Forsaken, Abandoned, Neglected
Look at that picture carefully. What do you see? What was once a hustling, bustling mall is now an abandoned, lonely, dead complex. The escalator no longer functions. The foliage is dead. The stores are all gone. And, most importantly, no shoppers will ever frequent this mall again. Its only function now is to be a place to explore and think about what was.
Abandoned, forsaken, deserted, discarded, left, or shelved. All of these words describe the act of leaving behind something that we once held dear. A place that once teemed with people is replaced with newer places and the old is discarded. Why? Why did this mall close? Why did people stop coming. Why did it happen that on a day years ago the doors were closed for the last time?
The same questions can be asked of so many places like amusement parks, malls, office buildings, entire cities and homes. We have terms for them; ghost towns, haunted houses, relics of the past, and urban decay. No easy answer exists that could cover all of these situations. But, in the end, they are all the same. They are left to deteriorate until they final collapse under the weight of neglect.
Can this happen to a church? Can churches become a “relic of the past”? Can a church that once was full of life and worship be closed and left to rot? They sure can. Without properly guarding the body, a church can be filled with cancer and die out.
I’m sure you know the word “zombie.” It is a mythical figure that though it is dead it seems to be alive. Obviously no zombies actually exist, right? Well, Jesus said some interesting things to the Church in Sardis. Revelation 3:1-6 describes for us this church that Jesus said looks alive but is actually dead. We could call it the “Zombie Baptist Church.” They are signs of life like activities and gatherings. But, though an appearance of life is seen. it is actually DEAD. What a sad account.
Sunday we will conclude our look at the Church of Ephesus. We will center our thoughts on the conclusion of the matter. I would love for you to be here to study this final lesson with us. We will learn some lessons that we may never be described by the words spoken to the Church in Sardis.
One thing we can be assured of is that if we are not on guard to the threats to our existence, we as First Baptist Church will simply suffer the fate of the Church of Ephesus, and Sardis. Oh may it never be said of us that we the “walking dead.”