t right in your home? Or your own life? Is it about time you say ENOUGH?
Have you ever been misled? Ever believed the words of a smooth talker only later to find out everything was a lie? But listen, was it your tolerance that led you to be mislead?
Maybe their motive for lying was to get something FROM you, but in truth, you had a motive too. You knew if you played “the victim” you could feel that good feeling you longed to feel again and so you took the risk. You let yourself be MISLED—you tolerated the bad to get something good. But now, like hot coals in your lap, which do give heat—the warmth has died and all you have left are scars and sores and wounds that will need time to heal.
You cannot judge someone else for your own tolerance.
So are you saying I should become INTOLERANT Pastor Kent? No. I’m saying you should have lines you do not cross to protect yourself because you respect yourself and because it is the right thing to do because you have dedicated your life to the One who needs your life to be all it can be. And it can’t be all it can be if you compromise and tolerate. SO YOU NEED TO DRAW LINES AND SAY “THIS FAR AND NO FARTHER!”
And some of you have reached that point and you need to stand up and say ENOUGH!--just like Jesus says in the next verse…
v21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.
What have you given enough time for but are finding is unwilling?
22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children [with death]—spiritually speaking.
Are you suffering today from the sins of someone else? Will you die if you keep suffering? Jesus says, “Repent of their ways!” Repent from what? Your tolerance of the sin—your own AND theirs. Stop going that way!
If you keep on living with sin, you will suffer and die—and end up right back where you started—without hope and in the world living among those who are outside of the love and hope Jesus Christ gives. It will be like you have died spiritually.
Jesus continues, “Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.”
How many times have you seen people dealing with problems in their life because of SIN and they tolerate the bad because they have been misled into thinking they will get something good only to have it all come crashing down on them and then hear them blame everyone else?
24 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets--25 Only hold on to what you have until I come.
What do you have you can hold on to? If you can find something GOOD in the midst of your suffering from sin—either your own or because of tolerating someone else’s; right now—if you hold on to that GOOD, it can lead you out and back to God!
I went through a time of thinking I was so bad I should leave my marriage and just give up—to walk away from it all. I was so disgusted with myself that I was really beginning to believe my wife and kids would be better off without me. I spent a lot of time escaping but there weren’t any answers. I shared my problems with some men who didn’t judge me but loved me and really prayed for me. And one day one of my kids hugged my leg and said, “I love you daddy,” and that was the turning point for me. I held on to those words and they brought me out—out of my tolerance, out of my sin, out of my selfishness and seeing only what I wanted to see.
We all reap what we sow—that’s a fact. BUT is there ANYTHING you are needing to ask God to stop the reaping process? Anything you are needing to OVERCOME? A tolerating spirit??
26 To him who [is overcoming] and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—just as I have received authority from my Father. 28 I will also give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
To overcome you must repent which means to do CHRIST’S WILL to the end. How? You have been given authority.
John 1:12 “To as many as received [Christ]—to those who believed on His name—he has given the authority to become children of God.”
By the power of God through Christ, you can proclaim to those “Jezebels” in your life--ENOUGH!
Jesus has the judging power, not you, and he has judged the sin! You have authority—HIS authority to resist that sin and tell it NO! What you speak out will have consequences on what hears it because IT IS BACKED by the One who has all power!
Speaking of police officers--Does a badge give a policeman power or authority? He has authority to carry out—he may or may not be strong enough alone, but when the POWER comes upon you, you will know!
So how do we to be Dealing With Church Problems.
How are problems dealt with in the church? First, they must be named--
How many times have seen problems go unaddressed and it just got worse? That’s because no one wanted to name it and take responsibility for it.
A friend of mine told me, “Kent you are angry—angry about what happened when you got fired. BUT WHAT are you angry about? If you want to get past the anger, you need to NAME what it is you are angry about.” I spent the rest of the morning reflecting and journaling and naming my reasons for being angry. ANGER isn’t the only thing we need to name—there are plenty of other things: Depressed, Sad, Lust, Anxiety, Cynicism, and many others.
JESUS NAMED the problem, He identified the PERSON who started the problem, and…
IF YOU DON’T NAME IT, YOU WON’T DEAL WITH IT! And then you will keep tolerating it and excusing it and making a place for it—all the while it keeps sucking energy from you, causing you pain and suffering, draining life and years of joy and peace from you.
NAME IT THEN DEALING WITH IT. Some ways people TRY To deal with it:
1. Strong words against, no action. 2. Strong actions against, no words. (Just leave; you’re fired—no reason. Passive aggressive tactics = sinful!
Listen, if you want your kids to grow up and be adults with character, give them both—the words needed and the action needed to help them.
The right words and the right actions = Right Dealing
1. Explanation: The right way to do it and why. It may involve teaching it.
2. Remind/Correction: The right way + The consequences (if you don’t, this is what will happen) = draw a line of ENOUGH!
3. Involvement: Follow through on the consequences! It may be more teaching, more instructing, more practice—maybe they CAN’T do what is asked for some reason. IT MAY mean punishment--if they are just not interested in obeying and rebellion is at the root of why—ENOUGH! God says it. Jesus says it. Parents need to say it! Police Officers need to say it.
Listen, MEMBERS (only moment): Tithing isn’t an option. YOU PROMISED to give where you are a member! If you are a member here, then you took vows in the church and PROMISED to give your tithe HERE.
Let me explain. When you receive an income—money that comes to you, the first thing you do is move the decimal point over one spot and give that to GOD out of your loving obedience to Him FIRST! And you put that in the offering plate. You don’t hold it until something good enough to give for comes up; you don’t go spend it “for the church” outside of the offering. You place it in the traditional plate because God says to bring your tithe INTO the storehouse. If you don’t there will be an account—the pastor and finance committee will look into the matter. TITHING is NOT a private matter. GIVING OFFERING is a private matter.
Example: TITHING. The average member gives just over 2%. If you were an Anglican in the UK it is 3%. The word TITHE means 1/10th. Did you know your heart is connected to your wallet? A lighter wallet makes a lighter heart! God’s love is poured extra on a cheerful givers.
This is just one matter. OTHERS worth speaking about GOSSIP. STOP IT!
That’s all I want to say because I might start gossiping!
ANOTHER: GRUDGES. I have heard so MANY of you speak to me about others in the church or community out of a GRUDGE you have been holding on to for years! FORGIVE! Or your grudge will turn on you and disease your body!
Do you have problems? Name it. Deal with it—which may involve setting boundaries, explaining the lines of those boundaries, detailing the consequences, reminding when the boundaries are being pressed; following through with your word; declare THIS IS ENOUGH!
As your pastor, I will deal with problems in this church. I will not back down from bullies if there are any here, and I will address issues of relevance from the pulpit. I have never called out names, and by God’s grace I hope not to. I’d much rather come to you in love and talk about it…and I hope you will do the same.
You cannot judge someone else for your own tolerance.
What do you say we give problem people less to do?
Are you ready to say ENOUGH?!
Name the problem. Then deal with the problem.
