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 Concerning
the church at Sardis the Lord said, "I know thy works, that
thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead" (Rev.
3:1). Now think, where did they get that name”?
"Name"
is here used in the sense of reputation — the popular opinion.
But the smallness and insignificance of the cause of Christ in
the world at that time negates any suggestion that this was a
"name" in the world's hall of Fame. The world couldn't
care less. Yet, someone had to give them that name, and give it
such general acceptance as to warrant significance. The Lord
certainly did not sanction this appraisal; so we are forced to
conclude that their peers, or social circle, gave them their
"name."
Other
churches, others of their professed "kind," must have
talked of their "good works" "wonderful
spirit" "liberal contributions" or whatever that
generation considered great. It is apparent that brethren of
that age were no more qualified judges of what God approves,
than their current counterparts. Doesn't it shake you? They had
a good reputation — they got it from their own brethren —
and it did not amount
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to a hill of beans (when beans were cheap).
No wonder Paul said those who "measure themselves by
themselves, and compare themselves among themselves, are not
wise."
For
the Lord said of Sardis, that Big Name church, "then art
dead." What remained was "ready to die." The
"few names in Sardis" who had not defiled their
garments must have stood out from the rest like a sore thumb —
a few cranks or "fanatics" who would not line up with
the majority. Perhaps those "on the march" wished them
gone, so as to remove that source of criticism and
embarrassment; not realizing that they were the last bit of salt
in the whole stinking mess.
The
majority "had a name"— and it seems the ''name"
was more valued than the truth. Well, we all have a name-of some
sort-- with both God and man. Our concern for what men think
often blinds us to what God thinks of us —and that's what I'd
call real near-sightedness. Man, a good reputation is not
enough. We’ve got to consider who gives us our “name”.
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